A Hawthorn Tree

I am so excited.   I just bought a ten foot hawthorn tree at Home Depot for $17.98, holy cow.  A hawthorn tree has been on my wish list for a long time.  My hesitation was where to put it, but with my septic system moved last fall, the old loction became the perfert place for a small tree.  And to find it affordable besides!  I figure at my age I had better get a hawthorn growing because it is such a great heart tonic.  And it is beautiful as well; flowers, berries and hopefully some fall color.

Frosty Nights

There have been five or is it six frosty nights out here on the high desert.  Do you know that when basil freezes it almost completely disappears.  It is tough on geraniums, peppers and tomatoes also.  After the first night, of course, I covered everything, but sure too late for the basil.  It has not dropped too low, however, so the overall damage is minimal.  Many times in June it will go to 20 degrees or so, that is really hard on the garden, and it may yet.  But I still have apples!

Cheat Grass

Cheat grass. Bromus tectorum, the weed pest of the day.  I have pulled bushels and it it still way ahead of me.  Now is the time to get it under control, before the seeds mature.  It is an annual grass that spreads by seed, so to control it, you must stop the seed.  It is an alien species, coming from the steppes of Russia and has naturalized here very successfully.  It is a problem as it competes with the native grasses and it is aggresive.  When the seed ripens it is sharp, it sticks in your socks and shoes.  It gets in dogs ears, (I have spent hundreds of dollars at the vet) between their paws and in their noses. 

It is very lush this season, it loves the spring rains.  I have never seen it so tall and robust.  I have one area here it is so tall and thick that it actually  lodged.  Get out there now and pull that cheat grass.

 

 

I still have apples

I am happy to report that I still have baby apple, plums, cherries, a few pears and the best lilac bloom ever.  The thermometer hit 30 degrees twice last week but the babies endured.  Is it global warming or only a cycle?  Whatever, for the first time in 29 years that I have lived here near Alfalfa, Oregon, I am going to have fruit on my trees.  Awsome. 

Blooming Right Now

The wild flowers are just beginning to really go into show mode.  It never ceases to amaze me that this terrain, this soil, that is just sand and for much of the year looks dead and barren, bursts into bloom in the spring. Life truly is wonderous.

Is this prairie rocket (Erysimum asperum) or western wallflower (Erysimum occidentale)?

 

Death Camas, Zygadenus venenosus

 

Bitterroot, Lewisia rediviva

Blooming Right Now

The wild flowers are just beginning to really go into show.  It never ceases to amaze me that this terrain, this soil, that is just sand, and for much of the year looks dead and barren, bursts into bloom in the spring.  Life truly is wonderous.

 

Is this prairie rocket (Erysimum asperum) or western wallflower (Erysimum occidentale)?

 

 

 

Frosty Nights

The challenges of gardening out here on the high desert and at the foot of the Cascade Mountains are many, but to me, the worst and most frustrating are the frequent spring and summer frosts.  We are on frost alert right now, full moon tonight, a risky time.  This apple bloom time has been the mildest (in terms of few frosty nights) in my 29 years of living here on this property..  I have had one tree full of apples once, and maybe three times we had a couple apples.  This year I am almost giddy, all four apple trees have fruit, as well as plum and pears trees are with babies.  Now I say my prayers, because tiny, baby fruit can still be frozen off of the limbs. 

Two nights ago it was 30 degrees on the thermoter in my front yard, but we had rain the night before and everything was wet, so not too much damage was done.  I did, however notice a bunch of my strawberry blossoms blackened.  Meanwhile, since there are not too many clouds this evening, I will carry in several dozen tender potted plants, I just do not trust it.

If we get through this crisis spot, we will maybe be safe again till mid-June when we often have frosts again.  Watch out around the forth of July and mid August.  Actually any night of the year can frost here in Central Oregon.  I have seen snow fly around the forth of July several times.  Our climate is warming, however, whether global warming or other causes or cycles,  I might get apples this year and  am for the third time having a lilac bloom. 

 

 

Ten Miles NW of the Badlands

The wild flower season is moving right along out here ten miles NW of the Badlands.  The sand lilies are just finishing up, and the western wall flower, milk vetch and larkspur are in full swing.  Just beginning, or in bud are the daisies, groundsel, bitter root and death camas.  All around Central Oregon the bitterbrush is in full bloom and soo fragrant.  It is a great time of year, the high desert at it’s finest.

Through the next month to month and a half is a really great time to visit the Badlands east of Bend, go Highway 20 to milepost 16 for the trailhead, the desert widl flowers are in their finest show.