Any moisture is welcome, but snow just sucks!

Well the weather here has been good enough for working in the garden, even though the temps have been below normal.  The ground was drying out and I was picking rock like I was mining for gold.
Tumble weeds were thrown in the fire pit and spring cleanup was well under way.
Well to keep this blog short, it snowed! And snow changes everything. ha!

Everyone bummed out on this snow day.

Anyone want to go outside?

Rocko, no!

 Lilly?

No!

 Mocho?

OK! 

Looks like fun. But I can't do much out here!

Yucca faxoniana, looking better. Looking better...nope!

I may have uncovered my agave to early.

Should be fine.

J-trees from Dolan Springs east to the Grand Canyon

Here are some pics of Yucca brevifolias I took from a moving car.  This was east of Dolan Springs, AZ to the Grand Canyon over look at the Hualapai Reservation. Febuary 2009

Many amazing plantsof all kinds, too bad there was many nocked down j-trees from the road grader.  If I could I would have taken many of them home, while they were still alive from being pushed over.  

Starting to love the weather again.

The snow is almost gone and the ground in most places is dry enough to walk on, so for me that is just about all I need!  Now I can burn tumble weeds, pull weeds, trim bushes, and pick rock. 

Yucca faxoniana

Looking a little more beat-up everyday, hang in there!

Pediocactus sp.

Voles/mice loves this cactus sp.

Yucca baccata, looking good all winter.

Yucca faxoniana

This a typical covering for me.  This will greatly increase survival of your plants when they are young, or as seasonal cover for less hardy plants such as agave that just barely make it.  I reuse the plastic and stakes.

Yucca recurvifolia, this is my best one. ha!

Yucca elata, are not as hardy as some think when young.

The burn almost every year when the are young, but will gain much cold-hardiness with age. 

Contrasting colors and shapes and repeats are good for landscape interest.

Of course my garden is just that a garden, and not really a visual landscape. Well it's as visual as I can make it with the use of many different plants.  But for a quick landscaping lesson, Contrasting colors and shapes, repeat plantings, plantings and hardscapes in 3's and 5's (odd numbers look best) that's a start. 

I just noticed today that my Yucca elata that bloomed last year has two new crowns.  

Agastache sp.

This is what frost heave can do to plants without good draining soil.

Yucca reverchonii x thompsoniana?  I think.

Light at the end of the tunnel.  Almost done with the dry creek!

These rocks are hand picked out of the ground, not like someone dropped off a truck load in a pile. lol 

Some of my other rock projects.

Frog at the door.

My wife found this tree frog the other night, just outside the front door.  It was about 36F and dropping.  I'm sure it found its way home before frost set in. But what is most amazing to me is this was three days after subzero weather with highs in the teens.
Wildlife is amazing!   

Pacific tree frog

My Yucca faxoniana, shows the damage done as the weather warm again.

This is heavy damage but it could live.

This is the one I thought should have died by now.

This is Agave americana protoamericana, no heat just a plastic cover.

This is from many a sucker from a plant I bought awhile back, so maybe it is getting hardier with each surviving sucker? 

A new test subject, Echinocereus ledingii

Looks good!  So far?

And the hardiest of all the Opuntia basilaris!

You can get these from Plantasia Cactus Gardens

And another cool O. basilaris I got from a friend in Canada, Thanks Jay!

Yucca rostrata, looks like it will be ok!

These are very hardy here, but don't do much in my garden.  Maybe I should water them?

Y. gloriosa variegata?

And the sucker/clone from my big Y. brevifolia

I meant to cover this and never did, has some winter damage? 

My big Yucca brevifolia, come out of the cold spell looking like a rose!

My Yucca glauca

Yucca rostrata, yellow center, but looked the same last winter.

This small one is as old as the other two, but in a low spot in the garden.  It will be moved next year.

And a hybrid yucca I started from seed.  Thanks Time for the seed.

As you can see, looks good! 

j-tree, looks good!

Also looks good!

Yucca schidigera, I doubt this will live, never been hardy here before.

Dead! 

Echinocereus reichenbachii

Echinocereus inermis

Echincereus mojavensis

Sclerocactus parviflorus