My reliable wildflowers return

In Arizona you quickly learn that all the wild plants are both tough and opportunistic. Thus, as the chance of a deep frost has receded, my perennial wildflowers have sprung to life quickly, taking advantage of all that winter rain I've raved on about. My barbatus penstemon, for example, has started numerous flower stalks in the midst of all those leaves. R.E.D. and reliable, too. Is quite happy to get lots of water, though it doesn't count on it. That's unlike the tall pink Palmers penstemon, which can be drowned.

Dainty leaves like these belong to our local wild columbine, which is a canary yellow -- and prolific, growing wherever seeds fall, if there's a bit of water. So I have a lot of yellow columbines. There's a red and yellow form that grows at lower elevations and up in the high country you might come across a blue and white Rocky Mountain variety, if you are lucky.

Old reliable this four o'clock is. Once it builds that huge tuber down at the middle of the earth, it will come up every year and bloom as long as it gets water -- not the usual pattern for perennials which focus on a fast crop of seeds to keep the species going.

This picture of two new, intertwined white evening primroses was taken 3/28/08. Already both plants have buds about to open. I have to keep my fingers crossed because the javelina find the roots quite tasty.

A very happy California poppy (sort of red) and above it, the pink Palmer's penstemon, with flower stalks taking off. As I've written before, the poppies are perennial here in Prescott if they get a certain amount of water and thus the plants grow to an impressive size.

I don't know if you recall this particular Indian paint brush plant. Last year, its red bracts stayed bright -- and multiplied for much of the summer, producing a spectacular show. The picture above is from 3/28. Now look below for the picture I took yesterday! Already on its way to another showy year.

Linkages: Warren of Touch the Wind is up in Oregon and tonight showed some excellent street art, including an almost-elephant, with young on its back. And, on the subject of street art, Tombo has scored more colorful graffiti -- not the f**k or s**t kind, thank goodness; potty mouth is not only vulgar, it's a B-O-R-E! And PrescottStyle offers pictures from the McCain appearance.

The misadventures of Lowe's

On the left, the modest manufactured homes of retirees in Prescott Canyon Estates. To the right, the denuded hillsides that surround the new Lowe's. Not visible from SR69: the built-up embankment between the big box's parking lot and the lower reaches of the subdivision.

That's where a wall lining the embankment gave way in three different locations, damaging one home. As you can imagine, a major civic hoo-rah has ensued. Inasmuch as we are enjoying another major Pacific storm, I would expect a few more tiles to drop in the next couple of days. But then the experts are presumably working to solve this problem. What about those ugly scars?

There's Lowe's, at the left. I wonder how long it will take for moisture to work other wonders on these barren hillsides. Our dry countryside is not desert -- but local plants are are a slow growing lot and the scattered junipers that the hired landscapers have planted look mighty sparse and lonely up there.

Yet the Lowe's folk could score a cheap public relations coup simply by spending a several thou on California poppy seed and covering those hillsides with blossoms this spring.

A few intense patches of bear grass here and there, interspersed with major plantings of cliff rose, sun flower and Apache plume would help, as would greater generosity in the number of junipers. Just contrast the landscape junipers with those in the untouched hillside below. Oh -- I guess some scrubby little turbinela oaks would fit in this as well.

But do pass the word to the Lowe's landscapers: plenty of California poppy seeds this year. It would cheer everybody up remarkably.

Commentary on Comments: It's always great when a post inspires readers to drop by with their comments. Especially when the subject is highly local -- and the commentators are old-timers who contribute new insights, as is happening to the notes I made about the "Empties on Miller Valley". Scroll down to read the latest! And, BTW, if you've never made a comment, don't be shy -- I'd love to hear from readers in Aliso Viejo and Tampa and Bradner and Las Vegas and Vienna, as well as anyone or everyone else!

Never Try to Outguess The Weather Gods!

If you take a close look at the cheerful packages above, you'll see such labels as Red California Poppy or Mexican Hat, Red. Long-time readers may recall that in a fit of optimism about the El Nino bringing Prescott a wet winter, I bought lots of wildflower seeds to scatter up the hill in advance of our anticipated storms.

There the seeds sit, on the kitchen table. It's too cold to go walking. The various weather sites put the temp at 30 or 32 degrees F (roughly 0 C). All that we got from that big storm that's working its icy way across the Rockies and the Great Plains is bright sunshine and a furnace that's working overtime.

Bah! Several major storms have crossed the country, as befits an El Nino year. Not here. Prescott is way under its average precips for Nov/Dec and now Jan. It's all my fault -- I tried to outguess the Weather Gods by buying a one pound bag of red California poppy seed. Mea culpa.

A Three-Way Score

Take a good look at that picture. Now, look again. What do you see this time? Why am I claiming a three-way score with this photo?

#1: There's a beautiful snail trail, dry and glittering in today's warm sun.

#2. The wood slice is handsome just by itself.

#3. Catch the label to the left? Clyde Robin Seed Company. That's the box of red California poppy seed that arrived this morning. One pound of it. I'm going to scatter it all over; we're told it's an el nino winter coming on, which means plenty of moisture.