Thursday, January 31, 2008
old world desert flowers in a new world desert garden
I find it hard to resist adding plants and flowers from the old world deserts of South Africa to my new world, Sonoran desert garden. They don't require any more water and they add wonderful color
to my garden during our winter dormant season. It responds to our rains and reseeds itself just enough in the rocky, sandy soil near my home. In other locations, with soils high in organic matter and watered more often, this bulb takes over.
When including a non-native in my gardens and landscape I try to limit their impact on the environment by paying attention to the elements that will keep it in check.
When including a non-native in my gardens and landscape I try to limit their impact on the environment by paying attention to the elements that will keep it in check.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
desert mountain winter clouds
How fun to wake up and see the peak being engulfed by a cloud bank. As a desert dweller who has lived through 13+ years of a possible 30 year drought, rain is a glorious event to celebrate!!! I was so delighted with it, knowing that there will be a fine wildflower showing this year because of this rain, I went out and bought myself a pair of hiking boots as a birthday present! woo hoo! I have two months to build up my strength and stamina again. Keep your fingers crossed!
Monday, January 21, 2008
praying monk - on a drive home from arlington
i am grateful that i live in a land of awe-inspiring landscapes and vivid, soul-touching color.
people don't often see the softness in the desert, yet, many of us natives, who take the time to look, find, upon occasion, a sky that greets us with the reminder that the desert is a place of healing - from its gentle colors in the morning sunrise and at night. when the colors were a backdrop, creating the silhouette of the praying monk, i could not take my eyes away from the image - a welcome distraction from my grief.
people don't often see the softness in the desert, yet, many of us natives, who take the time to look, find, upon occasion, a sky that greets us with the reminder that the desert is a place of healing - from its gentle colors in the morning sunrise and at night. when the colors were a backdrop, creating the silhouette of the praying monk, i could not take my eyes away from the image - a welcome distraction from my grief.how fortunate that i was traveling with my mother at the time so we could share the moment. having her with me added another dimension to my viewing - bringing up the history of this place in phoenix and memories of traveling down the road with my father as he "took us for a ride" through his favorite landscapes and on the undulating road along the side of this great mountain. we stopped to soak it in and to "smell the roses". simply glorious.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
verdin
A beautiful little bird, the Verdin, has delighted me for years
as I watch it flit through Palo Verde trees singing and feeding on insects. The other day one flew into a window and was not able to live through the injuries. So sad - my heart hurts when I see creatures suffering. I thought that the red mark on the bird's shoulder was blood from the accident, but I discovered that this is part of the bird's coloration... something I was not able to see from afar.
Verdin Breeding Male: Very small songbird with gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Face and throat are dull yellow; eye-lines are dark.
Wings are gray with red-brown shoulder patches. Black bill, legs and feet. It builds complex sphere-shaped nests using as many as two thousands small twigs.
After the sweet creature died, I placed it by
the St. Francis statue in my garden
to allow it to become
a part
of the cycle of life, here,
in the desert...
foxes, cats, and coyotes,
all wander through my garden...
it usually only takes a day
for the animal to become food for another animal.
as I watch it flit through Palo Verde trees singing and feeding on insects. The other day one flew into a window and was not able to live through the injuries. So sad - my heart hurts when I see creatures suffering. I thought that the red mark on the bird's shoulder was blood from the accident, but I discovered that this is part of the bird's coloration... something I was not able to see from afar.Verdin Breeding Male: Very small songbird with gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Face and throat are dull yellow; eye-lines are dark.
Wings are gray with red-brown shoulder patches. Black bill, legs and feet. It builds complex sphere-shaped nests using as many as two thousands small twigs.
After the sweet creature died, I placed it by
the St. Francis statue in my garden to allow it to become
a part
of the cycle of life, here,
in the desert...
foxes, cats, and coyotes,
all wander through my garden...
it usually only takes a day
for the animal to become food for another animal.
Monday, January 14, 2008
design inspirations - nasturtium seedlings
Desiging new holiday traditions - think globally, act locally - gotta have fun too!
