Native Plants of the Great Basin and Nearby

Desert Mountain Visits

2011-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

Astragulus found on the side of Japs Road

This little yellow flower made me stop and back up to take a closer look. Looks pretty spectacular, but most likely I will not be able to find it when the flowers are gone.

There were a lot of these penstemons growing in the area. I believe that it is Penstemon humilus. They also grow along the Cal Valley road.

This penstemon, P confusus was found in the road cut of Highway 50. It has a little brighter color than the population that is north of the Cal Valley road.

I have made a few visits into the desert mountains more precisely Cal Valley Road. There were some nice native perennials growing in the area. They are later blooming this year because of the cold weather that we have had. The First time I visited that area, there was nothing blooming.

native plants

2011-01-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

A favorite Penstemon is the Eaton Penstemon. Check out the following pictures. Photos one and two and three

Pinion Pine Nuts

2010-12-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

Ever since I have been in the nursery business, and probably longer than that, there has been a demand for pinion pine trees. They grow at a turtles pace, especially when they don’t get supplemental irrigation. It may take 20 years to grow and eight foot tree I plant them every year from seeds that I collect or buy. This year I bought nuts sometime in October. I have a fridge that doesn’t work. I store them there because the mice can’t get to them. I did not get them planted when I wanted to. I remember during the night or when I am out of town. I planted the nuts yesterday about one inch apart in three germination trays. There were seventy-two nuts in each tray. I planted part of them directly into the Leach tubes that I use. Some I sprinkled in germination trays filled with soil. They are watered and in a heated greenhouse just waiting to grow. I have to keep the mice away. I have traps set for them and there are cats around that get them, Check out Great Basin Natives for more native plants.

Spring Before the Wildflowers Flower

2010-04-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of the year that I had a chance to check out the wild flowers. The snow had melted and the road was dry. I did not go all the way up the Cal Valley road. I did not have much time to go any higher and there was probably snow in the shady part of the road at a higher elevation. There was nothing flowering, but a lot of plants that were beginning to grow. In another week or two there should be some flowering. I have a few pictures.

The top picture is Eriogonum umbulatum and Flox taken today. The Second photo is Eriogonum blooming taken last year. The third picture is the estragulas taken last year and the last picture is the estragulas taken today.

Planting Trees That Don't Use Much Water

2010-02-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

Many drought tolerant trees are irrigated by the use of drip lines. Initially A small tree doesn't require much water. The quantity of water for each tree may be set for one gallon every day. That keeps the tree alive and tree may grow quite well. The roots stay where the water is so the tree doesn't develop a good root system. A hard Wind may blow the tree over; especially if the wind comes just after they are irrigated. The roots don't grow beyond the wet soil from one gallon of water. If the tree survives the wind, the water is turned off because it is felt that it can grow in the yard like it grows in its native environment. When the supplementary water is shut off the tree begins to suffer from the lack of water. It is better to give the tree seven gallons of water once a week instead of one gallon everyday. As the tree grows water should be applied further from the trunk to encourage roots to move out. The tree has a much better chance of surviving on water from the sky if the roots have grown out a substantial distance from the trunk of the tree. Many of the drought tolerant trees have roots that grow a foot below the surface of the ground, but are way beyond the drip line. There are some years that there is not enough rainfall to soak the soil more than a foot deep. The trees have and extensive shallow root system that can capture rainfall.

Great Basin Natives Home Page

2010-02-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

Great Basin Natives Home Page Some of the seeds that I planted since December are starting to come up. Black Sage, Artemisia nova, is showing tiny leaves at this time. The tiny seeds of the Fern Bush,Chamaebatiaria millefolium, are germinating nicely. It is a beautiful plant the looks good in all seasons. The aromatic leaves are fern like. Later in the summer white blossoms appear that attract all kinds of pollinators. In the fall there are brown seed heads at the top of green leafed stems. The green turns to a faded yellow in the early winter. Spring brings dark brown seed heads atop new green fern leaves. This drought tolerant shrub grows from two to four feet wide and two to four feet tall. After establishment, it survives on ten to twenty inches of water that falls from the sky. Nice plant for the back of the boarder or around the house in front of widows.

