I’m so lucky to live in the land of the ornate box turtle (Terrepene ornata luteola). For me it has been a wonderful journey with turtles, from my Kentucky childhood to the borderlands of southeastern Arizona where I now reside. And by the way, box turtles can live 30 to 40 years, so some of the ones that eat at Fast Petey’s Box Turtle Buffet may still be around when I am long gone.
There are six species of Agastache in Arizona. Agastache breviflora can be found from 5,500 ft to 8,500 ft. in the sky islands of the borderlands. I love that it’s weedy in cultivation …a delightful weed to have. Oh, I have heard the genus Agastache pronounced a few different ways. I stand by my pronunciation, but pronounce it however you like.
Chuchu was wonderful dog and she ran our little homestead for many years. There are 15 years worth of photos of her, but I’ve spared you with just a few. We miss her.
The scientific name for our gopher snake (or gophersnake. I’ve seen it written both ways) is Pituophis catenifer. The genus looks like a combination...
Here are photos of some of the plants I was jabbering about: Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), esperanza or Arizona yellow bells (Tecoma stans var....
Petey peers into an old bird nest in a tree and discovers the work of a deer mouse.
