Mister Mesquitey tip toes out of work and gets in some botanizing on a micro-vacation in the Dragoon Mountains.
Mexican Passionflower is almost always found climbing in trees or shrubs near a stream or some source of water. The earth below large boulders and rock faces in the Dragoon Mountain retains water. It’s hidden water and a local plant like Mexican passionflower benefits. All three species of Passiflora found in Arizona are the larval food for Gulf Fritillary Butterflies, so they are great vines to have in a pollinator garden. Please don’t forget what “larval food” means. Caterpillars eat the plant! Be generous, the plant will recover and you will have butterflies all around your habitat. Pretty cool.
It’s hard to believe I didn’t mention the beautiful color of the trunks and branches of manzanita. I must have just assumed everyone knew...
Doing an episode about desert broom (Baccharis sarothroides) is a November tradition. And, so is singing a verse of an old hymn that I...
I love following the drainages out of the mountains and across the deserts, observing all the plants and animals that follow them as well....
