On Plants (and a trade offer!)

Well, it's that time of year again when I start thinking about what direction I want the gardens to go. No, no, no, I'm not content with things as they are, I have to change them. I guess most plant enthusiasts go through this! I was out in the cactus garden this afternoon, moving some stuff to make room for a storage shed we are putting in. The cactus patch really consists of two distinct areas, one of which is actually a cactus and arid garden, the other is, well, overflow. I go out and salvage plants, mainly cacti, from areas that are going to be bulldozed for development - a VERY large part of the backyard holds these planst and I really do need to find them homes. If you want a cactus from New Mexico please let me know and I'll send you one, just pay shipping!


Anyway, being the plant geek that I am, I recently bought Penstemons, The Beautiful Beardtongues of New Mexico, by Heflin, Heflin, and Ivey, and River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon, by Huisinga, Makarick, and Watters. No, I'm nowhere near the Grand Canyon, but the photographs are beautiful and there are a number of these same plants in this area, so...I have always loved Penstemons, ever since, in high school, I used to move them into the garden from the pasture where we kept the horses. Penstemon fendleri (the one I used to move) is below:

I love all of the Penstemons, and have managed to grow a few of them, but I'm looking to add a lot more this year, like this one below (I'll trade Echinocereus coccineus for your Penstemon plants!):

The "regular" garden off the patio has roses, a raspberry bush, iris, dianthus, yarrow, columbine, penstemons, lavender, sage, oregano, Monarda, gladiolus, (deep breath) cannas, zinnias, marigolds, margarita daisies, shasta daisies, Oenothera, hollyhocks .... okay, there's alot! But the native area needs a lot more. I have Echinocereus, Ferocactus, Lobivia, Echinopsis, Opuntia. Mammillaria, Parodia, Notocactus, and a bunch of others, altogether there are about 200 cacti, as well as sages, various native grasses, gumweed, Oenothera, Desert Marigolds, Nama and a few others. The problem is that there is still a lot of space. Now what does this all have to do with the books I have recently bought?

Well, going through them, I have begun to realize that while doing the cactus salvage, I have, for the most part, ignored the other plants. The desert is surprisingly lush when we have a bit of rain. Late last summer, in an open area just up the road, there were huge clumps of Dayflower (below)

An absolutely stunning plant which, unfortunately, did not transplant well.

As I think about the Spring and all of the areas which I will need to move plants from, I think I'll take another look at more than the cacti, as our native wildflowers are stunning, and I need to add a lot more of them!