The Sierra High Desert Garden

John C · Post by **John C** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:19 pm

Nice garden!

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:32 pm

Seventy four, sunny ,calm,the birds are singing, children playing, not a cloud to be seen in the clear blue sky. Ahhhh..... What could be better?

Oh ya!!

almost forgot the flowers

And the flowers are blooming!there that should do it.

Echinocereus kinneplianus var. krugerii

yesterday

today

Escobaria missouriensis

Post by **daiv** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:42 pm

Wonderful!

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:44 pm

John, I see that some of our lovely weather has moved up North up your way a little bit. Today its around 80 and another perfect day!(edit) btw since I was tired from my mammoth post of my hike yesterday I forgot to mention that those blooms are nice!

Andy_CT · Post by **Andy_CT** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 10:46 pm

Man, you beat us easterners to the punch again

Wow, missouriensis in flower already

that seems really early even for your area. Its a winner though!

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:53 pm

Peter
It is going to dip back into the forties tomorrow.

Andy
The Escobaria missouriensis clones that bloom this early are both out of the Dakotas. The other clones bloom later. I have two Dakota plants the other has not budded up. I wonder if it will be taking the season off this year. Looks healthy and happy. Maybe this little warm spell we had this week will stimulate it.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 12:34 am

John,
sorry about that....The 40's

Thats cold!

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Sat May 01, 2010 4:24 am

Well for the past twelve days temps have been cold. Twenty degrees below normal.

It slowed things down but those that are in bloom are holding their blossoms longer.

Well lets just see what is in bloom just remember this is just a little appetizer.

Arenaria franklinii, a prickly little bun from the high desert.

Allium anceps, one of the western, summer dormant onions. Looks like pink cotton candy from a distance.

Eriogonum caespitosum, one of the best mat forming buckwheats. Loves it hot and dry. This shot is of the buds, I will show the flowers when they open.

Eriogonum douglasii var. douglasii, I showed this in bud earlier in this post. Another of the mat forming buckwheats. Loves it hot and dry.

Erigeron linearis, symmetrical and low growing with a long blooming season. Likes it dry.

Delphinium andersonii, a dry-land Delphinium. I plat this as a companion to Opuntia and Cylindropuntia. It goes dormant by the time the Opuntias are ready to bloom. Very considerate in my opinion.

Sidalcea glaucescens, is a small slender mallow from the high desert. The pink flowers hover over buns of gray filigree leaves.

Lewisia cotyledon (hybrid), Lewisias are great western succulents. Some species love hot dry conditions , others are high mountain alpines. L. cotyledon likes a moist spring and semi dry summer with shade in the heat of the day. An eastern exposure works the best for me.

.

More to follow shortly!!

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Sat May 01, 2010 5:46 am

John,
nice to see someone else got our crappy cold weather. It was 46 degrees last night. And it's probably about the same tonite, this time without wind chill!

Nice pics. The flowers are all so neat. It surprises me what you can grow there on very little rain.

BTW on a side note, probably next week I will have to plant a whole bunch of Opuntia. I already got some of the O. engelmannii var linguformis of the new patch I am making. The rest will be what you gave me plus maybe some more that I got laying around, I got some more O. engelmannii that I had to remove from the way. I will probably be over grown in a few years from all the stuff I got, but it's cool.

Andy_CT · Post by **Andy_CT** » Sat May 01, 2010 11:28 am

John P Weiser wrote:Well for the past twelve days temps have been cold. Twenty degrees below normal.

We've been doing our best to steal your nice weather! Its going to be low 80's here today and tomorrow $\:D/$

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Mon May 03, 2010 1:53 am

Peter
We had light snow flurries several times and one day with wind gusts of 70-80mph. At the base of the mountains, they clocked several gusts at 110 mph. On the high elevation ridge tops wind speeds hit 130mph.

Andy
You are welcome! Glad someone is getting use out of it! It's a shame to see it go to waste.

Here is a combination not often seen in gardens.
Yellow tulips & Opuntia polyacantha var. hystrucina

A few ground covers that do well as cactus companions.
Veronica liwanensis

Thymus neiceffii

Antennaria microphylla

Trifolium andersonii ssp. andersonii & Opuntia fragilis hybrid? "Red Gem"

Post by **daiv** » Mon May 03, 2010 3:32 pm

Ha - Tulips and cactus! I agree, haven't see much of that lately.

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Mon May 03, 2010 5:24 pm

Daiv
They actually work well together. Tulips are native to Asia Minor and Central Asia. They need dry summer, cold winter dormancy and bloom early enough to be out of the way when the Opuntias bloom. I use species tulips, they are not overly large or gaudy and their cultural needs are simple.

kevin63129 · Post by **kevin63129** » Tue May 04, 2010 1:52 am

Awesome garden and thread.

John P Weiser · Post by **John P Weiser** » Tue May 04, 2010 3:48 am

My Echinocereus viridiflorus ssp. davisii desided it couldn't hold out any longer.

Another Lewisia in bloom. This one has been renamed recently. (And you all thought that only happened to cacti.)

It's new name is Cistanthe tweedyi once know as Lewisia tweedyi.