Thursday, March 3, 2011

Supernatural Natural Stuff in the Yard

Well I don't know how this photo fits in the blog but I was excited to see limes on one of my shrub/trees. This I think is the Limon Dulce tree and it has limes of all sizes on it. There are 2 or 3 other shrubs and one of the others also has the beginnings of small yellow lemons on it.

Coming up the driveway used to be just boring dirt/grass. I put in a bunch of Trinitaria since it is a dry area. When they aren't blooming I want to rip them out...but then comes the dry time and they absolutely explode into the most supernatural colors you can imagine! The flowers look like paper. I love the subtle way this one gradates from white to pink.

Who can beat this? I don't think this is on the color wheel. After blooming I shape them because I want balls of color and not scraggly shrubs.

Tuca (cat) has an unnatural relationship with her buddy Big Red. She loves this rooster. They wander around together and she tries to rub on him. Last year the avocados were comparatively sparse (we still had hundreds) but this year I think will be a bumper crop. Look at all the blossoms on this one small branch of this one tree! I think it will be a self-pruning year - the branches get so heavy with 2 - 2 1/2 pound fruits that entire branches break off!

Hibiscus is another really nice flower. I like this one because the foliage is variegated - pink and white and green leaves. I got this one because I couldn't resist the copper flower. How can natural things be so unnatural?


More Trinitaria...



The Trinitaria frames the agave nicely here.



This still is such a bizarre thing to me - a cashew at the end of a fruit. The fruit gets a lot larger and the cashew just hangs on the end in this bizarre way. Who decided to eat this? (the seed has to be steamed to get the nut out and is apparently very toxic)

More avocado blossoms. Yes, this will be a great avocado year. I'll probably be able to sell a truck bed full of them and have more than enough for ourselves and friends.

4 comments:

Cassie said...

Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What an incredible journey. I want tropical weather in Utah so I can have a lime tree in my backyard. Never going to happen :) Thanks for letting me stop by, Jackie

Unknown said...

Love the agave...I don't suppose you know where I can find some to buy?

The Trinitaria looks closely related to bouganvilla, si?

We have a ton of red hibiscus, but I am obsessed with finding new colors (I may or may not drive around at night, snipping samples from hibiscus that I can find...)! I have never seen that copper color before, where did you get it?! It's amazing!

You are rich in avocados and I am jealous. We have one HUGE tree that has given up a few grande avos (but nothing recently), one that teases us with a major blossom display (we think it must be a male, but neighbors claim that they have seen avocados) and several grafted trees that we planted three years ago that have not fruited yet. I can not wait until we are getting a steady supply of fruits from our land! :)

Anonymous said...

Summer - Why buy it when you can get it for free? I got the initial starts from a friend and you can come over and we'll dig some for you if you like (they are 25 bucks each at Ineadas). There are other things you may enjoy starts of... Bouganvilla yes - everything here has a new name. Copper hibiscus came from BoKeana (a nursery a couple miles from the house). The avocados are heavy one year, sparser the next. We have one tree that bloomed a bunch and didn't do anything. I know I'll never have a yard like this in my life every again and do not want to move but if Jeff is working...gotta do it. Who knows, it may take a while and I'll see fruit off of all the new trees! I'm serious...come by for small plants and nursery hopping - there are 3 or 4 nearby.