Do you get excited about rain?

I must explain something up front.  El Paso, Texas, my home town, receives on an average only 9.7 inches of precipitation a year.  This meteorological fact means that for El Pasoans, rain chances are a cause for great rejoicing.  Weathercasters on the nightly news proudly announce a 10% chance of rain.  We imagine a downpour.  Rain clouds build in the sky.  We are sure that today will be the day for a soothing rain shower. A hint of moisture can be detected in the morning air as we walk outside to collect the morning paper.   Should the garden be watered today? Any hope, however slight, of precipitation is cause for optimism.

And when it does finally rain!  In my household, we call out to other family member, "It's raining!", which means we all rush outside and yes, often stand in the rain.  Sometimes this weather event calls for sitting on the front porch swing to watch the rain coming down.  Other times it suggests a ride around town, just to be out in the moisture-laden air.  Friends text or call each other to see if it is raining in their neighborhood or to brag about how much rain their own area is receiving.

"The plants will love it,"  someone always observes about rainfall.  In our hot desert climate, we grow quite a few native plants that depend on rain for survival.  Even the prissy little annual plants in the garden appreciate a drink of the nitrogen-filled rain water. Several days ago, during a brief rain event, my husband Wayne rushed outside to take pictures.  Here are some of his photos that may give you an idea of what it means to an El Pasoan to have rain.  In this picture,  rain clouds are building in the Northeast.

This was the view from the front of the house as the rain started.  You can see yuccas, ocotillos, smaller cacti, and a mesquite tree in the neighbor's yard, all soaking up moisture. 

This was a view of the back yard, with grapevines and the garden gate getting a good washing.

Through the garden gate, small fruits on the dwarf nectarine tree were wet with rain.

And the small pears weren't missing out on the shower either.

It is especially helpful to desert plants when the rain falls.  This is a candelilla plant.  It is a native of the Chihuahuan Desert and is frequently found in Big Bend region of Texas.  In order to preserve moisture, the candellila plant coats its stems with wax, which can be extracted for products like chewing gum and cosmetics.  The flowers on the stems are tiny, but quite attractive .  I was very glad the candelilla was receiving some natural water, although I do like it so much that I give it supplemental water as well.

This is a close up of the blossom on an ocotillo plant.  A common name for the ocotillo is coachwhip, which I think describes the long, spiny stems very well.   These plants have always been a mystery to me.   I can never predict when they are going to produce tiny green leaves or brilliant red blossoms. I do think that rain encourages ocotillos to put on a show.  A former neighbor of ours remarked once that ocotillos spend half of their lives looking dead.  But I think it is worth waiting for when they spring into life.  Hummingbirds love them!  

So, I hope you can see that when thunder rolls and lightning flashes in the desert, the happiness quotient of El Pasoans rises.  We know we are in for a treat, and I have to believe that the plants know that as well.

Love those Volunteer Plants!

Ah!  Springtime in the Desert Southwest.  Time to walk outside and discover new volunteer plants that have sprung up in the warmer weather.

I'm not sure if all gardeners call these types of plants 'volunteers', but I don't think I made up the term.  They are the wonderful baby plants that appear when larger plants reproduce themselves without me having to lift a hand.  The new plants often appear in the vicinity of the mother plant so that I can easily guess what they are.  At other times, I have to wait until the plant grows or even blooms before I can identify it for sure.

Misplaced Pomegranate Tree

Several years ago I transplanted a small green plant (they all look alike), thinking that it was a smallish crepe myrtle bush.  It took several growing seasons before I realized that it was a pomegranate tree. Now it is quite large and occupies a space that my husband assures me is going to wreck all kinds of havoc in its tight space.

Volunteer plants are like gifts from nature, but they don't always show up where you want them to. So if you are the type of gardener who has everything in the landscape planned out, then volunteer plants probably seem more of a nuisance than a boon to you. 

There is a volunteer salvia greggii in the front yard of our house that has been there for several years.  The mother plant is just a few feet away.  Because the baby plant is right up against the house foundation, I thought it would be best not to let it continue there.  I got the shovel and tried to dig it out by the roots.  It slunk back into the ground for a while but reappeared and even put on flowers to endear itself to me.  I may try to transplant it when it grows a bit larger.

Volunteer Salvia Greggii

Volunteer Bird of Paradise

After several failed attempts to get a purchased Mexican Bird of Paradise to live in a side yard, I finally got one to thrive.  My patience was rewarded. Now I not only have a large, showy plant but at least two other good size plants nearby that are already putting on big, tropical-looking blooms. 

Another wonderful mother plant in our yard is the Mexican Firebush.  It isn't blooming yet this year, but I have successfully transplanted two volunteers to another flower bed and one volunteer into a flower pot to see if it will survive there.  I can hardly wait to see all of them covered with red blooms later this season.

"Mama" Mexican Firebush

Then there is the sad tale of the palo verde trees.  Before the legendary freeze in our area in February 2012, we had several very tall palo verde trees in our front yard.   The freeze killed them all.  But the next spring, we found tiny palo verde seedlings all over the front yard.  Several of them we are encouraging with dreams of someday having a tropical paradise to view as we turn into the driveway.

