Dandelions. Ugh.

Well, we've got a bumper crop this year. They've been increasing in numbers both here at home and at the cottage. We're avoiding dandelion killer at home (saving the kids from the chemicals, us too) and can't use anything, even fertilizer, up at the cottage because of the pond. So my favorite tool right now is the handy-dandy dandelion fork.

I'm amazed at how many of these plants I can get out with root intact when the soil is damp. You do need to get the whole tap root out to prevent them from growing back. But even if you don't get it all, getting the majority weakens the plant, depriving it of the opportunity of photosynthesis. Every plant you pull stops the reseeding process. We all know how efficient those puff balls are at seed spreading. 

If your yellow heads have already turned white, you can carefully pick them and get them out of your yard. When the kids were younger I'd send them out to pick the yellow dandelion heads, just so they wouldn't go to seed. One cent per head, honor system. At least it stemmed the spread.

There are other methods to get rid of them--can use hot water or vinegar--but those kill the grass, too, and dandelions are usually embedded in the grass. You can also spread corn gluten on your lawn, which prevents the seeds from taking root. 

But there's something satisfying about pulling out those weeds. I'm amazed at how quickly I can fill a bag. Then I can sit back and enjoy a nice clean patch of green grass.

Those bees...

OK, enough of the "travel blog." Anyone else dealing with ground bees? Never knew what a ground bee was until they settled in my yard last year. Last spring I found lots of holes in my gardens--little sandy cones--with a good number of bees buzzing low around them. Problem is, these holes were in, let's say, inconvenient places--up in my raised bed where I need to balance 4' above the ground to cultivate, plant and weed. They were also throughout my annual and herb bed, which I was about to dig up, mulch and plant and this year they're also in my lawn. 

Thought I was sitting on an immense hive. Scary--especially with a son who wants to stay inside at the sight of a bee. 

Did some research to figure out what had invaded my yard and found out some interesting things. Ground bees live one to a hole and are active just for about a month or so of the year. They like poor or exposed soil (hence why they like the area in front of my hemlock.) Some people just ignore them, knowing they'll eventually be gone, but I needed to dig right where they were. While I'm used to working among the bees, I had no interest in angering a bunch of them by digging up their houses.

I try to keep as organic as possible in my yard, so I was searching for a solution that would be compatible with that. Apparently a simple one is boiling water. So for all the holes that were in areas I would cultivate or right where I'd walk, my husband and I would head out at dusk when the bees would be back home. We were armed with a kettle of steaming water and a funnel and we'd put the funnel on the hole and pour in about a cup of water. 

The bees were back this year and we treated them once before we went on vacation. I see fresh activity (holes and cones), so we apparently didn't get them all. The ones in the lawn I'll leave--we just won't mow late in the day when they're headed back to their nest. We'll need to head out with the kettle again. My annual garden desperately needs to be turned so I can get ready to plant. And considering my late start on things this year, that should be now!

Interested in more?  http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/miningbees.html

Petrified Forest

No, as my son learned, this forest has no standing trees of stone. It sure does have a lot of beautiful rock, though, as the minerals that have settled in these logs have created a rainbow of hues. Did find a few plant gems in this arid place.

Traveled next to Canyon de Chelly and really enjoyed the dying light on the canyon. Then the next day moved on to Monument Valley. Here, above, you can see the scrub that dots the landscape.

And for a bit of scrub in a different environment, the Grand Canyon, south rim.

In closing, a view on South Kaibab Trail, very green because it's spring.

A Break From the Local Flora

A bit of a diversion... Just came back from a great 10-day vacation in Arizona during April and thought I'd share some of the local flora. Kinda hampered my local gardening efforts, but, well, it was worth it. Of course, I did have to do a little web research to see if we would catch desert bloom. We were going to be there at the tail end. While most of what you go to see in Arizona is rocks, my camera caught a bit of the living stuff, too.

Travelling north of Phoenix, toward Flagstaff, we stopped at Montezuma's Castle. Here they had beautiful Arizona Sycamores (Plantanus wrightii) with white trunks. It seems they have an extremely thin bark which mostly peels off. Makes a dramatic presence. The Sinagua used them to construct their dwellings. 

Also saw creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) with their yellow flowers. Some of these evergreen plant are believed to be 11,000+ years old. Hard to believe.

North of Flagstaff, we visited Sunset  Crater, a 1000’ high volcanic crater with a number of smaller cinder cones around it. We hiked to the base of this volcano which erupted around 1100 and were surprised at how little vegetation there was in the landscape. 

Hawaii  is enriched by the fertile volcanic soil, but in Arizona, the sparse rainfall slows the growth. Found these beautiful, tiny yellow flowers in the flat area near the base. 

The Ponderosa Pines were beautiful. Their bark was deeply textured, just wonderful.

And, lastly, here is a tiny orange succulent from the desolate environment of Meteor Crater.