Mice and Rice

2010-02-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

Mice have been eating the Indian Rice Grass, Oryzopsis hymenoides, seed. I planted six trays of Indian seed about six weeks ago. I have noticed over the last week that mice have been digging up and eating the seeds. I put out three traps last night baited with peanut butter. This morning two of the traps had been tripped. One was upside down and the peanut butter bait was gone from the other trap. The third trap had some dry meat on it that I had tied to the trigger last fall. It was not touched. I have had this problem before, but having ten cats around has been very helpful. Maybe we should stop feeding the cats. I asked for suggestions on Facebook this evening and one person suggested that I hot glue dry dog food to the trap. Even though it is dark, I went out to the greenhouse with a flash light; brought in the traps; hot glued some dried cat foot to the traps. I will check in the morning to see what has happened. We should take advantage of this mouse skill and train them to sniff drugs at the airport, schools, and other places. They could easily and quietly do their job in the dark.

The Deep Freeze

2010-02-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

It snowed for about three days over a month ago. When the snowing stopped, the night time temperature dropped to over ten degrees below zero. I did not checked the greenhouse once during that time. It was dark when I tromped out through the snow. I opened the door and water was spraying all over. There was a valve right near the joint that had pulled apart. I quickly put a bucket over the spray and shut the water off. That joint has been leaking a little for a couple of years. I thought that the water pressure pulled the connection apart; no damage; I then went back to the house.

A few days later when the weather was a little warmer, I went to work. The fertilizer injector and all the piping to it were broken. The manifolds on the heating bench were broken. And the piping from the hot water heater was broken. The furnace pilot light had gone out and there was no heat for three of the coldest days of the winter. Most all of the tender plants froze. some of the tender cacti were not damaged. One of the surprises was the pomegranate bush. About three weeks later it started to bud and now there are four inches of new growth.

I lit the pilot light, ordered a new fertilizer injector, and a new manifold. I installed the new manifold and discovered that the circulation pump did not work. I ordered that Monday and got it today, Friday. It is hooked up and working. The seed trays on the heating bench must be happy. Things are beginning to grow again.

The pilot light has gone out before, but it wasn't cold enough to damage any of the plant material. I better get me an alarm to let me know when it happens again.

Zauschneria latifolia, Hummingbird's Trumpet

2010-02-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Hummingbird's Trumpet, Zauschneria latifolia. A great plant loved by humming birds and native plant people alike. Buds develop at the end of each each stem, then a new bud develops. Later the first buds began to flower and then the next. This continues all summer. One stem will have empty seed capsules, seed, flowers, new flowers, and buds at the same time. I picked seeds several times a week during the summer last year. Drought stops the flowering. A monthly soaking will keep the flowers blooming all summer. Four or five plants in a basket or tub makes a good display. It spread by under ground stems and by seeds. I have a plant in my yard that has been there since 1999.

It is also known as California Fuchsia. I made a hanging basket with a lot of flowers A 14 inch Bloom Master basket has three rows of holes with ten holes in each row. Last year I put a Zauscheneria latifolia plant in each hole and ten plants in the top. That's 40 plants in all. It bloomed lightly last year. I left it in a cold frame all winter to partially protect it from the hard freezing. I checked it today and new growth has started. There will be multiple stems out of each hole this year where last year there was one or two stems. I am expecting a great floral display this summer. I cleaned it up by cutting off all of the old growth. You can buy plants at Great Basin Natives.

Princes Plume, Stanleya pinnata

2010-02-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

The warmer weather is affecting the plants in the cold frames. Buds of some of the trees and shrubs are beginning to swell. Some of the perennials are starting to grow. The Stanleya pinnata, Princes Plume. is one such perennial. It has remained green all winter and now shows leaf growth. If it remains in the cold frame much longer it will start to flower before gardeners can start planting. Yellow flowers on tall spikes starts blooming on the bottom of the top half of the stem. Over the course of the summer it blooms all the way to the top. There are ripe seeds at the bottom and flowers in the middle and new buds at the top of the flower stem. Older plants have numerous flower stems with a very long blooming time. It grows at various elevations, but an outstanding characteristic is its ability to survive on limited rainfall. These are ready to go now for those living in a warmer climate. See them at greatbasinnatives.com