Adolescent Palo Verde trees

As I'm sure you can tell, I love volunteer plants.  Discovering them is like receiving an unexpected gift.  Maybe they don't arrive at the right time, or aren't wrapped just right, or look like they came from the bargain store, but with care and attention, they can be the stars of the garden.

Still fascinated by hummingbirds

I've just got to write another post about hummingbirds.  Now that spring has arrived, there is a hummingbird sighting at our house almost every day, but I still haven't been quick enough to snap a picture.  You would think the little birds would be thin and undernourished this time of year, but we had a good laugh recently observing a chubby little bird at the feeder.  Of course, he was probably chuckling at the two hefty humans staring at him through the window.

The feeder. Which feeder attracts the most birds?  Too large, and the nectar goes bad before the birds drink it all up.  Too small, and you spend quite a bit of time refilling the bottle. One summer, I decided to splurge and buy a fancy decorated feeder with an interesting shape.

 The birds dissed it completely.  We are now back to the standard feeder.

The nectar.   The nectar I make up is one-fourth cup of sugar to one cup of water.  I bring it to a boil on the stove and then cool it.  When there is leftover nectar, I refrigerate it and hope no one mistakenly takes a swig.  I once read that if you don't boil the water, birds will get a disease and their beaks will fall off.  I certainly did not want that on my conscience.  But I have since read that you can skip the cooking and just mix the sugar and water without unpleasant consequences. You are supposed to clean the bottle and refill the nectar every few days, especially when the weather is hot.  And you wash the bottle with vinegar, not soap and water. Yes, the beautiful little birds are worth the time and trouble.

Hummingbird behavior. Hummingbirds are fascinating to watch as they are flying.  As a matter of fact, their feet are used for perching only, not walking, so they spend quite a bit of their day in the air.  They can fly in different different directions and hover by flapping their tiny wings in a figure eight pattern.  And, true to their name, they make a humming sound.  I have been delighted to hear the humming as they rush past me to get to the feeder.

Names for hummingbirds. I love the Portuguese name for hummingbird - beija-flor, literally, kiss the flower.  And in Spanish, I have heard the term colibrí, which has a lyrical lilt, and also the more descriptive chupaflor, suck the flower.  There are other Spanish names for hummingbirds in different regions as well, joyas voladoras (flying jewels), picaflor (peck the flower), and el zunzun Caribbean (say zunzun and you will guess the origin).

My favorite hummingbird  Although there are over 300 species of hummingbirds in the Western Hemisphere, the unusual species that we are sometimes lucky enough to catch a glimpse of in our region is the Rufous hummingbird on migration from Mexico to Alaska.  The male Rufous has an orange-red throat patch and is a big bully.

But enough facts about hummingbird life.  I like this quote  from World of Hummingbirds: "Hummingbirds don't read books on what they are supposed to do and tend to do what they want."

So I think I'll just sit in the garden this summer and enjoy these feisty, colorful little gifts from nature.

What I have learned from hummingbirds

"I saw a hummingbird yesterday.  Time to put out the feeder," my husband reminded me about mid-March.  I thought it was a tad early in the season, but it was worth a try to lure a few of those fascinating tiny creatures into the courtyard.

“They are so cute,” humans often remark.  But cute generally implies harmless as well, and these tiny birds can be very territorial. They flap their wings about 80 times per second, which would certainly build up an appetite. No wonder they chase away anyone or anything keeping them from their food source.

Life Lesson No. 1:  When resources are scarce, life forms become very self-centered.  Hummingbirds have to consume about half of their weight in food every day.  What humans see as an amusing game of hummingbird chase is a desperate attempt at hummingbird survival.  Have you ever observed the behavior of office personnel when future lay offs in the company are made public?  I’ll take my chances with the hummingbirds any day!

Most of the birds that frequent the feeder seem small and dull colored.  But they can choose to spread their wings and seem almost iridescent, like a soap bubble. One afternoon, I looked out the kitchen window, and there was Golden Boy.  The sunlight was behind him, and as he approached the feeder and spread his tail feathers, he appeared to be gilded.  I gasped and called to my husband to come quickly.  But alas, Golden Boy had already had his turn at the feeder and had flown away. 

 Life Lesson No. 2:  People may enjoy looking at you more if you are beautiful, but you don’t get any extra time at the feeder just because of your good looks.  Ordinary people of the world, rejoice!

And another lesson from the hummingbirds. Sometimes they arrive when I have just filled the feeder with a fresh mixture of boiled water and sugar.  At other times, they have to drain the feeder of the dregs of slightly fermented two-day old liquid.    

Life Lesson No. 3:  You never know about the quality of food you will experience when eating out.  Have you ever eaten at a cafeteria late in the evening?  Just saying.

I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to hummingbirds and will feel inspired to hang out a feeder.  I'm looking forward to the hummingbird rush season in summertime and hope to take some original photos of our garden visitors.  Here's a great video about hummingbirds.  http://www.wildlifetheater.com/video1.html