I have to keep today’s post super short and a little boring because I have about 3 seconds to spare today. Remember how I just talked about celebrating when things are not actively going off the rails? Well a good friend’s train is definitely off the tracks, but hopefully moving back toward the rails at an ever-quickening pace. Vague, I know. Just throw out some good vibes to the universe if you have a spare moment today. Thanks a million.
So based on my neighborhood I’d say the palo verde trees are in full bloom. In my yard the Desert Museum variety is looking fantastic and buzzing with bees. Near the street I’ve also planted two Sonoran palo verdes (palo brea), and they just opened up their first few flowers this weekend. On a neighborhood walk I’ve seen the blue palo verdes bursting with yellow flowers. I have not, however, noticed whether the foothills palo verdes are blooming, which I find quite odd because I think the hills near my house usually turn a nice shade of lemon right about now. So what’s up, did I miss it, is it happening now but I’m just stuck in a visionless stress-vortex, or is it yet to arrive? Someone fill me in.
Left to Right:
Blue Palo Verde
Love these trees. Blue/green trunks and stems, rich yellow flowers, seed pods galore after bloom (which wildlife love), and nice dense shade. I have 3 babies started in my yard. Can’t wait til they get a bit bigger.
Desert Museum Palo Verde
I have two totally healthy trees of this variety and two that have been sickly since I planted them 3 years ago. But the sickliness seems like an outlier based on what I’ve seen around town. These hybrid palo verdes (a genetic mix of foothills, blue, and Sonoran) grow fast, have green bark and stems, get fairly tall, and bloom for an extended amount of time. I know some of my “plant purist” friends argue that a human-made hybrid is not a great decision based on the fact that the tree has not naturally evolved here over a huge amount of time. And they may be totally right. But I still love them and I have a total of 4 that will hopefully someday create a nice backyard canopy. I guess to counter this argument I would say it’s a good idea to plant a whole mix of trees in any given yard/neighborhood/city. That way if some pest comes along a destroys everything of one variety, you have a series of backups in place. Anyway, this year I think my healthiest Desert Museum is going to put on at least 4′ of growth, inching it closer to being a real shade tree! Pretty stoked.
Farewell for now, friends. If your day is still solidly on the tracks, sing a little tune for me! Something with pep.
I love our DM palo verdes around the circle! They all have more flowers than leaves 🙂