Box Elder, Acer negundo

2010-02-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

The mention of Box Elder tree instanly brings to mind "no, no," the Box Elder bug. Box Elder is the most widely distributed of all the North American maples, It grows coast to coast and from Canada to Guatemala. This tree grows in almost every county in Utah. It is a fast growing shade tree that will grow in soils where other maples may not grow. The Box Elder bug lives off the seeds of the female tree. But Cutting down every Box Elder tree in your neighborhood or town would not eliminate the Box Elder bug. The bugs can fly a couple of miles from their food source. Also they can live on other maple trees and ash trees. Source

If any of you are interested in making maple syrup, The Box Elder tree is a good source for sap. Tapping a maple tree is rather easy. You will need some barbed couplers, plastic tubing the same size as the couplers, a drill and bit to make the hole, and a container to catch the sap. Find a tree that has a minimum diameter of 18 inches. The larger the tree the more sap that you will get. I used a gallon jug to collect the sap. It always ran over when I got back the next day. I would recommend a five gallon container. Have the tubing ready by inserting the coupler into the tubing. The sap may start flowing just as soon as you drill the hole. Drill the hole high enough to leave room below for the container. The hole should go about an inch beyond the cambium layer. The coupler should fit tight in the bark so the sap will not leak out. Caution: If the coupler goes beyond the cambium layer into the wood, the sap will not go through the coupler. Insert one end of the coupler and tubing into the hole. Of course the other end goes into the container. Several trees can be tapped at the same time and collection tubes can be hooked together.

You do this when the the day are warm and the nights are cold. This happens in February and March. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. A gallon of sap will make about one half cup of syrup.

Boiling sap in the house makes sticky walls. boiling outside over a wood fire is the traditional way. It is probably cheaper to buy the syrup, but it tastes good and is fun for the whole family.

Some Miscapes

2010-01-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

There are many things to consider in building a landscape. The problem that most people have, and even some of the professional people, has to do with mature plant size. In my yard, I have moved plants to a different location because they were planted to close together. There are a bunch more that need to be moved. Smaller plants cost a whole lot less money, and for most of them it doesn't take very long for them to grow bigger.

There is a breezeway between my house and the garage with a block path that goes to the backyard. After I put in the walking blocks, I planted several shrubs. They really looked nice for a couple of years, and still look nice, but the shrubs have grown over the path. I can still walk on it but when I do I brush against the shrubs. That's OK except when it rains or snows. Then I have to go off the path and walk across some flower beds to keep from getting wet. To fix it I could move the shrubs or move the path. I ended up moving the path which was a whole lot easier. That is just one of many examples.

When one installs smaller plants. You can get more plants for the dollar. However, with the smaller plants the yard looks pretty barren the first couple of year because there is a whole lot of space between each plant. The temptation to put them closer together is very great. I started a small dry garden that looked pretty bad because the plants were very small. My wife saw that and had me plant annuals in the bare space. The annuals required more water, but the first year for perennials also requires the same amount of water. That garden looked really good. We will see how it looks this spring.

Another problems is zoning your garden. Many gardeners do not consider the water requirement of the plant material. Most yards with sprinklers have several zones for the lawn. There would be some shrub zones and then some zones for the annuals and perennials. The problems is having different water requirements plants in the same zone. One plant may require watering every other day and then another one that does well by being watered once a month. Even natives plants have differing water requirements.

Consider natural landscapes. There are some that have a dominant plant like sagebrush, pines, or rabbit brush, but they are pretty boring. They may all have perennials that bloom at different times of the year and are of different heights. There are some annuals that bloom in different times of the year. The natural landscape is more interesting where the desert plants meet the pinions and junipers. Or where the pinion/junipers meet the mountain trees and shrubs. All the plants in the natural landscape have the same water requirement. Years of higher rainfall produce a greater floral display than the years with lower rainfall.

Generally speaking annuals bloom all summer and perennials bloom for one to four weeks. They bloom, go to seed, and then they are done. Therefore, one should plant some perennials that bloom in the spring, some in the summer and others that would blooming the fall. Flower color should also be considered. Planting a few annuals among the perennials will give nice color all summer long.

Plant height is another consideration in the landscape. Usually tall plants are in the back and short ones in the front. But that doesn't always have to be that way. If there are short plants in the back, There has to be some opening past the taller plants so that the short plants can be seen. I don’t like to see plants in rows with tall row in the back and each row getting shorter until the shortest plants in the front row.

