reading: Linda Cordell’s Archaeology of the Southwest. This is one of those standards that you’re supposed to have lying around to refer to, but who actually reads these? (I am, actually. Great overview of what’s known.) music: Stevie Ray Vaughn and Dick Dale doing Pipeline. Do they have waves in Texas? bonus extra track: Don …
phenology: The first couple of years after we moved to the neighborhood in 1993, we grew explosive, fantastic tomato crops. But in later years, they became increasingly disappointing. It was like a slot machine calibrated to pay off early and get you hooked, then suck the quarters out of you. I love fresh tomatoes in …
The azaleas in Seoul are blooming earlier than they used to, according to a report by Chang-Hoi Ho and colleagues in an upcoming issue of the International Journal of Climatology. This is one of those wonderful phenological studies in which researchers piece together a historical record of when plants flower, a relatively sensitive indicator of …
The back garden’s at a really nice place right now, with a modest hollyhock show underway and the first early sunflowers blooming. Last night, Lissa and I were sitting out at dusk enjoying it, and were treated to a visit by a pair of lesser goldfinches. They’re little birds, able to sit on the sunflower …
Lissa picked up an Ocotillo last fall at the going-out-of-business sale at Rowland’s Nursery. We’re well beyond its natural range, but it’s always been one of our favorite plants, and we see people have some success here with them. Today, Lissa noticed it had leafed out. Also, L shot a picture of the Harison’s rose …
Sitting in the backyard this morning eating second breakfast after my bike ride, I noticed that the first yellow blossom on the Harrison’s rose has emerged. April 26. Could have happened yesterday (April 25), but they for sure weren’t out the evening of the 24th. In honor, I’ve started a new “phenology” category.
So I had this idea that I’d be able to look back through old blog posts and find out when the iris bloomed in our front yard each year, and that I’d be able to offer this slightly tongue-in-cheek riff on how bloggers writing about their gardens could create a sort of informal phenological network, …
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