54 when I woke up this morning! Happy gardener, happy plants.

Whooooooo- Hooooooo

92-80 degrees all week. Too cold to use that pool! Got a Jacuzzi?

Yes....Fall is indeed here! I'm not an AZ native. I still blink when I say 92 degrees is a cool day and it feels like Fall due to a cold snap in the air. Actually shut off the air and now have the doors open and just the ceiling fans running.

Been putting on the robe and slippers at night. 66 here is cold! Can't wait for it to cool down a bit more so I can wear those nice thick fuzzy socks I'm so fond of.

Dog has also been loving her walks. No more getting up a o' dark thirty a.m. or waiting for it to be dark enough outside for the street lights to come on to take her for walks.

Isn't it amazing in just within an hour or so distance from each other how radically different our temps, sun and rainfall can be? Again another quirk people who don't live don't get. I don't get it myself but it is what it is.

And the plants are finally happy and are no longer in that self defensive posture. I felt horrible all summer. Whenever I looked at them, they made me feel like I was abusing them. I could hear them say, "Bad plant mommy.' even though I tried to make them understand this wasn't my fault!

Happy to say they are done pouting, have plumped up, gotten green and a few have shown blooms. The humidity. My hair hates it but the plants have been sucking it up like manna from Heaven and the occasional rain we get is like plant crack. Rained 2 days ago and then looked yesterday. No exaggeration the plants had gotten taller, greener and plumper in a whole 2 days!

As for work outside, only downside to fall and winter is that there are no more excuses to use not to get off your butt and do those projects. Yes...projects since planting is over until spring.

My latest is a monster job. On the plus side I've lost 1.5 pounds in just one day!!! Keep this up for 2 more weeks and I will have lost that 6 pounds I wanted. By the time I finish the project they'll be force feeding me spaghetti, ice cream and buttered bread. Hmmmmm....

for the weight loss and cooler weather! I am looking forward to flannel pajama temps.

In our area of Tucson I have recorded 11.44 inches of rain this year so far. I am a volunteer rain monitor for the University of Arizona. That is more then usual. Many of the storms were pretty scary, I do not like that part with the terrible winds.

Our pool was built in 1974, so it's large with a diving board. It is about 82 degrees right now, and doesn't warm up as fast as the smaller, shallow pools they now make. We are wimps. I only like it when it's about 84 or higher. Earlier this summer when we had the triple digit heat, it got to 90 and I loved it!

My plants are also so much happier! A few cacti are still blooming, and I'm hoping my Orange Jubilee will recover. Right now it's a mess of brown stems. Normally it loves the Fall and gets covered with blooms.

Great on the weight loss, AG! I gained a few pounds from not walking the dog this summer. Now I hope I can drop them from going on my long daily walks again.

Good evening Karen,

I cannot plant the sunflower seed here until at least the first week of March. You are a bit warmer there in Tucson and I believe you can plant your about 3 weeks earlier than I can. I love the fall for planting starts and tuber/root/bulbs. It was 52 this morning when I went out a 6 to start planting and I actually had to wear a sweatshirt...I love it!!!

Hello Linda.

How cool that you actually measure rain for your area! I love our monsoon storms, we actually had 60 mile an hour winds in our neighborhood and it took out several old trees on our block, it was an interesting summer for sure!

Hi all! Carla, I'm on the border of Phoenix and Scottsdale, so I may be about the same as you. Probably end of February or beginning of March would be good for the sunflower seeds. We have an area along our wall where there is an old drip system, so at least they will be able to get water without me having to water. I love watering, but not during the summer!

Linda, we haven't measured our rain here, but I do think it has been more than normal. Our place in NM has definitely had more rain than normal. I'm so happy. We have natural ponds (tanks) there and they were dry. Now they're about 3/4th filled again and the birds and animals are happy again. They used to be full of fish, but I think they all died during the drought.

Hey everybody,
At Quietyard's advice, I figured I should check out this thread. I just transferred to Marana, and should be getting the family moved from TN in about a month. Hopefully learning to garden in the desert won't come with too much pain and gnashing of teeth. We probably can't grow things like hostas, hydrangeas and crepe myrtles, but we will figure out other things (I understand roses and daylilies do well here).

