Welcome to my place, home of the slacker mesquite tree. This tree has the dubious distinction of being the last one on the block to bloom.
But when it comes to dropping leaves all over the place, my mesquite is a champ. I truly adore having to sweep the porch, over and over again…
Then came the rain. Perfect motivation for my slacker mesquite tree. And for me.
Because nothing screams “Photo Opportunity!” like big drops of water falling onto my plants. Here’s a feathery senna, enjoying the drink…
Okay, so I just called my tree a slacker. I plead guilty to the same offense. See this pile of busted up concrete?
Said pile has been in my yard for many months. The plan is to build a patio for my potted plants. My excuse is that I’m waiting for a good rain to soften the ground so it isn’t like digging into cement.
Onward to the white thorn acacias, which are proving to be even bigger slackers than the mesquite tree. Talk about slow bloomers…
Okay, looks like the rain has stopped. (We only got .07″ rain out of this storm. Slacker weather.) Time to inspect the rest of the yard.
Since I’m following xeriscape principles, the plants that need the least water are on the edges of the yard. Like these budding and propagating cactus plants…
After the slacker non-stormy weather left town, the sun returned, and what’s this? The mesquite tree is blooming!
The spring weather is proving quite motivational for my yard. All sorts of plants are fruiting and flowering. Let’s start by admiring the fish hook barrel cactus…
The ocotillo’s also getting into the act…
The rabbit ears cactus flowers need the morning sun on them before they open for another day…
That’s more like it!
To the kicker who planted his or her shoe print on this Santa Rita Prickly Pear, you may not realize this, but you just got a nice collection of thorns in your sneaker…
And these aren’t the easiest thorns to remove. Have fun after they work their way into the sole of your shoe. That’ll make for some very painful walking.