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Quick Answers,
Once Again
For those persistent Tucson gardeners who have
searched
for a specific topic on the Tucson Gardener
Web site (sometimes more than once) and came up blank, here are
more quick answers. As mentioned in previous Quick Answer postings, a
lot of us need to work on our spelling or type a bit slower to avoid those
typographical errors. The Internet is a wonderful resource for information
but so is an old fashioned dictionary.
1. Fucia?
Someone has been very persistent in this
search. I know of no plant called a Fucia. I believe the genus is
Fuchsia and I happened to see one in a hanging basket in a Target gardening
center two days before this was written. The flowers were not open and I
doubt anyone that purchased the plant would have much luck with the blooms.
The pendulous flowers, when open are eye catching and I can still
remember a terrific Fuchsia cover and article in a Sunset Magazine from many
(too many) years ago.
You're more apt to find the plants along the coast
where cooler temperatures and higher humidity can be found. Tucson's hot
winds, bright sun and dry weather would make them tough to grow without
special treatment. You'd need to offer plenty of filter sun, high humidity and
cooler temperatures. A shaded, evaporative cooled greenhouse might help with
your success. If you're looking for more information check the
Fuchsia community
on the Garden Web and see what other gardeners are asking about when it
comes to growing the plants.
2. Killing
walking sticks
Why? In my garden I leave most insects alone, unless they
get extremely out of control and are detrimental to plants such a white fly,
aphids, mealy bugs, leaf cutter ants, and flee beetles which I have tried to
reduce in numbers on more than one occasion.
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Large
walking stick on the edge of a compost bin. |
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You're lucky to even see one in the
garden because of their unique stick like appearance. I spend considerable time
in my garden and seldom see the fascinating creatures. When I do, I enjoy
them for what they are along with many other insects whether it's a moth,
spider, butterfly or praying mantis. Leave the docile creatures alone.
3. Pack Rat
Bothersome to say the least. I have way to many
on my property, due to some nearby land clearing. They moved to my property when
their homes were bulldozed which is usually inside prickly pear cactus. They
are slowly destroying the stands of prickly pear I have.
They've also found their way into my carport where they build nests among
the clutter
and have
chewed on just about everything they can find including the refrigerator,
seat cushions, boards, dried gourds, etc.
They also are
known to get into the engines of cars and chew on wires. You'll see people
with that problem leaving a light on all night under their car's engine.
Supposedly pack rats don't like bright light although I often seen them
during the morning and evening.
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This pack
rat had made a nest in a pile of scrap wood next to the vegetable
garden where he dined at night. |
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You can pay
an exterminator a hefty price to trap them, destroy their nest and remove
the debris but I'm sure another pack rat will return to take up residence.
You can live trap them yourself, but then you'll have to dispose of the
creature. You can set rat traps that snap on their necks using peanut butter
or grapes as bait but there's a chance you'll catch some other animal
whether a bird, rabbit, ground squirrel or mouse. The trouble with traps is
they are not very selective in what they trap or kill.
You'll have to
decided how serious your pack rat problem really is and take appropriate
action.
4. Plastic
Hanging Pots
Tucson gardeners any many others seem to have
an interest in plastic hanging pots. Most big box and garden centers
sell them although you might not have the size or style selection. Plastic
pots often come in eight, ten or 12-inch diameter and can have a saucer or
not. The other thing to consider is the hanging device whether plastic or
metal wire. I prefer the metal wires because I've had the plastic hangers
become soft in our hot summers and the pot has dropped to the ground. Colors
are usually green or white although you may find a terra cotta or other
color in some of the stores.
I purchase my
pots in bulk, ordering a minimum of 25 over the internet. There are a number
of greenhouse and nursery suppliers that will sell mail order to
individuals. A search on one of the search engines should give you a lead.
Know what you're
paying for and how much each pot will cost by the time you pay shipping and
handling. Postage prices have gone up so much in the past few years it may
be cheaper to buy from a local business. On my last order of 25 green,
12-inch pots two had broken plastic rims on delivery. I put them in the
recycle bin and I didn't save as much money as I thought I would.
5. Pictures
of alyssums
Easy to grow and colorful, Lobularia
maritima. The quail and other birds seem to
like to dine on the flowers. I grow them in pots,
hanging baskets and between my flagstone walk and next to my back porch. They come
in a variety of colors and often reseed themselves. The nurseries and garden
centers should have all the flats, or six packs you could want with names
like Carpet of Snow, Royal Carpet or Easter Basket mix. You can
purchase seed locally or from many of the on-line seed catalogs and start
your own.
