Spring never ever gets old, EVER!!!

Sorry it took so long to write descriptions for this page.  I would like to say I've been so busy with work and the garden, but I think it was more just being lazy. 

Idaho the land of variety

Looking east from my yard.

Trumpeter Swans,

at work in one of the holding ponds.  We counted as many as 50, looks like the numbers are coming back.  These used to be a rare sight in Idaho. 

New plants!

These are a few hybrids yuccas started from seed. These were created by my friend Tim on the east coast.

Yucca filimentosa x with Yucca elata = Yucca filata's

The single one too the left is known as "big mama"

I have high hope for this one. 

Lately I have been looking for hybrid desert plants, hoping that they may take the cold better?

Opuntia engelmannii x with Opuntia basilaris 

I think this will be my fourth attempt with this barrel.

Ferocactus hamatacanthus

I have had better luck with the big barrels.

A mealy bug infeasted Echinocereus triglochidiatus (white sands).

The only thing I have found to work on these bugs is vegetable oil!

My great big Opuntia englemannii pad

And one more hybrid,

Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa x biglovii

Uncovered the last of the plants.

Spring may not be here officially, but warm enough to take the covering off the less hardy plants. 

This was a Agave protoamericana, and well still is.  It was covered with a piece of plastic.  The top crown will rot with the warmer weather, but it will sprout more sucker from the roots.  This was the best this plant has ever done for me, as it is a clone from many past attempts. 

Always wonderful to see this beauty uncovered for the year.

Echinocactus polycephalus

This ocotillo still may be alive, and if it is, it will be a first for my garden. 

O. basilaris, pink flower of a different look

E-bay find, only time will tell?

Opuntia santa rita x basilaris

I am amazed how this lived through the winter with only a sheet of plastic covering.

Never one is very hardy here. 

Opuntia ellisiana,

plastic covering

A nice hybrid from a good friend of mine.

 Y. flaccida x reverchonii-thompsoniana, I think lol

I have two, this one was covered the other was not, both look good.

Agave havardiana, covered.  If it lives it will be the first for my garden.

The next three come from another good friend.

all three covered.

Agave palmeri 

And this creek is ready for runoff.

Finished!

And this project is just beginning.

And more unfinished projects.

A drive to Hammett ID and back home.

The wife and I went for a day drive and we decided to head west.  We chose to stay off the freeways and stuck to the path less traveled.  Our road trip was not far from home but was interesting just the same.  We set out west looking for the old highway, the route west before the interstate.  Little to my knowledge it was still mostly in tack.  The road was in good condition, so it was a surprise that there was so little traffic.

We went through three little towns that had seen better days. Days before the traffic was detoured out of  town.  Some places I have not seen sense I was little, a time when traveling over a hundred miles was a big deal and took an hour or so longer because the traffic slowed for every town from A to Z.  Do I miss those times...Yes! Do I think the freeways are a necessary evil...of course.

     

The Snake River, the life blood of Southern Idaho.

Little would exist here without it!

Hammett crossing and the end journey of our day trip.

This country is so different than it was 30 years ago, cheat grass and fires have completely changed the landscapes.

One thing that is the same or even better (I think better) is the amount of birds on the river, This river is overflowing with bird life.  If I could spend some time here and take more than 3-4 pics...who knows.  Oh, and if I tried to be a bit more stealthy. lol  

Four towns, Bliss, Glenns Ferry, King Hill, and Hammentt.  GlennsFerry was overall the nicest and probably the friendliest. Many old homes and friendly people.  The food was good and the restaurant was clean (The Stop Drive? I think the name was).  Many big yuccas, Y. recurvafolias and huge filimentosas with leaves over 3 feet long! 

Hammett on the other hand was by far the worst.  On the way back we stopped at the "Hammett valley" store, it only cost us $5 of junk food so my wife could use the restroom.  Just so we are clear this was the store on the corner just before you turn off for Bruneau (not the store to the east).  And they wonder why they are just about out of business?  Reminds me of the saying "you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar"!  

King Hill.

Wow...has this place change, almost a ghost town now.

Out of the four places we drove through this was the only town I have pics of.