I have said it ad nauseam, but I just love autumn and I love it because in southeastern Arizona it is a wonderful long season. And because it lasts for a while it seems to me that it can be divided into many smaller seasons. These small seasons are based on ecology. A “what’s happening now” bunch of seasons until freezes hit us in the uplands and we can declare winter. I bet we can divvy up winter too, but not just yet, okay?
There are two species of Garrya in Arizona and fifteen spp. found throughout the west. Garrya wrightii is found in west Texas, southwest New Mexico, northern Sonora, and almost all of Arizona. A couple common names are silk tassel or quinine bush. It’s a dioeicious (male and female plants) and evergreen shrub that can be 8 feet by 8 feet easily. A perfect native shrub for folks in the uplands! They’ll need to buy two or three to insure they get the berries, and that’s why I going to grow it. I think sales will be huge and I see new boots and jeans in my future.
Between the Mesquitey chickens finally laying some eggs and the point leaf manzanita blooming in the hills, there is much excitement around the ol’...
It’s been a long time since the Santa Cruz River ran and even when it did it only ran in intermittent sections along its...
One day several years ago I sat down and wrote this story about growing up in Kentucky. I still sit and hand write my...