Spiral Vision

I’ve never drawn formal garden plans. But I have an old sketch scrawled on a yellow legal pad of a spiral that borders my garden. I wasn’t sure how it would materialize, but the inchoate thought was implanted in my mind. After many years, I had the epiphany that I wanted the spiral to be a dry riverbed. Inspired by how my friends Pilo and Patrice used thyme in two distinct ways. I concluded that the thyme could be juxtaposed with the river rocks to unify the spiral with the rest of the garden. 

However, the pursuit of finding the right thyme took longer than anticipated. Sometimes, my single-mindedness gets the better of my friends and me. Last year, my friend Susan drove me to five different nurseries to find pink chintz thyme. I didn’t want wooly thyme or Reiter or some of the other cultivars. It had to be pink chintz! It’s low to the ground and spreads widely. 

We drove to Newman’s Nursery at the outskirts of Santa Fe and all the thyme there was spoken for. The flats had big fluorescent orange tags with “SOLD” emblazoned on them. She then drove to Plants of the Southwest. To my dismay, there was no pink chintz. We drove down the street to Agua Fria Nursery, which has a large area dedicated to thyme, but the grail was elusive. We got back in the car. The air was dry and I could taste the dust in my mouth. I was on the verge of giving up. But Santa Fe is not a metropolis, so Susan schlepped me to Payne’s Nursery whose thyme selection was more limited. I was ready to cry uncle when she insisted that we go to Santa Fe Greenhouses. Not only did they have pink chintz thyme, it was 25% off! 

First, I dug the template for the dry river bed. The wisteria in the corner is just starting to leaf out.

Next, I laid down some landscaping cloth and placed the rocks over it. The wisteria has grown some more. 

Continuing with the rock placement. My dog, Aster thought the spiral was her own personal agility course and I'm still working on realigning the rocks she knocked out of place. Also planted thyme last summer that's wintered over and has started to spread out. It's still a work in progress, but onward I go. 

New Mexico Plants

Searching for a great plant that will grow in New Mexico? The Office of the State Engineer has a website for plants that grow here, New Mexico Plants. The browse page let's you browse plant categories by the Latin or common name. It has some of my favorite perennials, like penstemon and salvia. There is also a search function for specifying your region of the State, plant color, water requirements, etc. But my favorite choice on this page is animal attractions. Hmm, not sure if aphids, snails, slugs, and borers are attractions. And the best for last is that you can add plants from your search to a shopping list. Happy planting!

Sedum

Helped a friend clean out her garden and loved the shadows against the wall by the trellis. 

The Blistering Wind

... is an annual sign of spring in Central and Northern New Mexico that I have blissfully ignored for most of the last 20 years. It's not a susurrus gently beckoning in my ear, but more like unseen waves crashing against me. The wind causes trees to flag so that all the branches face in one direction and are devoid of their natural symmetry. 

One day I'm eating eggs Benedict for brunch and it's 70 degrees outside. And the next, there's a sirocco causing my head to feel like a barometer. 

Blackstone Benedict

A twist on traditional eggs Benedict, avocado and grilled tomatoes instead of Canadian bacon. 

Happy Spring

Susan's Birdbath

Still working on my garden clean up this year. Pruned the Russian sage (perovskia). A dwarf daffodil bloomed this morning. The bulbs I belatedly planted in February are starting to bloom, too. Yea for muscari; they're my favorite harbingers of spring. One summer, I pulled up all of my grape hyacynths thinking that I would separate and replant them, but the replanting part never happened. Alas.

Be wary of the hedge trimmer! In a fit of overzealous pruning, I cut the drip line in four places and had some repairs to do. 

Turkey Tacos

I tried a new turkey taco recipe today. I've been making ground turkey tacos for almost 20 years. I started right after I finished college and go back to them as a semi-healthy alternative to ground beef. The recipe is adapted from the Food Network, Turkey Tacos Picadillo. I didn't use the jalapenos, cilantro, oil or broth called for in the recipe. Also substituted organic diced tomatoes and added a can of organic black beans (drained and rinsed). Nonetheless, the recipe was still missing a little pizazz. Next time, I think I'll add some green pepper, not omit the cilantro and add more salt. Almost a keeper.

Remembrance of Gardens Past

Continued cleaning out the flower beds, lots of seed pods and other vestiges of last year's garden. The smell of lavender wafted in the air. Worked on the dry river bed spiral in the back yard. The thyme that I planted in the spiral is taking well.