A little rain.

What appeared to be a welcoming August rain turned out to be a monster rain and lighting storm. Little did I know when I took these pics that this was not the end of a quick shower but the Beginning of a major storm.

About an hour or so later the real storm rolled in and lighting like I have never seen before shook the house and ground, it was amazing!  The gutters and washes soon turned into mini floods that plugged drains and flooded streets.  I felt like a kid again, goose bumps ran up and down my arms.  My sense of awareness soon heightened but as I grew into my adulthood I had to question whether it was safe to be outside with so much lighting?

Well before I could get my camera out my phone rang and I was soon called into work. My job does not let me enjoy the wonders of weather.  Ever time it gets good it is almost a sure sign for me to go to work!  I'm a overseer of a maintenance department. Flooded streets and power outages always get in the way of a good storm.

I hope one day to be retired and sit with a cup of coffee and just enjoy the storm... 

At the time I was so happy to see this little puddle of rain water, later it rained over an inch!  

And a profile plant from the garden.

Petrophytum caespitosum

A wonderful but slow growing plant from the dry alpine or even desert canyons.  I only give the older plants water every month or less, I killed the first one I had by over watering.

My two new additions, I started these last fall and are doing good.  I hope to separate them this fall.

Garden notes.

The flowers are just about spent and the nights are getting cooler.

The only things that seem to grow faster this time of year are my yuccas!  Happens every late summer and fall, as soon as the nights cool down my yuccas growth speeds up, sometimes all the way into winter! Of course this can also hurt them, so water little in late Summer and fall if you live in a cooler climate!

From the yucca vault, forms of Y. baccata.

 He are some of the different forms of Yucca baccata I have seen in the past few years.  

A nice blue form from the southwest rim of the Grand Canyon. Hualapai Indian Reservation.

Full crown form, north of Tombstone AZ

about 3+'

5'+ form, Tombstone AZ 

 3-4' form, on my property in Old Pearce AZ

Same area as above

Chiricahua mountain form, much shorter.

This blue form was in Kingman AZ, very long leaves and huge clumps!  I would say 4 to maybe 6' in hieght.

This was... I think about 4' high. 

This might be the biggest baccata clump I've ever seen.  I think it was about 6' high.  I need some seed off this guy!  

Yucca review, Yucca baccata (banana yucca)

Yucca baccata is a nice medium sized yucca that is very cold hardy, however I did have one freeze to the ground once but came back from the roots and has never done so sense.

They can take lower ground in the winter than most of my other desert yuccas and can even be trimmed to show short trunks (some).



This my trimmed Y.baccata, it is 38inches high and has 4 different crowns/trunks.

This one is trimmed up mainly because it is so close to the path that it needs maintenance. 

same yucca.

same yucca

This one my get a good trimming as well, nice thick trunk.

This one was split from the above, when moved.  I can tell you this they way a ton!

Every baccata I get is different from the others.

I know of least 5 different forms of baccata. some are trunk less, while other can be over 5' tall. 

And this one for no reason has done very little, I should stop and say hi to it more often. 

Found something while sweeping.

Found this guy while sweeping the floor today.  I had to laugh because the other night I spent an hour outside looking for them.  Also this is a species I have not seen here, even though it is the most common species in Idaho.

And no it is not deadly, more like a bee sting.

    

Paruroctonus boreus

Not a good pic.

Solifugae sp.

Yucca review, Yucca elata.

A wonderful tree yucca for the colder desert gardens.  As with most tree yuccas it is slow growing if you start with a seedling. But when they get off the ground they speed up considerably.  They can take more winter ground moister than a Joshua-tree, and have a soft tropical looking crown. 

This the biggest soap-tree yucca (Y.elata) I have.  Its over ten years old, started from a seedling it is just now starting to grow a trunk.  It froze back many times when it was younger, but has gained much cold-hardiness.  With beautiful 30 inch long leaves my only regret is I wish I would have plant many more. 

This one I moved to higher ground and it has done much better.

This one is having a hard time, but give it time and it will look awesome.

And this is my second biggest elata I have and was the one that flowered this year.

This fire, the closest fire we have seen this year.  Moved 6 miles in 20 minutes, over 10 miles long by the time they slowed it down.  Belive it or not most of the fires I don't even post.  Crazy fire year! 

Glad too see the hummers show up.

We had a few Hummingbirds earlier in the season, but after a big wind storm almost none were seen until now.  I have counted at least three species Broadtail, Rufus, Purple Throated.  The sad thing is almost all will be gone in a week or two.

Always some color in the garden.

Blackeye Susan

Redhot Poker

 I have tried these so many times and no luck getting one to survive the winter.

Clome

Fire in the "South Hills" over 40 miles away!

looks like a nuke went off! 

                                                                     Sacred Datura,

6-8 inch flowers, but can become weedy.

Car show, Hailey Idaho.

 A few new cars this year, and I was so happy too see this Lambo!  This close to SunValley, it's about time someone brought one.

 

The drive back home.

The high desert (higher desert)

This is a good place too buy pot, good prices!

And this is the pot I'm talking about.  The only kind I will ever buy! 

South we go.

Made it back home.

A few pics of a landscape area I take care of.