Tales from the Garden

A little over 2 years ago, my Tales from the Garden article was all about how much I love trees, especially the Cottonwoods and Mesquites that I am lucky to live amongst here in Arivaca.    But after writing last month about the idea of planting a tree for a child’s special occasion, I began thinking about where and when my “love affair” with trees began.   I think I have remembered some pretty good clues:     My early childhood was spent growing up on the south side of Chicago, on a typical urban street lined with small brick bungalows and small trees.   One of my friends lived in the house right behind us, with a huge deciduous tree in their back yard, and I loved every chance I got to play under it.   In addition, their street had a big curve in it, unlike anywhere else in the neighborhood, lined with tall trees that arched overhead.   How I wished my house had a shady green canopy over it!   Every Sunday, my parents took us to a littl...

Last month, my article focused on getting started on gardening and nature experiences with your own children or grandchildren by utilizing what is already growing in your landscape.   This month’s article is focused on ways to work together to add plants and other features to make it a child-friendly oasis!             ·       Give children their own “patch of land”:   Perhaps a special little nook that they can transform into a fort, a part of the food garden to grow their favorite veggies or fruits, or just a corner somewhere that they can dig and dig and dig….   Successful gardening with children means giving them some control, letting go of the concept of a completely tidy landscape, and enjoying their enthusiasm and efforts! My favorite garden proverb is “More grows in the garden than is sown there”, and it never holds more truth than when you are gardening with children.   ·     ...

Gardening can be a never-ending voyage of discovery, whether you’re a home gardener or professional.   When children take part in exploring and caring for plants, that shared voyage can be a joyful learning experience for everyone involved!   Think back to your first gardening or nature memories….   did your own love of plants begin with inspiration from a parent, teacher, or another role model? My first garden memory is of crawling into a tunnel of arching raspberry canes in our little backyard patch, where my Mom gave me “dibs” on all berries I could find in the center of the thicket, where only I could fit. That was a pretty special thrill for a 2-3 year old.   Being inside that little thicket also marked the beginning of my awareness of plants and their connection with the rest of the natural world.    60+ years later, I still remember that place and that feeling like it was yesterday.     It‘s pretty simple to get started on gardening and...

Spring is here, and bringing with it many exciting sights and sounds: Leaves unfurling on the trees, birds singing their hearts out to find a mate, the buzzing of bees in newly-opened flowers, and so much more. It’s a delightful adventure taking a morning stroll in the garden to see what’s new. It’s also been a delightful adventure planning the new garden for the Arivaca Dancehall property!      The focus for the whole property will be on growing native plants that attract butterflies, especially those that feed adult Monarch butterflies and their caterpillars:  • There will be a 850 sq ft. “meadow style” garden behind the garage building, filled with several drought-tolerant Milkweed species and other wildflowers, along with native grasses;  • There will be two rain gardens- one at the front of the property and one behind the restroom building - that receive gutter water from the front porch and restroom building (as well as supplemental irrigation), filled ...

Besides all the amazing "biological super powers" of woodpeckers that I wrote about in last month's article, each species also has a unique nest-building technique that is worthy of admiration: For instance, the favorite nesting place for Gila Woodpeckers is a living Saguaro cactus.  And as you can imagine, drilling a nesting cavity is a little different when you do it in a cactus than in a tree.  A Gila Woodpecker's bill is not strong enough to penetrate the ribs of a Saguaro, so it has to drill its nest cavity low on the Saguaro trunk, where the ribs are far enough apart to drill the entry hole between them.  Northern Flickers however, have a strong enough bill to drill directly through the ribs, so their nest cavities are typically the highest on the Saguaro trunk.   AND, no matter what woodpecker species is doing the nest-making, it actually takes a lot of advance planning.  The inner pulp of the Saguaro is very juicy with stored water, so woodpeckers have t...

Woodpeckers are one of the most well-known bird species even for casual bird-watchers, perhaps because we hear them during our (and their) daily lives even if we don’t see them.  Because most woodpecker species are also pretty fearless around humans, they are some of the easiest birds to attract to a backyard suet feeder, where it’s fun to observe them in action.    The area around Arivaca is frequently visited by many different woodpecker species, and this fall and winter we’ve had Ladder-back Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Gilded Flickers, Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers visiting our birdbaths and feeders, along with our ever-present Gila Woodpeckers.   Besides being beautiful to watch and listen to, woodpeckers have an amazing and interesting set of “super powers”!   Woodpecker "shock absorbers" Have you ever wondered how their brain can survive all that hammering against tree trucks and other objects without getting a m...

Starting this past October, a solitary male Curved-bill Thrasher began spending a lot of time in our garden each day, foraging for food and water.   Since then, it been joined by another, most likely a female or a juvenile.  Whenever either of these crow-sized birds is on the ground, they are very easy to spot by the amount of wood chip mulch flying in all directions from their vigorous digging for soil insects and seeds!     As soon as the sun comes up, the male also likes to perch at the top of one of the Hackberry trees, its long and slender, hooked bill silhouetted against the sky.   When it opens that bill to begin to sing, what a marvelous series of melodies comes out! It typically makes a whit-wheet call that sounds like someone whistling to hail a taxi, but can also make a low chuk-chuk call that sounds much like the Yellow-breasted Chat, and to imitate the fussy, raspy calls of Wrens.   Its songs are very pleasant, with soft, round notes up ...