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The Tucson Gardener |
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In the Garden Calendar
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Where Does the Time
Go? It won't be too long, if they haven't already started, before the Harris squirrels, rock squirrels, and pocket gophers start chewing at the row covers for nesting material. Signs of spring certainly started to show as the weather warmed. The hanging baskets of petunias and other plants became targets for lazy mourning doves that think the baskets make an excellent place to nest. I've had to chase several of the persistent birds away but that hasn't kept them from nesting in the citrus, mesquites and under the back porch. Somehow a project I had planned on putting off for maybe a year or two did get completed in early February when I was offered a reasonable price on flagstone work. That completed I had to shovel eight yards of fill dirt and place some heavy pieces of flagstone for stepping stones. (My back still aches and I have but four words to say to anyone that plans on doing their own flagstone work - smashed fingers and pulled muscles. Anyone that does that type of work earns their money.) After the path was completed I stuck in a few plants and then spent an hour or two cutting poultry netting to put around the new plantings. More landscaping is needed and that's planned for this month so plants can get established before summer arrives. Late one afternoon a couple of javelina managed to bully their way into the vegetable garden but I chased them back out before they dined on any of the vegetation. Then I had to repair the fencing the creatures had mangled to get into the garden. I also had a bobcat cross the yard one evening. That's only the second one I've seen in the neighborhood in the past 14 years. With the dry past winter the cat will probably stick around and feed on the rabbits and rodents that have remained well fed at the expense of my landscaping. I've also seen more coyotes than usual so they're looking for food and water, too. With the mid seventy and eighty degree days of late February the greenhouse got so hot I had to move the majority of the plants outside into cooler temperatures. I'll have to be ready to move the plants back for shelter if any cold, freezing nights show up in March. From the looks of the weather report that means tonight, March 1st. It's okay I can use the added exercise as preparation for the spring gardening chores ahead.
With the warm days the plants I started from seed back in November, December and January really began to grow. The Roma and cherry tomato plants are ready to go into the soil. The Gazanias, Talent Rose shades, are getting too large for their starter containers and the red and pink purslane I carried over in the greenhouse from last summer need to be transplanted into hanging baskets. I've also got a bunch of six inch containers of California poppies but I don't have anywhere to plant them unless I put up some more poultry netting to keep the rabbits at bay. About now I could use a refresher course in time management and one endless weekend.
That list of "To Do" I made for February got carried over to March and has nearly doubled in length. I'm thinking about giving up on list making because I'm getting tired of reminding myself of all the gardening things that need to be done. I'm nagging myself to the point of being annoying. I thought I looked forward to spring but now I'm thinking June sounds good because gardening becomes more of a survival mode and few, if any, new projects get started. In June my biggest concern will be using the smallest amount of water to keep my plants alive and where to find enough shade for the hammock. At that time I'll probably be wishing it was fall. Somehow, between turning the compost, tilling the vegetable garden, fixing the drip system, visiting a couple more of Tucson's nurseries, adding some new landscaping, starting up the swamp cooler, getting those houseplants repotted and continually whittling away at that pesky "To Do" list, I'm going to enjoy Tucson's great spring weather. I've already had thoughts of barbecued baby back ribs simmering on the grill, homemade vanilla ice-cream with fresh strawberries and a big slice of angel food cake. Ah, spring, I'm ready for it. Almost. The Tucson Gardener |
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