"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.The second best time is now." (Sent to me by Anita, a friend in San Antonio)When we bought the ranch nine years ago, the first thing Stew and I did was put a fence around it. We'd been warned …
Tag: desert gardening
From sere to jungly in two weeks
It's time to plant now that the rains have finally arrived As Saturday Night Live's premier journalist Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, "It just goes to show you, if it's not one thing it's another." A month ago the ranch was tumbleweed-dry, the levels of the rainwater in the cisterns had dropped down to eighteen inches and brush …
Tiptoe through the Cactaceae
When our house was still in the dreaming phase, circa 2008, Stew and I envisioned an enclosed front yard that would hold a collection of subtropical plants somewhat in the style of an English walled garden. It would provide a lush break as one entered the house, between the semi-desertic outdoors and the indoors.It was …
El Rancho Santa Clara 