Can you believe I was whining about rainfall? It’s funny because as Ms. Mesquitey and I were driving to and from Cascabel we talked about coming back to that area in the March and April, because these fall and winter rains should make for a good wildflower display come spring. Okay, I’ll quit whining.
Here is a list of some of the plants I was jabbering about: Psilostrophe cooperi, Nicotiana trigonophylla, Zinnina acerosa, Lycium sp., Menodora scabra, Senecio flaccidus, Agave palmeri. Everyone of these species can be found in a good native plant nursery and would look great in your personal habitat. I like Desert Survivors Nursery, but I particularly love Spadefoot Nursery in Tucson. Full disclosure: I used to run Desert Survivors Nursery and Spadefoot Nursery is family and it’s fabulous! https://www.spadefootnursery.com/ Now you know. Grow Native!
The photos are mine. There were some 30 foot tall Agave palmeri panicles (seed stalks) along our route and mounds of paper flower were still blooming. The white flowers are the dry faded flowers…paper flowers.
The scientific name of the ringtail is Bassariscus astutus. It’s in the Procyonidae, the same family as our local borderlands’ critters the raccoons and...
I meant to talk more about the leaves of Physocarpus monogynus. They resemble the leaves of a currant or a…
The concept of the mountain ranges of the southwest as sky islands goes back to at least 1943 when Natt N. Dodge wrote that...
