Our gardener “Kenedy” came by yesterday, like he does every month, to trim and tidy things up in our large, landscaped lot.
Kenedy is a Hispanic blue-collar guy, not related to the Massachusetts’ blue bloods. He and his crew of two other Hispanic guys service a lot of properties around here. They are locals and know their business. They are also cheap ($50/month) and don’t mind working when it’s toasty outside.
Did I tell you that it gets hot here?
It gets so friggin’ hot that cactus get sunburned.
No shit. Kenedy told me that yesterday when we were observing a few cacti that looked a bit peeked. He said that, in July and August, he would recommend that we put some burlap around a few of the varieties, protecting them from severe sun like SPF 85 might do for a human.
Most of the stuff that we have on our property is “desert” vegetation, and some of it is native to this area. And…even that stuff got scorched this Summer. Two Joshua Trees that I planted were toasted, and a once-lively Ocotillo cactus tree in the backyard never leafed-out. However, another Ocotillo that I found blown down along a street in a Winter storm survived and thrived.
Go figure.
We have a number of tall, slender cactus varieties in our yard. They’re quite picturesque, like the Mexican Fence Post, “Jumping” Cholla, Peruvian Apple Cactus, Saguaro, Argentine Toothpick, Joshua Tree, and the San Pedro Macho.
And, we have a variety of “prickly pear” cactus varieties, as well, that are pretty large. All of these are fairly fast-growing.
We also have several trees, Palo Verde, African Sumac, and Chilean Mesquite that were specimens when installed.
All of this stuff is susceptible to strong winds.
Did I tell you that it gets windy here?
Oh, yeah. Actually, the Summer is the mildest season for wind. During the rest of the year, we get breezes all of the time, strong winds frequently, and every once in a while, gale force winds.
The super gusty winds wreak havoc on trees, tall cacti, and even low-lying broad leafed (prickly pear) cacti. It is not uncommon, after a “blow”, to find large trees with broken limbs and wholly uprooted specimens. It breaks your heart. (I can imagine how those folks in the South feel when a hurricane blows through town and savages landmark trees. Ugh.)
We’ve had wind damage on our property a couple of times. This past Spring we saw a very strong wind (locals estimated it at 70 mph for an hour) that bent our 20’ Chilean Mesquite street tree all the way over to the ground…but, luckily, didn’t uproot it. A neighbor and I got out there while the wind was still blowing and re-stabilized it with huge stakes and guy wires.
Did I tell you that it gets cold here?
Well, cold is a relative term, I suppose. If you’re from Minnesota or Montana, a 32 degree day is probably short-sleeved shirt weather, maybe a good day to hop into the pool. Charlie and I are sissies from Southern California where 50 degree weather is totally unacceptable and one can golf maybe 350 days each year.
Here in Mesquite it gets chilly in the Winter, “but it’s a dry cold!”. I suppose we had a few occasions when the overnight temperature fell into the mid-20’s but, for the most part, the Winter lows were a bit above freezing. Maybe we had one bad month (January?).
I have a few plants around the property that need to be covered in the Winter to protect from frost. The sissies!
Anyway, all of the desert vegetation that we employ on our property goes dormant from November through March, so our drip irrigation system can be turned off…for five months! That’s our rainy season, although rain is a relative term. I think we got 7 inches last year.
Surprisingly, that rainfall keeps the soil relatively damp during those months when the vegetation goes dormant. That’s the time of the year when landscaping is relatively easy to do…because you can dig a hole easily with a pick and shovel. In the Summertime, forget about it…the ground is hard as a rock!
Did I say “soil”? The native earth out here in the desert is, from all appearances, devoid of life-sustaining qualities. I can’t figure out how anything grows in it without human intervention (like soil amendments).
And yet, if you were to venture one mile into the undeveloped natural desert (for example, the mesa which overlooks our subdivision), a variety of plants, shrubs and 15′ Joshua trees will greet you.
It is amazing. Hardly any water, frost in the Winter and brutal heat in the Summer, and absolutely shitty soils…and the desert is lush with vegetation. How does that happen?
Granted, there’s not a wide variety of plants thriving out in the sandy dirt. My buddies and I hike a lot in the local BLM lands, off trail, and most of the stuff that we see are Creosote bushes, Native Yucca, Joshua trees, Cholla cactus, and small Cedar trees. But they’re everywhere.
The most interesting species to me is the Fire Barrel cactus, which can grow to a diameter of 24” and 48” tall…growing out of a crack in a rock! (These are also know as Fish Hook Cacti…and you can imagine what would happen in you got impaled by one!}
How do those things get so stout…without water? How does that happen? I guess that, like most of the native species, these specimens are masters at absorbing every drop of those 7 inches of rain and storing it for the 115-degree heat in the Summer months.
(By the way, an interesting thing about most cactus species: If an “ear” or a stalk breaks off, you can just plug the piece into the ground and, more often than not, it will grow. My theory is that the water stored in the body of the cactus sustains it while new roots are developed. But, what do I know? I got a C in high school biology.)
Nature is amazing.
I think that’s what I like most about living out here in Mesquite. Sure, the desert can be hot, cold, windy, and dry, but it is also quite interesting, particularly when I can venture out into BLM lands or into the local mountains.
I can hardly wait until my right hip is well again. My surgery is in four days. Hopefully, by November I can get off my ass and get out into the sun and fresh air.
Covid schmovid.