A landscape should be attractive in winter or summer. Consider how a plant looks in the winter. Evergreens look good in the winter. Shrubs that have pleasing color bark or contorted branches have a high winter impact. Great Basin Natives

Starting a Native Garden

2010-01-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I received the following email:

I need advice on what to do with horrible patches of salt grass in my yard. I envision cosmos and lots of wild flowers, buckwheat, rocks, but what I have are a few trees and salt grass. Any tips?

Saltgrass, Distichlis spicata, is native to Utah and many other western states. It is very stiff grass that can grow in various soil types. It can grow in the dry desert and in mud and water. It is not a grass that children would like to play on or go barefooted. There are several positives for it. You don't have to water it, and it can hold the soil together to help prevent erosion. I would consider using some of it in the landscape. You could consider using it as walking paths where you could walk through your native landscape. The following plants arranged in your yard will leave you with beautiful, sustainable native landscape. All would have to be watered weekly for one full summer after planting. After that one watering in each of the following months of June, July, and August.
Perennials

Gaillardia aristata, Blanket Flower
Antennaria parvifolia , Pussytoes
Arenaria fendleri, Shrubby Sandwart
Argemone munita, Prickly Poppy
Dalea purpurea, Violet Prairie Clover
Eriogonum jamesii, James Sulphur Flower
Eriogonum ovalifolium, Coin Buckwheat
Eriogonum racemosum, Pink Smoke Buckwheat
Eriogonum umbulatum
Linum perenne, Lewis' Blue Flax
Mirabilis multiflora, Desert Four O'clock
Oenothera casespitoso, Tufted Evening Primrose
Penstemon barbatus, Scarlet Bugler Penstemon
Penstemon eatonii, Eaton Penstemon
Penstemon palmeri, Palmer's Penstemon
Penstemon angustifolius, var. dulcis
Perityle stansburyi, Stansbury's Rock Daisy
Solidago canadensis, Golden Rod
Sphaeraicea munroana, Munroe's Globemallow
Stanleya pinnata, Prince's Plume

Grass

Bouteloua gacilis, Blue Gramma
Bouteloua curtipendula, Sideoats grama
Elymus cinereus, Great Basin Wild Rye
Sporobolus airoides

Shrubs

Chamaebatiaria millefolium, Fernbush
Ephedra viridis, Mormon Tea
Gutierrezia sarothrae, Broom Snakebrush
Rhus aromatica var. Trilobata
Ribes aureum, Golden Currant
Sheperdia argentea, Silver Buffaloberry
Yucca Kanabensis, Kanab Yucca
Yucca utahensis, Utah Yucca

Trees

Acer negundo, Box Elder
Celtis reticulata, Netleaf Hackberry
Juniperus osteosperma, Utah Juniper

There are some other plants that might fit, but I don't know how they would do in your climate. Also there are cacti, cholla, bulbs that do well with only the winter rain and snow. Great Basin Natives

pruning mirabilis multiflora

2009-07-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Mirabilis multiflora is a pretty aggresive plant. I have planted only a couple plants. The first one was a little over twelve years ago. We got four or five truck loads of soil that was removed from a ditch the began to be clogged by the sediment that came in the irrigation water out of the canyon. We built three berms with this soil. That is where we began planting our natives. We planted one Mirabilis in the month of May, and with a little water, it grew to the diameter of five feet. We collect seed. The next year there were a few more plants and now there are many. They do have a problem. They will cover up every small plant that is close by. They grow over the top of large rocks. So when you plant one, give it plenty of room. There are times that you will have to prune it. You can cut as much off as you like. I would not recommend shearing, but just cut some branches off. The photo shows one of our plants that has plenty of room.

More Mountain Lover

2009-07-03T21:27:00.001-07:00

Pictured are the some seed pods of the Mountain Lover. There are two pods centered near the bottom. There are two more pods just above the horizontal branch a little right of center. Each pod has one seed. I have been watching these for nearly a month now and have yet to see a ripe seed.

Native perennial Sunflower

2009-06-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

On June 3, I found this native sunflower in the foothills about ten minutes from home that had just barely started to bloom. I was looking for penstemons in that area a couple of days before the Penstemon Festival. I found Penstemon watsoni in this same area.
June 23. very impressive floral display. I hope to get seeds from this and have it growing at my nursery a year from now. This plant looks good from the time the snow melts and the new growth appears to full flower. I don't know how it will act with some dead heading, but I will be finding it out and report it at a later time.