I am considering planting a Texas Ebony tree in my new back yard, does anyone have experience with these?

Also, reputable garden centers in northwest Tucson area? Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

@Daggiewood1! Hi Mike, I think you'll love gardening in Marana. In a year or so you'll be gardening like the natives.
Our neighbor has Crepe Myrtles, but every few winters they freeze and die or barely come back, so I don't consider them to be worthwhile growing.

You'll find lots of happy cacti and succulents in gardens near you. They bloom so beautifully, and many of my cacti are rebloomers. They are happiest under a bit of shadecloth or tucked under trees, bushes, or home overhangs for a little shade during the scorcher days.

The Texas Ebony has some killer thorns. I've resisted it since nearly everything else I have pokes me while cleaning and trimming.
Here is a discussion on Gardenweb of the Texas Ebony tree in AZ.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/di...

Mike you found us!

The closest nursery in Tucson to you and it is not that close is Rillito Nursery and Garden Center at 6303 N. La Cholla. They seem to be a good nursery, I go there occasionally. If you are into Cactus and Succulents, which I am not, a good place is Bach's Greenhouse Nursery at 8602 N. Thornydale Rd.

When you have lots of time the Disneyland of Nurseries in Tucson is located on 8005 E. Speedway. It is called Mesquite Valley Growers. They are huge and have every thing you could ever want. A very long trip but well worth it.

Also very good and a bit closer is Green Things at 3235 E. Allen Rd. They have a fantastic houseplant selection as well as outdoor plants .

Thanks for the rundown on the Tucson area nurseries, Linda. I've been to Bach's, but none of the others yet. We now travel through there on our way to NM.

Karen

We're slowly getting a good little group here. It'd be wonderful if more find us!
I'm breathing a sign of relief now that the weather is cooler, and my plants seem happier. I think the summer killed my Orange Jubilee that has been in for 13 years. Normally when Fall comes it gets very green and blooms profusely but now the stems are all brown and it's so sad looking. I wonder if they have a short lifespan?

Karen that is the Tecoma bush isn't it? I have several, one is huge and has had blossoms on and off all summer. The Hummers love it. My other three are crappy. I find they take a lot of water and get attacked by caterpillars this time of the year that really messes them up. My big bush did not have too many issues with this but the others, not so good.

If you want spectacular orange blossoms the Cape Honeysuckle bushes, Tecoma Capensis, are spectacular. Mine are as tall as me and just covered with blossoms especially as a result of the rains we have had this summer. These bushes are tough, even when they get stressed, after the rains they bounce back.

Hi Linda, yes it's the Tecoma. The branches do look bare as well as brown, so I'm betting there might be or were caterpillars at work.

I used to have the Cape Honeysuckle here, but we rented the place out for 30 years while we moved and traveled for business. When we got it back, many of our landscape plantings were gone. We lost all of our citrus, roses, lawn and most ground covers. No one wanted to water, even though we paid for the water.

I would not have been very happy to come back to that. I do not understand people. Being a renter is no excuse. When we were first married we rented for 4 years. The landlady said we took better care of the yard then they did their yard. I gardened just like it was ours and we had to pay for the water.

Linda, you were right! Caterpillars must have done the dirty work earlier this year. I looked at the dead leaves, and they were full of black caterpillar poop. It is starting to pop out bright new green leaves, so I hope it will come back all ok before the winter freezes hit it. Every year I have to cut off damaged wood in the Spring.

When we were first married we also rented and left every place we rented looking much nicer.

We had many renters from Hell even though we had a management service checking them out before renting. Only one set had to be evicted, and that took a long time. One set took all of our custom drapes and wrought iron drapery rods. People are unbelievable. We won't rent anything out ever again.

Glad I was able to maybe solve your mystery. Yes, the plant should come back in the future but in the fall this happens.

Oddly enough, this is the first year it's happened to this plant. Every other year, it was so happy for Fall and just got so nice and full of flowers. I guess the caterpillars finally found it.