Monsoon

The phone rang early, this morning. A terse, " thirty-seven hundredths" were the first words relayed to me. My reply..." Wow! " No mistaking the message. The neighborhood watcher was reporting the first rainfall of the current weather year. I looked at the humidity level...ninety percent this morning. The monsoon season had, indeed, arrived. Gardeners and farmers, both now and dating back thousands of years, share a universal feeling of relief with the arrival of the first rain following months of dryness. There is little doubt that the ancients viewed the arrival of rain with mystical wonder and thanks. The absolute sense of relief, reverence and gratitude experienced by the drought ridden or arid land resident with the arrival of the first rain is absolutely stunning...a sense of relief, a certainty that all is well...at least for now. The surety that life will persist in this dry place! I am sure that every Borregan can sympathize with this universal thought.

The desert embraces the misty descending rainfall...passively and thirstily absorbing each precious drop. Leaves are fastidiously cleansed of months of dust. Tiny root fibers are revitalized. Moisture is taken in and stored. A promise of food for wildlife is assured. A guarantee of the continuance of life, itself is reassured.

On a more personal level, as a gardener and person who views plants as one of the most vital part of the desert scene and indispensable part of desert living, the first rain means continuance of my desert garden...both in regard to the flora and fauna. No longer will I have to worry about individual favorite native plants showing signs of stress and fatigue ( and, fret, I do during dry periods ). For now, at least, solar panels are cleansed, rainfall has revitalized all non-irrigated plants in the garden. Nutrients have been added to the soil, salts washed away and desert wildlife has been assured of sustenance.

Another plus of rainfall, as every Borregan knows, is the boon of getting a free soft water car wash. At the first sign of rain, out of the garage come our cars for a hands-free rinse. Soon, sparkling clean autos will dot our roadways!

Justica californica

AKA Chuparosa or Belaperone, Justica californica is a native of the Southern California desert to Arizona and Northern Mexico. It is a large clumpy shrub which, in our garden, has been a source of many surprises. Some desert natives are so difficult to transplant that I am always amazed at this plants ability to spring up in unlikely places in our garden.
Chuparosa is evergreen if it receives enough rain or water, but it takes on a leafless appearance otherwise. In this state, it may be mistaken for Desert Senna. With adequate moisture, however, from fall to spring, tubular red ( sometimes yellow ) flowers create a showy spot of color in the garden and are a great attraction to humming birds. The wild looking shrub clusters provide shelter for numerous small desert critters. Snakes seem to appreciate the heavy masses of stems. I have seen these reptiles and lizards often take cover under these plants.
Though new plants provide tender tidbits for rabbits, we have noticed that they spring up amidst a " nurse plant " ,often Dalea...sometimes, cacti...never to be noticed until they flower and have attained height...SURPRISE! It's almost like being presented with a gift! I would estimate that chuparosas have almost doubled in numbers since our garden was first started. They are easy to transplant if you dig down into an old cluster and obtain roots. New plants should be caged and kept moist until established. We have never cut back our plants, but, if desired, you can trim them to encourage bushiness.

This wild looking native plant greatly enhances a desert garden by providing spots of color and fill for bare spaces. Ours seem to have reproduced naturally along natural slopes or run- off areas in the garden.

The publication, Temalpakh, by Bean and Saubel, relates the Chauilla loved the sweet taste of chuparosa flowers ...called them pisily. I washed the delicate flowers once and added them to a salad to create interest and give people a sense of gastronomic desert history. It did lead to an entertaining culinary discussion! ( Yes, they ARE sweet! )

Drought

With all the new record high temperatures, I thought another look at native desert plants would be appreciated. These plants, which have evolved over centuries have withstood numerous droughts...yet still prosper, reproduce and survive in this hot, dry clime. The smart desert gardener makes use of these plants, many of which are indispensable to desert wildlife and which really need no additional irrigation. Native plants can be culled and placed carefully, following nature's pattern to create beautiful natural looking gardens, enhanced by other low water use plants, trees and shrubs. If you like to grow your own food, a compact series of raised beds, irrigated by a drip system will supply all your needs and still conserve water.

There is little doubt that we are in a drought cycle...especially if you have become alarmed by media fascination with the subject. On TV, you will see clever new graphics, in living color, which accompany daily forecasts. One day, I noticed the new maroon category for extreme heat...filled in with shimmering heat waves and a picture of a thermometer...the mercury breaking through the top! Everything east of the Imperial County line was maroon, west of it, just red. My, my...it makes one wonder, doesn't it? I have seen graphics of brown, dead corn, cracked mud and suffering livestock. That, along with black tornado clouds, golf sized hail, high wind, flooding rains or hurricane eyes certainly captures your attention...whether these warnings prove to be true or not!

Our desert has experienced drought before. It will experience drought again. In the meantime, as gardeners, smart use of native plants are essential to creating and maintaining a garden in this dry land.

Dalea pulchra

Indigo, unlike the bright green leaved creosote bush, is a soft hued, pastel gray-green wispy leaved bush which can be used to create a backdrop for almost any other plant you would like to use as an accent. My favorite spot in our garden is a secluded area, set off by a snaky line of mature indigos, about five feet tall, twisted light colored wooden branches intertwined with each other and interspersed with natural boulders. These wonderful shrubs form a windbreak and stage for a collection of mature specimen cacti. Following adequate rain, these plants are a mass of lavender/purple tiny flowers...often so profuse as to hide the structure of the plant, itself! They have a resemblance to a smoke tree and some mistake them for one...tell the difference by taking a snip of wood and leaf and crushing it... there is no mistaking the acrid sharp smell of Dalea. ( WHEN IN DOUBT, USE YOUR NOSE! ) I have noticed that quail seem to prefer this plant over others for cover and they do eat the tiny pea-like flowers.

