Thursday, January 28, 2010

White

Hmmm. Maybe I should have been more specific yesterday. The grey is more or less gone but it has been replaced by white. Not that white is bad. White is snow. Snow is water. Water is always something that is welcome in the desert. So yay for white! But still, here is another picture from last summer so I can remember there are more colors than white.





Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Grey, grey

Grey, grey go a way! Come again some other day.

This grey weather has made it impractical to have butterflies in the butterfly house. They really need sunny days to fly.Plus, our suppliers in Florida got wiped out because of the cold so it looks like it will be a week or so until we are able to have butterflies again. Sigh.

But here is a lovely picture to remind us that yes, there will be sunshine and flowers.


Thursday, January 14, 2010

Tamarisk Symposium

I spent the last two days at Two Rivers Convention Center in a roomful of land managers, plant scientists and conservationists. And I was totally outclassed. These people were smart. Really smart. I was lucky to be there. I learned a lot. A lot about tamarisk, the tamarisk beetle, the southwestern willow flycatcher, ranchers, revegetation, and russian knapweed. And that's not all. That is just the start. But I won't bore you with long lists. I will bore you with one more picture from the mi favrito jardin botanico en Mexico.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

For Want of a Nail

For Want of a Nail


For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

or in my case a double a battery. That sits in my freezer like it has for the past week. It isn't like my freezer is hard to get to. It is actually right next to the back door. Yet day after day I forget the one thing that would release the photo of the beautiful bird of paradise that is blooming in the butterfly house.

What an aggravation.

In the meantime, here is a photo from the cute little Jardin Botanico I like so much in Mexico City aka el DF. The greenhouse was great.



Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Quote

Hi everybody!

I'm still wrangling with technology on the Mexico pictures and I've been stuck behind my desk it seems like since last April. This makes it hard to take lovely pictures of our own gardens. That is why this quote really resonated with me when I came across it yesterday.
"When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands."
Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
True, he opined this over a hundred years ago but I find it still holds true.
I'm really excited for what we have coming up this spring at the Gardens. If you have any interest at all in gardening I encourage you to contact the Gardens. We are in the planning stages and I'd like all our gardeners to be a part of that this year. So come on down! I'd love to see you.

Monday, January 4, 2010

I'm Back!

Did ya miss me? Huh, huh? Did ya? Well, I missed you. It has been a month of paperwork and snow. I did manage to escape to Mexico for a week's vacation. It was good to be in the warm weather and sun. I loved the botanical garden in Mexico City. It was very formal but had a nice selection of succulents. The greenhouse was also nice with stucco walls, stained glass and bunches and bunches of orchids. I'll post some photos as soon as I can.
I hope your holidays were happy. 2010 looks to be a really great year for the WCBG. I can hardly wait to see what the next few months will bring. Our staff is passionate and dedicated and board is the best it has ever been. Of course our volunteers have been taking it easy for the last month but we will be gearing up for spring soon enough.
It is good to be back! See you in the greenhouses!