Close up June 23, 2009. This is a very impressive plant. It may look better this year than other years because of the good spring snow and rain that we have had. Elevation is around 6,000 feet.

Paxistima myrsinites

2009-06-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Paxistima myrsinites, called Mountain Lover, is located in many areas in many states. There is a large population in the shade of Gambel Oak along the upper Cal Valley road. It is about 25 minutes from my nursery. I went back there after the Penstemon Festival to collect some seed from a very short Pussy Toes. While there I checked the Mountain Lover for seed. I have seen it flower numerous times, but never saw any seed. It was was really shady and all I could see were the flowers. I cut several stems to bring home where there was more light. To my surprise the were a number of seed pods in different stages of development. The mature seed pods were oval in shape and 1/4 inch long and about 1/8 inch wide. The bottom photo shows one seed pod that is turning brown. It is about half way up on the left side of the right stem.
The Mountain lover is evergreen an looks great in the shade.

Penstemon Festival

2009-06-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

The penstemon Festival is now over. It was very succesful. There were not a whole lot people there but the few that were there had a good time. We were looking at five penstemon along the Cal Valley road. After we got there we found some palmer Penstemon that we had not seen before. And on the way back to the nursery we stopped near the Scipio pass to see the Penstemon Watsonii that I had found a couple of days earlier. It is the one that is pictured. Pictured also are some of the people that were there.

Fallugia paradoxa APACHE PLUME

2009-05-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Almost every day in the garden and nursery that is something new that is blooming. I have notice the Apache Plume blooming the last several days. I got a chance to take a picture today. I think that you will enjoy this.

Check the earlier posting for information about the Penstemon Festival. The furthest walk will be about 200 feet from the road.

Penstemon Festival

2009-05-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

It starts Friday, 5 June at 7pm. The program will be at our home just west of the greenhouses at Great Basin Natives 75 West 300 South. If you are coming in on I-15, take exit 174. follow the road into Holden and turn west on 300 South. We are looking forward to seeing you. Saturday we will meet here so we can leave at 8:30 am. It will take about 25 minutes to drive to the Cal Valley Road where there are five different penstemons and many other wild flowers. We will meet back at the city park just east of the church for lunch. After lunch we will come back to the nursery to see the penstemons and other native plants there. There will a free penstemon and a free native annual for every one. Thanks

Penstemons 2009

2009-05-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

This morning, Robert and I visited the wild flowers on both sides of the Cal Valley Road. This is where we will be going on the penstemon festival June 6, 2009. The Program Friday night will feature a slide show of the penstemons pictured and the other wild flowers at this location. Pictured are the different penstemons that we will see.
P. comarrhenus, is not blooming. Pictured is a 2008 photo
P. eatonii
P. humilis
P. confusus
P. tidestromii
.

The unknown penstemon is P. Humilis

Erigeron flagellaris TRAILING DAISY

2009-05-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing plant. The photo is looking down on the plant that is in a Terra cotta pot. It is a nice ground cover that has been growing in full sun. It sends out runners in all directions which root in as they grow. Under cultivation it is green all summer. After runner root in they will soon flower. The flowers close at night and then open again. The are flowers and emerging buds on the same plant. Flowers are on top of six inch leaf less stems.

Penstemon watsonii

2009-05-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

The seed from this particular penstemon was collected near the top of West Mountain west of Payson, Utah. I found this plant in 1989. There was only one large penstemon in the area. It was surrounded by sage brush. The mountain is very dry, so I thought the plant is unique. There was a lot of seed the first time I went back. I planted some in the fall and got good germination. I got some nice plants. and planted one. It did not survive to the next summer. I found the seed some years later and planted a thousand seeds or so. No germination. The next year I planted most of the seed and got two plants. One is pictured here. Last fall I planted the rest of the seed. I have about five plants. I hope to use these plants for seed production of this very drought tolerant penstemon. I have not not looked for the original plant for about five years. If it is still there, it will be at least twenty years old. I hope to see it this summer. I have to go when it is blooming and again to collect some seed.