A few years ago I realized that my winter holiday traditions did not reflect much about my local environment or my values - after all, what was I doing putting up a fresh, high elevation, conifer in my home for the holidays when I have only lived in a desert or coastal chaparral ecosystem? (no pines or firs in either of those)... and then there are all of those songs about snow - snow? not me, not ever... well, maybe a few visits to snow country during my childhood, college and my Ecosa semester in Prescott - but really - not me. So I just stopped doing all of those European traditions - not too radical - huh?
Well, since then, each year, I try to pay attention to the elements of holiday celebrations I enjoy, because, I realized, once everything was gone, I missed the seasonal rituals and having some traditions in place. The first thing that I noticed was that I really liked the gatherings - seeing and spending time with friends and family. That's good stuff - right? Even though I no longer have the tree trimming party, I continue to gather with my family on Christmas Eve and some long time friends on Boxing Day. I would like to design a seasonal gathering that would be a fun and spiritual celebration of the winter solstice - a time when the light returns - and blend some of my family's and the current culture's traditions with a eco-minded twist into that celebration. I don't know - maybe something like a party where we light luminarias around my house, which would reflect my southwestern heritage and also the coming of the light through the solstice.
Considering that the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle is one of my current mantras, I am not so big on buying new things for the sake of just buying something for people during the holidays - however, I do like the idea of giving gifts as a sign of acknowledging loved ones. I have not quite figured this one out yet (sometimes it takes me a while - so if you did not get anything it doesn't mean that I don't care about you - it is just me trying to figure out my next step). Each year as my family gets used to the idea, I enjoy more and more the tradition that I started - to have a white elephant gift exchange with them. By doing this everyone can have fun and not worry about individual gifts.
Giving to charities through gifts dedicated to friends and family is something else that I like doing. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was the first non-profit that I used in that way. After Hurricane Katrina a friend told me about the good work that they were doing to rescue the abandoned animals (so sad). With a donation to them as a gift to others, a wonderful, colorful, fun magazine full of animal pictures and stories is sent out to the people receiving the gift thus educating people about the need... a nice way to make the donation more personal - I think. This year I received a gift of a donation made to Trees for the Rim project (where 100% of the money goes towards the restoring the landscaping damaged by the Arizona Rodeo-Chediski Fire) in my name - another way to keep it local.
Well, since then, each year, I try to pay attention to the elements of holiday celebrations I enjoy, because, I realized, once everything was gone, I missed the seasonal rituals and having some traditions in place. The first thing that I noticed was that I really liked the gatherings - seeing and spending time with friends and family. That's good stuff - right? Even though I no longer have the tree trimming party, I continue to gather with my family on Christmas Eve and some long time friends on Boxing Day. I would like to design a seasonal gathering that would be a fun and spiritual celebration of the winter solstice - a time when the light returns - and blend some of my family's and the current culture's traditions with a eco-minded twist into that celebration. I don't know - maybe something like a party where we light luminarias around my house, which would reflect my southwestern heritage and also the coming of the light through the solstice.
Considering that the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle is one of my current mantras, I am not so big on buying new things for the sake of just buying something for people during the holidays - however, I do like the idea of giving gifts as a sign of acknowledging loved ones. I have not quite figured this one out yet (sometimes it takes me a while - so if you did not get anything it doesn't mean that I don't care about you - it is just me trying to figure out my next step). Each year as my family gets used to the idea, I enjoy more and more the tradition that I started - to have a white elephant gift exchange with them. By doing this everyone can have fun and not worry about individual gifts.
Giving to charities through gifts dedicated to friends and family is something else that I like doing. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary was the first non-profit that I used in that way. After Hurricane Katrina a friend told me about the good work that they were doing to rescue the abandoned animals (so sad). With a donation to them as a gift to others, a wonderful, colorful, fun magazine full of animal pictures and stories is sent out to the people receiving the gift thus educating people about the need... a nice way to make the donation more personal - I think. This year I received a gift of a donation made to Trees for the Rim project (where 100% of the money goes towards the restoring the landscaping damaged by the Arizona Rodeo-Chediski Fire) in my name - another way to keep it local.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