Unfortunately, not all areas of Borrego contain this native plant, which seems to occur with most frequency near alluvial fans and mountain slopes. They may, however be purchased at a nursery. If you do buy the plants, transplant in fall or spring, water heavily at first and mulch to retain moisture. Rabbits will nibble at this plant when young, so protect them with wire cages until they are well established. Maintenance includes light pruning and cutting off dead wood. The wood is beautiful and may be used for a variety of art projects or arrangements.

These shrubs could be used as a wild looking perimeter hedge or spaced widely as "fill-ins". They will reproduce following a wet year, but I have never been able to transplant the seedlings. Butterflies , birds and other wildlife are attracted to Dalea pulchra, or native indigo...another drought resistant, low water use plant.

Larrea tridentata

There is a plant, taken for granted by many, as abundant in the desert as pine trees are across the northern regions of the United States, which personifies the desert. It grows in wide bands from California to Texas and into Mexico. The plant? Larrea tridentata, or Creosote bush. You can drive through creosote forests for days and hardly give a thought to this plant, since it is so common. If you give it a closer look, you will see it deserves a place in any desert garden! It is fundamental to the desert , is slow growing and is the ultimate water conserving plant, surviving for up to two years without a drop of water!

If you take a walk along the Bill Kenyon overlook trail which offers an outstanding view of the bajada below, you will notice numerous creosotes, each one almost equidistant from another. Creosote is peculiar in that way...due to chemicals produced in the roots which prevent other plants from infringing on its territory.

In the garden, they quickly absorb any moisture, whether natural or artificial, through a long tap root along with a network of shallow roots. I have offered additional water to our creosotes only a few times since we have lived here. They do turn brown during extended drought periods but quickly revive when watered and display bright green waxy leaves, tiny yellow flowers and cute soft white fuzzy seed coverings. In other words, you and nature are the deciders when it comes to creosote appearance!

Our plants are spaced throughout the outer garden with a few in the inner garden, which I clip and prune yearly to maintain a small lush look. ( non-irrigated ) After rain, I have found bits and pieces of tender new growth have been nibbled off by rabbits, but never eaten. PATOOIE!!! I guess it doesn't taste good!

This is one plant that should be in every desert garden...It was historically used by native people as their medicine cabinet, treating a variety of maladies, it provides shelter for many desert creatures and is the reason the desert "smells like rain". Most interesting is that it is among the oldest of all known plants, cloned from the crown of a parent plant dated to 11,700 years!

This steady slow growing plant is now available at nurseries, which I do advise, since I have never had luck with a transplant. Larrea tridentata has so many fascinating features...why not give it a Google?

Too Soon Gone

Gone from Borrego forever is Lisa, owner of a thriving business, Open Sky Landscape. Many of us depended on her and her faithful crew to fix the problems that arose in our gardens.

Early on, when I first met Lisa, I recognized her unique abilities. She not only was wise in design, maintenance and horticulture, but was a wizard in creating smart irrigation schedules for the home garden. No one was more versed in citrus care than Lisa. At a glance, she could diagnose just what was needed for healthy yield and growth. She was interested in our Gardening club and gave a program on irrigation timers and stations for us. She graciously presented each of us with our choice of cactus or other desert plants.

Her workers were a faithful crew whom she treated with compassion and respect. She was always ethical and competent in her business dealings...a person you could depend on. Lisa treated her clients as friends rather than customers. She would often just drop in to talk, present us with gifts of smoked or fresh fish along with a detailed story about her most recent fishing adventure. We often traded stories about Baja, vegetable gardens, our chocolate labs and she often regaled us with stories of her childhood, her father and her brother. She also talked about her continuing horticultural education at Davis and Napa.

We never saw her without a cheerful smile and attitude. We will sorely miss her. Lisa, not yet fifty years old, a victim of a blowout on S-22.

Gone, but never, never forgotten.

Summer Gardening

If you look around Borrego Springs, you will notice gardeners hard at work raking, weeding and performing other tasks, regardless of the weather or season. If you look carefully, you will also notice an oddity...most are dressed in long pants, long sleeved shirts and are wearing a wide brimmed hat with a bandana hanging over the nape of the neck. Many also wear bandanas around the throat and wear gloves. Often, a huge orange canister of water is close at hand.

Home gardeners - take advice from experts...people who live in extremely hot, dry climates have long understood that covering the body conserves moisture and maintains a natural cooling system.

I happened to stop by Jeff Divine's (Surf Photographer ) place one day and saw him working in the garden. The day was HOT! He, too was wearing a long sleeved shirt...oddly thin and fitted. I asked him where he had found the funny looking shirt and he replied, this is my rashie...you never feel the heat while wearing it and it has a UPF of fifty! I always wear it in the water but you can stay cool if you wear it in the desert. " What a revelation ! The PERFECT garb for a desert gardener! They are available at Surf shops or in swimwear stores. For around $50.00, you can stay cool while golfing, swimming OR gardening while protecting yourself from harmful rays during the hot desert summer! (You can find them on the net. Look under Rash guard )

A BORREGO NON- HAPPENING

Perhaps you have been wondering how Borrego fared during the well publicized power outage of June 23, 2012.

I assure you, all Borregans were prepared for the event. Our flashlights had new batteries and were close at hand. We had turned on a night light, thinking it would turn off at the beginning of the outage and turn on again when the "all clear" had sounded.

There was proof that the power did go off for a short period of time...all kitchen appliances and phones were flickering when we arose the next morning. We slept through the few minutes the night light was off then turned on again.

SDGE...Your early warning system needs a bit of tweaking!!!