Unknown

2009-05-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

The penstemon is blooming. Robert may be here today and he will be able to key it out. It is about eight inches tall.

2009-04-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the picture for this week. Size of the plant is not changing, but the buds are larger. There is considerable change between this photo and the first photo. other photos

Wednesday again

2009-04-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

This plant is not getting and bigger. It looks a lot healthier than the first picture after transplanting. Buds are beginning to develop. The size looks similar to the plants where I collected the seed. Robert said it is Penstemon humulis.

Unknown penstemon

2009-04-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

There has been some change since the last picture was taken. Some flower buds have began to develop. Once it blooms I will be able to determine just what penstemon it is. The penstemon flower has five stemons.

Unknown Penstemon Post II

2009-04-01T20:44:00.001-07:00

It has been seven days since the last picture. The first picture show transplant shock. This picture shows that the pensteman has recovered from the shock and is looking pretty good. We will follow this plant until it blooms. It is in a one gallon pot, which is less than a gallon, but called gallon anyway.

The Unknown Penstemon

2009-03-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 2007 I was looking at the wild flowers along the Cal Valley. There are five different penstemons along that road. Penstemon humulis, eatonii, tidestromi, comarrhenus, and one unknown. I collected seed from a penstemon that I didn't know. They were planted in the late fall of the same year. I plant my seeds in a 1020 germination tray in the early winter of each year. They are placed in a cold frame for the winter. the doors are screened to keep the birds out. I have to water them once a week during the winter. Then I have to blow the water out of the lines to keep them from freezing. I didn't notice any germination of the unknown penstemon last spring and summer. I was looking at last year's trays and discovered that the unknown penstemon was germinating, and there were five plants from last year that were growing quite large. There were numerous seedlings that had emerged this spring. I transplanted the five into gallon pots and put the tray back on the bench to wait for more transplanting. When the five bloom this spring, I will be able to identify them. I think that they are humulis, but we will see. The picture is of the repotted penstemon. It is suffering a little from the stress of transplanting. I will be showing its progress with a weekly picture.

Penstemon eatonii FIRECRACKER PENSTEMON

2009-02-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

This penstemon grows in well drained gravel soil. There are five different penstemons that grow in this area. They were very attractive during the summer of 2008 because of the higher than normal snow fall the previous winter. There were more populations of this penstemon than any of the other five. It does well in the landscape, but is somewhat short lived. In my garden it has reseeded itself. It grows upto two feet high and about 18 inches wide. Butterflies and humming birds love it.

Sphaeralcea coccinea SCARLET GLOBE MALLOW

2009-02-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

This mallow is only about eight inches tall. There are some colonies of plants that are quite large. A single plant looks pretty lonely. They are very drought tolerant and usually are the first mallows to bloom in the spring. The smaller picture is a close-up.

Sphaeralcea munroana MONROE GLOBE MALLOW

2009-01-25T19:50:00.001-08:00

The Monroe Globe Mallow blooms in the Spring. This grows mostly just below the juniper/pinion area. During a wet spring large plantings are visible. There are some that are only 8 to 10 inches tall and some grow to 30 inches tall. They will do well in a landscape with a monthly watering. They will bloom again if they are cut down. I have seen them grazed in the western Utah desert They are easily reseeded. I have some in my desert landscape and I thin the some each year. There is not enough water from the sky if they grow to thick.

Rough Mules Ear

2008-12-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

The Rough Mules ear grows in the south east quarter of the state of Utah. It has these beautiful yellow flowers. These photos were taken in Arches National Monument near Moab, Utah. Another one of the plants that grow without much rain fall. These were growing in sandy soil. There are nearly 4,000 different native plants and trees in Utah.

Eriogonum umbellatum, Sulfur Buckwheat

2008-12-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

This is called the Sulfur Buckwheat. The Latin name for it is Eriogonum umbellatum. It is a striking flower in the late spring. There are large populations that turns a whole hillside yellow. the plant is fairly short, but the flower spikes may get twelve inches tall. In the garden and in the desert it grows with only the water that falls from the sky. In my area that may be 10-20 inches of annual rainfall.

Fallugia paradoxa, Apache Plume

2008-12-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

The flowering Fallugia paradoxa was astonishing this year. This is not the flower but the plumes of the seed. The plumes emerge from the white with a pinkish glow which then turns white. There are a few flowers on through out the summer. This has been growing in my yard since about 2000. It was started from seed, transplanted into a tube, and then transplanted to its present location.