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A white
and purple sweet alyssum mixed in with some stocks for winter and
spring color. |
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Low
growing sweet alyssum looks good when grown between stepping stones
like these slabs of flagstone. |
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6.
Beavertail?
I believe you can go to Sierra Vista and then
to the San Pedro River and see the real thing. Once a common site when there
were still plenty or riparian habitats the beaver is being reintroduced
along the San Pedro.
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The long
broad pad of the beaver tail prickly pear help provide its descriptive
name. The flowers at the top of the pad have already bloomed. |
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If you're talking
about a plant my guess would be the beaver tail prickly pea, Opuntia
basilaris,
which has short lived bright pinkish flowers in the spring. The plants are
easy to propagate. You can start your own from a single pad by letting the
cut dry out and then planting half the pad in a well drained soil. It will
root and then send out new pads. I have three in my landscape that I started
from single pad cuttings.
7. My
tree has no head
None of mine have heads either. They may have a
leader which is the central or upward growing stem. If its tip
is cut off then the leader will start sending out lateral branches and a new
leader may have to be trained if you're looking for additional height. If a
new leader isn't established your tree may end up looking more like a shrub
than a tree.
8. Yellow
alamanda
I recently added a bush Allamanda Golden Trumpet,
Allamanda neriifolia to a container that grows under my ramada
where it gets more shade than it does sun. If that's the plant you
searched for you need to keep in mind it's only cold hardy to 40 degrees and
uses quite a bit of water.
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Allamanda neriifolia will be susceptible to frost damage but this
one is grown in a plastic pot fitted inside a clay pot for added
summer insulation from the heat. This one is under a ramada and gets
afternoon sun. |
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The
elongated flowers of the bush Allamanda give this one the common name
of Golden Trumpet. |
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After some
initial yellowing of leaves and leaf drop the plant has been a prolific
bloomer all spring. Some of the branches have been a bit floppy and I've had
to tie them up. Knowing it's not suitable for Tucson's winters that's why
I'm' growing it in a pot. I'll control the plant's size with pruning
and move it to the greenhouse come winter. It adds a bit of a tropical look
that I want under my ramada where I spent a lot of the summer reading or
dozing in the hammock.
9. Hide
shed
If you figure that one out, talk to my
neighbors. They have two metal ones I look at every day. I've done a good
job planting trees to screen my property from the neighbors but I have one
mesquite tree that refuses to grow and it's at a size where I really don't
want to cut it down and start over. I have planted a willow acacia,
Acacia salicina, beyond
the mesquite next to the arroyo (wash) in hopes it'll help with future shed
screening.
Another neighbor
has a wooden shed at the side of their house and have done a pretty good job
hiding it with a fence. Location, trees, fences and fast growing vines would
be different ways to hide an unsightly shed.
Maybe the best
method is not to have to hide the shed. Build something that isn't an eye
sore. I'm planning to add a garden shed to my property next to my vegetable
garden. I've chosen the most useful location where it'll be hidden from
neighbors but not the street. I'm going to try to make it look like part of
the property and not be ashamed of it's appearance. If I'm successful a
picture will be posted here.
10. Heatwave
tomatoes
It's
all in the name. Originally there was Heatwave which claimed to produce
fruit set with higher temperatures. The new Heatwave II hybrid is suppose to
produce 6 to 8 oz fruit in 68 days in 95 degree temperatures arrive. The problem
with Tucson's high 95 plus temperatures is the blossoms drop from the plant
before you get fruit to set. Heatwave happens to be a determinate variety
meaning the plant only grows so long and you're harvesting the fruit over a
shorter period of time. So theoretically if you get your plants in the
garden soon enough you'll get all the fruit set you can handle before those
over 95 degree temperatures. My experience with Heatwave wasn't particularly
good. The fruit ripened and the rodents and birds found it long before me. I
prefer indeterminate tomato varieties in my vegetable garden that keep on growing until they are
killed by disease or frost.
Tomatoes
certainly very in size, flavor and toughness of skin. In my vegetable
garden, any homegrown tomato has got to be better than what you get at the
grocery store. (2004)
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