Many think of that far off city of El Paso Texas, as simply a desert. A desert landscape which is predominated by the stereotypical cactus and tumble weed but that couldn't be further from the truth and the reality of growing conditions is quite extraordinary. The fact is that in a the simplest of plots one can create a myriad of environments ranging from the tropical equator, temperate woodlands, spiny xeriscapes, and pollinator filled cottage beds. What I just described is my own humble little plot...my own botanical garden. Welcome to growing under the sun!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Twisted Juncus: A twisted plant

Image
  Grasses offer a lot to the garden. They provide movement and structure in a form that other perennial plants simply cannot. However true grasses fall short in their habitat preface. The majority of true grasses prefer dry conditions and as such, they would be unsuitable for damp or wet locations. Luckily for the gardeners, there are several grass-like plants that prefer these inhospitable conditions and offer the same attributes as true grasses to the garden, one such genus is Juncus. The genus Juncus is incredibly diverse with members being found all around the world in a variety of habitats. The focus of today is Juncus effus f. spiralis, a species that has many traits considered classic to the genus but with a few twists in store as well.   Juncus effusus f. spiralis  is an unusual grass-like plant that features spiraled foliage.  The straight species is found all around the world and is considered circumpolar. In ...
Read more

A Moist Oasis: A Ongoing Experiment in Bog Planting

Image
    Bog gardens don't often come to mind when one thinks of the desert city of El Paso, yet in this humble clay pot that's exactly what is being created. A bit of back history on this planting. In its initial design it was home to a native honeysuckle which had died due to water logging and subsequent root rot. The remains of the honeysuckle remained for almost a year before being removed. During this time however the idea for the bog pot came into being.     This clay pot has one drainage hole has long since been plugged. It takes about 20 minutes or more for water to level out with the top layers of the soil and another 20 before any starts to drip from the bottom of the pot. This makes it ideal for those plants which thrive in those muddy conditions, conditions that are currently found nowhere else in the garden (more on that later). The soil is a rich humus which when dug into feels like puddling at its wettest moments and cool and airy when dry. It these kin...
Read more

Carex: A Exploration of the Genus as Grass Substitutes

Image
      Recently the usage of grasses has become very fashionable. However there are several grass like plants that are just as desirable as the true grasses. One such genus is Carex a genus that can be found worldwide often inhabiting forested areas to moist grasslands  consisting of  more than 2,000 species. Many species are tolerant of conditions that the majority of true grasses prefer not to inhabit. such deep shade and moist to outright aquatic environments.The genus Carex thus lends its hands to those areas that we wish we could have grasses but we know that they would otherwise fail.     That being said it would be hard pressed to believe that Carex would thrive in El Paso, but the truth is they do. The majority of the Carex I currently grow are in shaded woodland plantings. Here they provide form and texture that was otherwise lacking in planting that consists mostly of large leaved plants.It's important to provide contrast in a planting as thi...
Read more