Penstemon palmerii, Palmer's Penstemon

2008-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

This is a great specimen located at the parking lot exit at the visitor's center at the Dead Horse Point near Moab, Utah. Penstemon palmerii or Palmer's Penstemon. It is very tough. Here a seed was lodged in a crack of the asphalt, and began to grow. There are very drought tolerant. It is one of the few penstemons that have an order. Walking past patch of them is a pleasant olephactory experinece. They are a welcome plant in the landscape. Over water them and they get root rot and die.

Indian Rice Grass

2008-11-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Indian Rice grass with a small Monroe Globe Mallow in the front. This is an attractive bunch grass that looks great all summer and into the winter. It takes many years to get a specimen that looks like the photo. It will seed the first year and each year after will add additional stems. It is used in some place as food. It will make dough without gluten.

Monroe Globe Mallow

2008-11-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

This is a great plant. It is seen in a lot of different areas of the Mountain west, particularly after wet spring. If dead headed and water monthly during the summer, there will be a lot of flowers. It will reseed itself. One of the first plants that bloomed well for me was cut out during the fall clean-up. I was quite disappointed over that, but the next spring it came back, plus some seedlings.

Scarlet Gillead

2008-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

Evening Primrose

2008-11-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

This plant has large yellow flowers that bloom in the evening when it is cooler. The flowers remain open all night and then close when it gets hot the following day. It grows with only the rain that falls from the sky after it is established. After several years there are a lot of blooms, and blooms most of the summer.

Sand Verbena

2008-11-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

A very beautiful perennial that blooms all summer if there is adequate water. I the water is not sufficient, it will bloom only in the spring. A garden of these produces a very pleasant odor. These grow in sandy soil in many different areas in Utah. Those in Utah are white, but in the southern Nevada they are blue.

2008-11-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is a cute wild flower that grows in the low foothills north of Holden, UT. It is an interesting annual that grows in sandy soil. I have some seed of it that I home to get to grow in my yard and may become naturalized

Beaver Tail Cactus

2008-11-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

This Beaver Tail Cactus is growing in our garden. The start for this came from an area near Bunker ville, NV. It has grown here for several years. It had its best bloom this year. It has no needles.

Evening Primrose

2008-11-28T21:41:00.000-08:00

This is an evening primrose located a little west and north of Baker Nevada. It was early in June when I was at the American Penstemon Society Meeting in Ely, Nevada. Part of the group went to Baker and the surrounding areas. We found this and a bunch of other wild flowers.

Flower

2008-11-28T21:30:00.000-08:00

Penstemon tidestromi

2008-11-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

A very pretty blue penstemon. It almost looks metallic. There are five different kinds of penstemons growing in this area. This is a new one to me, and I will be planting it this winter.

Penstemon barbatus

2008-11-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

penstemon comarrhenus

2008-11-24T19:54:00.000-08:00

Penstemon comarrhenus is 18 to 24 inches tall. An older plant has many stems filled with light lavender flowers. When many plants are in the same group, a great display is presented. The pictured penstemon was growing in an area that recieves about sixteen inches of annual rainfall.

Fringe Sage

2008-11-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

This shrub grows to two feet. Gray-green in color. They grow in a number of different places in Utah, but this picture is of a plant in the San Rafael Swell. An excellent foundation plant that will do well on the south side of a home of solid fence. Does not need any irrigation after established. A monthly watering during the summer will keep it looking fresh.

Solidago canadensis, Golden Rod

2008-11-24T19:24:00.000-08:00

This yellow flower blooms in the fall. Has the beautiful yellow flowers that hold their color for several weeks and then the seed heads remain until winter. It spreads rizomously which helps prevent erosion on steeper slopes. Can get quite thick if watered to frequently. A monthly watering in the summer is adequate. This is doing really well in my yard. Its been growing for nearly ten years. The on pictures is a single plant that might be a couple of years old.

Blazing Star

2008-11-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

BLAZING STAR
Here is another native flower that survives on very little water. It truly looks blazing. There is a single stem with numerous flowers that bloom at different times.

