First Time Quail Visitors

Callipepla gambelii

For the first time that I'm aware of, a small group of Gambel's Quail ventured into my garden. I've hoped to see quail here for the past four years, but none came around until today. At my previous residence, they were regular visitors, and I enjoyed watching them walk in a line the length of the garden walls around my home before moving on to the view fence railing. Sometimes they would keep going down the railing from house to house for about a quarter mile. They never seemed to leave the walls to walk on the ground! Even when trying to avoid predators, they run to hide in vegetation rather than fly.


I think this small band of female visitors (no male and no babies that I saw) is too small to be called a covey, but then, I don't know the count necessary to qualify as a covey! There were a total of five quail in this group. Gambel's Quail is also known as Arizona Quail, Top-Knot Quail or Desert Quail.

I get thousands of these Mourning Doves year-round, but in the fall, they seem to become more plentiful, and come to rest in my desert garden in late afternoon. They are as still as statues when resting. At times I've counted close to 50 of them sitting motionless in the elevated portions of the yard.






Different subject: This orange pot planted with Purple Heart is such a great color combo that I bought paint in these colors to paint a small tile-topped tool cabinet and a wooden planter stand, and anything else sitting around in my garden that I think needs painting. When the weather cools, I get ambitious about garden projects, but don't always follow through. If I do manage to complete a project, I'll post a photo in the future!

All Green For Bloomin' Tuesday

One of my earliest memories is being lifted up high so that I could pull lemons off a tree. Even at about 18 months old, I loved lemons--I'd take a bite, shudder and grimace, and take another bite! My parents even recorded it in a home movie--a long, long time ago! Although I grew up around citrus orchards and loved all varieties of citrus, I did not plant my own citrus trees until the 1980s. We had one grapefruit tree and the two of us ended up eating all 92 grapefruits one year--not letting a single one go to waste. Then, for twenty years, I didn't have any citrus trees in my garden, until I purchased a Dwarf Meyer Lemon last year. It is in a huge pot, and will stay there. Currently, it has 20 lemons on its spindly branches, which I've had to tie up because the lemons are actually too heavy for the trunk and branches. The lemons are slowly turning yellow and ripening and will probably be ready by December. I found a split lemon last week and rather than throw it out, I cut it open and tasted it. It had a slightly sweet taste, far less tangy than I expected, even though it was far from ripe.





Earlier this year I purchased a couple of these unidentified plants for $1.00 at a Dollar store while looking for some plastic containers. I know a lot about desert plants and can identify most of them, but I'm usually at a loss with other types of plants. Recently I learned that this plant (the second one dried up within days of purchase) is an African Violet. I've learned the hard way not to get water on the leaves, as they invariably die. It's hard to water without getting the leaves wet because the leaves are so low they touch the soil. It has yet to bloom. After I learned what kind of plant it is, I read about its care, and surprisingly, I had done all the right things--location, watering, etc. Except for using extra care in keeping the leaves dry!



Does anyone know the name of this succulent? This was another unlabeled plant I picked up last year. It's done very well in the house, so I will continue to keep it indoors, but would like to know its genera and species so that I can learn more about it. I can't find it in my succulent dictionary.

Sansevieria trifasciata 'Moonshine'

This plant came to me as a free offshoot from our Cactus and Succulent Society monthly meeting, where folks bring in unwanted plants, offshoots and cuttings. It has done very well and has put out a number of offshoots of its own now, almost filling the large pot I have it in. This hybrid has become my favorite Sansevieria because of its wonderful coloration.

To see other Bloomin' Tuesday participant posts, please see the link list at MsGreenThumbJean's. Or maybe not. She doesn't seem to have a Bloomin' Tuesday post this week!