Weekly update: Rains that started on May 13continued through this past Wednesday. Last week I finally was able to put in seeds. It took longer than it should because, instead of preparing the beds, I have spent most of the spring removing Russian thistles.
By Wednesday, May 17, two days had passed without rain and the ground had dried just enough it longer was easy to pull the Queen Anne’s lace. The plant is in the carrot family and usually has a long, slender, rubbery root. Some had grown so large the roots had become more than an inch thick, and others had subdivided.
When the rains returned on Thursday, it was easy again to pull or chisel out unwanted volunteers. It also has been easier than usual to pull out Siberian elm seedlings and goat’s beards.
Last Sunday, I removed the last of the Russian thistles that were gathered by the gate. I still have them in the apricot tree, and around the salt bushes in back. With the ones on the Drive gone, I thought I’d have fewer blow back into areas that I already had cleared.
This week I was able to resume my usual schedule of a half hour spent on each of three projects. I began weeding the main bed where cheat and brome grasses were taking over. Then, I worked on setting a post to stop water from flowing from my uphill neighbor. Even where they were laying somewhat haphazardly, they seem to have stopped some movement of water and soil.
Thursday, I finally was able to spray for aphids and grasshoppers. The rain had brought a swarm of mosquitoes, while brown-and-black moths were getting into the house. The spray seems to have helped them, but today I noticed small beetles covering the wall of my garage.
Spraying meant I couldn’t sit on the ground and pull weeds as I had started. I spent the past few days using the weed eater to cut grasses in the drive that I didn’t want to go to seed.
I also began removing the Russian thistles from the back that still were there from April 19. Progress was aborted by a brief gust of wind yesterday. I looked up and saw carcasses flying over my neighbor’s south fence. When I investigated, they also had flown into bushes and plants everywhere. After two hours I have removed 313 from inside my fences, and another 87 from my drive outside the gate. The year’s total inside is 11,241.
This time, the removal has been harder. I pick things up and when I walk back I see more. There’s not much wind. I don’t know if I’m not seeing them or if the reservoir of available carcasses has grown so large it sends more into my yard with the slightest breeze.
The mass had been beyond the arroyo, at least a quarter mile away, but with each wind, more have accumulated against my wooden and my neighbor’s barbed wire fences. Each time I take them to the road they are poised to return if the wind shifts.
The worst is that while I was spending my tine removing carcasses, the roots of the pigweed got so long they no longer will pull out. Most, but not all, of the Russian thistles still will slide away.
Weather: The rains stopped and no moisture is crossing the area. The clouds are from dry air pulling moisture from the rivers and ground, while afternoon temperatures are still in the low 80s.
Last rain: 5/24/23. Week’s low: 43 degrees F. Week’s high: 86 degrees F in the shade. Winds were up to 39 mph in Santa Fé on Friday.
What’s blooming in the area: Austrian Copper, Persian Yellow, Dr. Huey, hybrid, and wild pink roses; yellow potentilla, spirea, pyracantha, snowballs, silver lace vine, bearded iris, broad leaved yuccas, peonies, oriental poppy, purple salvia, snow-in-summer, golden spur columbine, Jupiter’s beard, Shasta daisies
Last week: Austrian Copper, Persian Yellow and Dr. Huey roses, spirea, snowballs, bearded iris, broad leaved yucca, purple salvia, snow-in-summer, golden spur columbine, Jupiter’s beard, blue flax
What’s blooming beyond the walls and fences: Apache plume, four-wing salt bushes, native yucca, winecup mallow, tumble mustard, alfalfa, fern leaf globe mallows, bindweed, nits-and-lice, white tufted evening primroses, scarlet bee blossom, alfilerillo, purple mat, western stickseeds, bractless cryptantha, fleabanes, strap leaf aster, goat’s beards, dandelions; needle, feather, rice, brome, cheat, three-awn, and June grasses
Last week: Apache plumes, tumble mustard, hoary cress, fern leaf globe mallows, bindweed, nits-and-lice, white tufted evening primroses, alfilerillo, purple mat, western stickseeds, bractless cryptantha, fleabanes, goat’s beards, dandelions; needle, rice, cheat, three-awn, and June grasses
What’s emerging: Daturas, bush morning glories
Last week: lamb’s quarter, ragweed
What’s blooming in my yard: Woodsi, rugosa, and miniature roses; cliff rose, Russian olive, beauty bush, red grapes, chives, cultivated daylily, Dutch clover, baptisia, sweet alyssum from seed, Six Hills Giant catmint, coral bells, vinca, pink evening primroses, blue flax, Johnson blue geraniums, chocolate flowers, white yarrow, buffalo grass
Last week: Woodsi rose, Cliff rose, yellow potentillas, beauty bush, red grapes, tulips, chinodoxia, chives, cultivated daylily, Dutch clover, coral bells, vinca, pink evening primrose, chocolate flower, white yarrow; one crab apple is forming fruit for the first time; Austrian copper and Woodsi roses were fragrant in the moist air
What’s emerging: Dutch clover and zinnias from seed
Last week: Chinese wisteria, tomatillos; California poppies and larkspur from seed
Bedding and inside plants: Pansies, aptenia
Animal sightings: Western chickadees, geckoes, ladybugs, swallowtail and cabbage butterflies, hawkmoth, brown-and-black moths in the house, bumble bees, hornets, mosquitoes, sidewalk and harvester ants
Last week: Three rabbits together, western chickadees, geckoes, lady bugs, cabbage butterflies, bumble bees, hornets, mosquitoes, sidewalk and harvester ants; many of the goat’s beards are dirty, suggesting ant and aphid activity.
Notes on photographs: All taken in my driveway on 20 May 2023.
1. Stickseed flower (Lappula redowskii). It’s in the Borage family and has had a normal year.
2. Cryptantha Bractless flower (Cryptantha crassisepals). It’s also in the Borage family.
3. Cryptantha Bractless plant. It’s having a good year, and some plants have grown so large they could sprawl. Often they only are 3" tall.
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