Penstemon angustifolius, var. dulcis, IPP Sandhills

2008-11-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

Penstemon angustifolius, var. dulcis, IPP Sandhills

This penstemon is located near Delta, Utah. It grows in very dry conditions. Good for areas where the annual rain fall is sparse.

2008-03-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

From time to time I remember things that have happened to me. These I will write down.

Waiting for my Mother and Father

There were many times in the evenings that my mother and father would go to some activity and leave us kids at home. I must have been some what anxious about that. I believe that I was less than ten years old. I don't remember any of my brothers or sister at home, but I am sure that I was not alone. There was a couch in the front room next to the window facing the east. After it was dark and when my parents should be coming home, I would kneel on the couch looking out the window watching for my parents. I would see the lights of a car coming. Hoping that it would be my parents, the car would drive right on by. Pretty soon I would be able to see the lights of another car. That car would also drive by. After a time a car would pull into our driveway. I was relieved to have them home again.

Punishment

The front door was on the east end of our house. The road was on the south side. There was an irrigation ditch between the road and the house. The driveway crossed the ditch and went north back toward the out buildings and the corals. I was walking with my mother and dad towards the out buildings. I don't remember what I did, but my mother spanked. I laughed and said, "That did't hurt." My dad then spanked and it hurt.

Witches Broom

2007-11-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

Pictured here is a Witches Broom growing in a Cercocarpus ledifolius, CURL-LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY. The witches broom are mainly found growing in conifers. Many small dwarf varieties of pines and spruces orginate from a witches broom. Cuttings are taken and rooted and then grown for stock plants. Then the stock plants are used to produce plants for sale. The Cercocarpus ledifolius, CURL-LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY is a very drought tolerant plant. With cuttings from the witches broom, a small plant is grown that fits nicely into the rock garden.

Cercocarpus ledifolius, CURL-LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY

2007-10-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

I will be writing about three Cercocarpus that grow in Utah and in most of the Mountain States. The three are Cercocarpus ledifolius, CURL-LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY, Cercocarpus intricatus, DWARF MT MAHOGANY or SMALL LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY, and Cercocarpus montanus, MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY also know as BIRCH LEAF MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY.

Cercocarpus ledifolius is erect, evergreen shrub that grows to 15 feet tall and some specimens have grown into a tree that is 40 feet tall. It is native to ten western states. It has a place in the landscape. If it is pinched each year, it will grow into a thick evergreen shrub. There are a some in nature that seem to grow naturally like that. The above pictures show a thick specimens from the San Rafael Swell. After established, these plants grow with water that falls from the sky. They would fit nicely close to a building.

Desert 4 O'clock Mirabilis multiflora

2007-10-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Desert 4 O'clock is a great plant for the dry landscape. It is one of the first plants that we planted in our desert garden. Not knowing how it would grow, we were pleasantly surprised. By the end of the summer, it had grown to about five feet in diameter and it flowered most of the summer. The vegetation was lush with magenta flowers that opened when the temperature cooled down in the afternoons and remained opened all night until the late morning when the temperature become hot. It is a hardy plant that survived the cold winter and grew with out water the following years. What seeds that were missed by the mice, germinated the following spring. We had numerous plants the following year.

I had asked some arborists that were pruning trees in the neighborhood if I could have the shredded limbs and branches. They brought a couple of loads over and dumped them in just off the street. I spread them out on the driveway and walkways. I did not get to one pile until the next summer. It had been dumped on a Desert 4 O’clock. The plant grew up through the shredded tree limbs and branches and bloomed of the rest of the summer.

One year the mice ate all the Desert 4 O’clock seeds that I planted. I found out that they do not need to be stratified. When planted in the warm spring, they will germinate in a couple of weeks.

Drought Tolerant Gardens in the Great Basin

2007-10-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Water has become a big issue in the Great Basin. The population is increasing and water resources not keeping up. Therefore, the quantity of available water has to be divided by the number of people using the water. As the population increases, the quantity of water per person gets smaller.

There are a number of things that can help conserve water. Many are being done now. Stop all of the leaks, line canals and ditches, use moisture sensitive devices that prevent sprinklers coming on if it is raining. The use of gray water and runoff from buildings and parking lots, etc. is gaining attention.

The use of native and drought tolerant plants in the landscape is a partial solution to having nice gardens using less water.