This was a fun episode to write…well, maybe fun isn’t the right word, but it was great to get excited about hedgehog cactus again. What a hoot! The reference used for the hedgehog cacti jabbered about in this episode is Field Guide to Cacti and Other Succulents of Arizona. A great field guide. I recommend getting the second edition as some changes were made from the first edition. That said, I gotta tell you I never tire of pulling The Cacti of Arizona by Lyman Benson off the shelf. Oh yeah, the species names may have changed, but I love…

The riparian woodland where we were hiking is around 6,000 ft. in elevation and I think that may be the upper limits of the elf owls elevation range. Elf owls (Micrathene whitneyi) winter in southern Mexico, then migrate in the spring to southern Arizona, southwest New Mexico and west Texas where they breed and summer over in a few different biotic communities. Lucky us! I like the elf owl description in my old (1960s) Peterson’s Field Guide to the Western Birds: “a tiny small headed earless owl the size of a chunky sparrow.” The photo, however, is a page from…

Bristlehead (Carphochaete bigelovii) is a small shrub that I’m not sure I would have recognized without the flowers and bristles. I wonder if I’ve wandered by this species many times before wondering what the heck it was. The flowers and bristles that helped my ID are contained in a very cool looking long involucre and I read that the throats of the flowers are “purplish” and the petals are white which may explain my fumbling over the color of the flowers. Anyway, a nice native plant common in the borderlands and especially common if you recognize it. The photos are…

Vines can make a landscape so wild and fermina (Cottsia gracilis) is a great addition to a native landscape, climbing up into a paloverde or maybe an ironwood tree. The flowers of plants in the Malpighiaceae are so distinct and…I dunno…I just love them and if you looked up Cottsia gracilis (Janusia) in a flora it would say that the flowers are dimorphic, meaning they have two forms; one open with petals and one closed with no petals and you learn the word cleistogamous referring to a closed self pollinating flower. Cool? Very cool and now you know! The photo…

photo credits: Marian and Bridgitte

I gathered seed of Ceanothus greggii on a rocky slope in May. Buck brush is what I’m talking about and yeah, it’s easier to say. It got that common name cause it’s good browse, especially for deer. So I put those seed capsules in an envelope very near, where I sit to write down plant lists and sometimes write a check. So I’m sitting there and hear a noise and wonder, what the heck? Capsules were opening and tiny seeds were shooting out! I’m gonna be growing Ceanothus this year, now there is no doubt. So should I scarify or…

It’s hard to believe I didn’t mention the beautiful color of the trunks and branches of manzanita. I must have just assumed everyone knew manzanita had beautiful trunks. I apologize and here ya go: The smooth trunks and older branches are very reddish brown or sometimes more brownish red, or sorta maroonish, but always beautiful. The photos are mine.

I love Toumey oaks…I know, I said that, but we have several planted at our little homestead. I think if I lived in and around Tucson I’d be tempted to try this small native oak. Well, of course I would, cause I love this oak. The photos are mine and taken of Toumey oak seedlings in our greenhouse.

Growing plants and being involved in horticulture since 1980 meant knowing the USDA’s plant hardiness zones so I could jabber to folks knowingly (Ha!) about plant choices for their personal habitat. To make things a little more confusing Sunset Magazine created their own hardiness and planting zones for the Western US. Jeez, Sunset! During my brief tenure at the University of Arizona I learned about C. Hart Merriam’s life zone system created in 1896 and I worked that into my plant blather for awhile. It did make me sound pretty smart. Then in 1994 along comes David Brown’s Biotic Communities…

There are many nations and languages found in the borderlands. The photos are mine.