Southwestern Deserts Regional Report

Grow a Fresh Salad Bowl

Salad greens are a fun and flavorful choice for any gardener, regardless of your experience level. They're easy to grow, even in limited spaces. As long as you have a location that receives six hours of sun daily, sow a mix of varied greens into a big...
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Resources

Wildflowers in Bloom
Seek Free Help with Irrigation

Plant a Kid's Bean Tepee
Continue Harvesting Citrus
Planting Bulbs
Reduce Watering Frequencies
Holiday Plant Care

Native Bees in the Garden

European honeybees and their kin, the Africanized "killer" bees, garner media attention, but many other fascinating native bees are hard at work in the landscape. Arizona authors Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan write in The Forgotten...
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Resources

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Pollinator Conservation
The Forgotten Pollinators

Plant Holiday Bulbs
Thin Wildflowers
Plant a Quick Color Bowl
Fertilize Roses
Divide Offshoots

Wildflower Sowing Season

Temperatures have been so unseasonably hot in Phoenix that it seems more like summer than fall's wildflower sowing season. Don't let that stop you. It's time to dig out those little envelopes and paper bags of seeds you saved last spring or buy some...
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Resources

'America' Climbing Rose
Fall Color Shows

Amend Garden Soil
Transplant Landscape Plants
Plant Cool-Season Vegetables
Start Cool-Season Culinary Herbs
Initiate Reblooming of Christmas Cacti

Cactus Planting Tips

Autumn is a great time to add all sorts of plants to your low desert landscape because they have six or seven months to establish root systems before hot weather returns. Cacti can be transplanted now, and a few tricks make the task go more smoothly and...
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Resources

Chenille Prickly Pear Cactus
Removing Glochids from your Skin

Transplant Landscape Plants
Propagate Herbs
Watch for Caterpillar Migrations
Clean Up Gardens
Sow Wildflower Seeds

Bulb Combos

Pastel shades of yellow, pink, lavender, blue, and white provide a respite from the intensity of desert sun and heat. Bulb combinations are one way to create this soothing color scheme. Rain lilies, also known as fairy lilies ( Zephyranthes spp.),...
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Resources

Arizona Native Plant Society
Outdoor Water Features

Encourage Christmas Cacti to Bloom
Plant a Tree With Fall Color
Handpick Tomato Hornworms
Propagate Cacti and Succulents
Plant Cool-Season Vegetables

Cool Off (or Warm Up) With Trees

Summer in the low desert is not a good time for digging a tree planting hole, in my opinion. It is better to lay low with a glass of lemonade and maybe a tiny hand-held fan if you can't find anyone willing to wave a palm frond over you. But summer is a...
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Resources

Hummingbird Monitors Needed
Chinese Pistache

Prepare Fall Gardens
Prune and Feed Roses
Feed Citrus
Fertilize Landscape Plants
Chill Bulbs

Composting is Easy!

Garden beds containing nonnative flowers and vegetables need rich soil. You can purchase organic matter to incorporate into the garden, although making your own compost is satisfying and earth-friendly. Thirty to 40 percent of material trucked to...
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Resources

Grow Native! Fall Plant Sale and Educational Festival
Vitex or Chase Tree

Start Vegetable Transplants
Pull Summer Weeds
Add Iron to Plants
Care for Containers
Maintain Summer Lawns

Insects Support Wildlife in the Landscape

I was on my hands and knees, weeding my friend's landscape so it would look good when his family arrived for a week-long stay. Dusk was falling, it was difficult to see, but I was on an obsessive-compulsive, weed-yanking mission. When it comes to...
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Resources

Growing in a Green Century
Texas Native Trees

Sow Okra
Sow Summer Squash
Wash Bird Baths
Plant Palms
Water Citrus Trees Deeply

Praying Mantids

While brushing away leaves stuck to the top of a barrel cactus, movement from a praying mantid scurrying from my disruptive activities caught my eye. Praying mantids are intriguing insects that can be found in the garden in summer. Adult praying mantids...
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Resources

Tomato Fiesta
A Good Use for Mesquite Beans

Sow Sunflower Seeds
Provide Water for Wildlife
Wash off Cochineal Scale
Sow Pumpkin Seeds
Water Effectively

How Desert Plants Survive

When the thermometer shows triple digits for months on end, it's hard to imagine how plants can survive, let alone thrive in our conditions. Desert plants have evolved with ingenious adaptations to reduce moisture loss while standing tall in blazing sun...
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Resources

Share the Produce
SHADE conference

Control Weeds
Note Your Sun Exposure
Sow Sunflower Seeds
Eliminate Breeding Areas for Mosquitoes
Fertilizing Roses in Summer

Sweet Corn

Sweet corn fresh from the garden is one of life's delectable pleasures. However, modern hybrids require plenty of water, multiple fertilizer applications, and a watchful eye, especially if growing in the low desert. For some gardeners, that may require...
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Resources

Arizona Municipal Water Users Association Poolside Plants
Master Watershed Steward Course

Replenish Mulch
Water Lawns Deeply
Reduce Fire Hazard
Don't Fret Half-Moons on Foliage
Protect Tomato Plants

Southwestern Deserts Regional Report

Grow a Fresh Salad Bowl

Resources

Reminders

Native Bees in the Garden

Resources

Reminders

Wildflower Sowing Season

Resources

Reminders

Cactus Planting Tips

Resources

Reminders

Bulb Combos

Resources

Reminders

Cool Off (or Warm Up) With Trees

Resources

Reminders

Composting is Easy!

Resources

Reminders

Insects Support Wildlife in the Landscape

Resources

Reminders

Praying Mantids

Resources

Reminders

How Desert Plants Survive

Resources

Reminders

Sweet Corn

Resources

Reminders