It was an incredibly beautiful day yesterday in Washoe Valley, a perfect, sun and fun filled Spring day at our Washoe City nursery location. We celebrated Earth Day, the wind and Dry Creek's new wind turbine with a a pro-environment information fair. Lots of students and gardeners stopped by with questions and to hear the amazing music by Tim Snider.

In this photo, John is explaining the energy saving philosophy behind roof top gardening to a group of students.

There was one thing unusual, though, about yesterday's wind energy and wind turbine celebration: there was not a hint of wind! Usually residents of Washoe City would count a windless day a blessing, but everyone wanted to see the new turbine turning.

A good time was had by all.

Pictured in the lower forefront of the photograph is the Cut-leaf Daisy (Erigeron compositus) which opens to a beautiful, showy pale lavender flower that's pleasing to the eye and attractive to butterflies and honey bees. The plant grows from montane to alpine elevations throughout the American West. It requires an average soil and an average amount of water for our area, less being better than more, but regular watering is best. For a perennial ground cover plan, the Cut-leaf Daisy is low growing and will reseed itself from year to year, becoming dependable as a soft texture for rock gardens and other sunny spaces.

The upper flower in the photograph is the Phlox douglasii, a dependable perennial groundcover found in the same northwestern zones as the Cut-leaf Daisy. The Phlox grows in mats and, once established, takes little to no maintenance. Drought-tolerant and a good choice for xeric landscaping, this Phlox, like the Cut-leaf Daisy, adds color to rock gardens and open sunny places this time of year.

Both flowers are in bloom right now, and we have both in stock. For your gardening pleasure, we are offering a 20% discount on the Cut-leaf Daisy while supplies last.

Don't forget to come celebrate the Wind and Earth Day at the Washoe City nursery TODAY, April 23, between noon and 2 pm. Find out more.

Some quotes for Earth Day:

It seems that where ever humans live, it is rare for there not to exist a tension between the land, the wild and the people. It is as if an essential aspect of being human is to be always in transition, a more or less disrupting force perpetually transforming the animal and plant communities within which we hope to coexist. We must be careful! -- Anonymous

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. -- Chief Seattle

Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.Ã? -- Cree Indian Proverb

The earth is a generous mother; she will provide in plentiful abundance food for all her children if they will but cultivate her soil in justice and in peace. -- Bourke Coekran

When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. - John Muir

When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.Ã? -- David Orr

The old Lakota was wise.Ã? He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too.Ã? -- Chief Luther Standing Bear

When the soil disappears, the soul disappears.Ã? -- Ymber Delecto

The earth is what we all have in common. To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival. -- Wendell Berry

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for destruction. -- Rachel Carson

The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild, and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World. Every tree sends its fibers forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind. . . . -- Henry David Thoreau

Happy Earth Day! And don't forget to come celebrate the Wind and Earth Day at the Washoe City nursery tomorrow between noon and 2 pm. Find out more.

In 1969, the American underground comics artist, Ron Cobb, designed the Ecology Symbol. It was first published in The Los Angeles Free Press ("The Freep"), historically one of the 1960s first underground newspapers in the United States. It seems Cobb had better intentions than simply making money off the symbol and thus promptly released it into the public domain.

The philosophic symbolism behind Cobb's image, reminiscent of the mid-twienth century move towards enlightenment that was the anti-Vietnam war, pro-environmental, pro-civil rights, peace and justice movement, is illustrated on a poster by Cobb. On the poster, the symbol is surround by definitions and concepts that illustrate the hope and idealistic goals of an entire generation.

Much of the intent was to highlight the concept of Ecology in order to incite awareness of the reality of human environmental destructiveness. It would be used as a deterrant to that destructiveness, publically defined so as to remind us of our uncanniness, our lostness, and to help us find a new path toward reintegration with the planet. It would be the rediscovery of a hidden truth, a way to help "get ourselves back to the garden," as Joni Mitchell would sing.

For Cobb, the 'e' was to be lower case "to symbolize the passive yielding or feminine aspect of nature, the 'prima materia' or 'no-thing' out of which all 'things' are made to appear by division." The 'e' was to symbolize the environment, thought of through a list of 'e' words, such as "earth, eden, eternal, evolution, encircle, enrichment, enlightenment, eros, empathy, emotion, ecstasy and existence." The symbol was elliptic to illustrate "the transcendent unity that pervades all dualities..." And so Cobb connected the ends of the 'e' to become a circle to suggest 'o' words, such as "organism, oneness, oasis, OM, omnipresence, origin, open, orgy, orgasm and ontology," thereby creating a mandala, "the universal symbol of wholeness of harmonious unity -- the centering of psyche with cosmos -- the resolution of all opposites ...sanity, peace..."

The symbol survives, reminding us of very practical needs: clean air, clean soil, clean water, room to grow, health, peace, justice, and finding our way back to the garden...

One of the amazing things about Creeping or Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is that it adapts easily to a wide variety of environmental conditions. It likes full sun, but will take partial shade. It enjoys a slightly moist soil with a neutral pH, but will grow quite happily in acidic soils that dry out almost completely in the afternoon sun. With its shallow roots, it will even adapt to sandy, rocky soils and the intense heat of desert summers.

Just as impressive in the cold, this plant is Zone 3 hardy, which means it can survive -40 temperatures! That's as cold as the highest mountains of the Sierra and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. In winter, this phlox will cozy down beneath a thick layer of snow to escape the burning effects of searing winds and storms. Then come Spring, it delights us with its beautiful carpet of flowers.

Phlox is in bloom right now! Spring is its time of visible presence when its five-petaled flowers cover the entire plant for a good two weeks or more. We carry several varieties in 4" pots in many shades: pink, red, lavender, blue, purple, and white. It's a great miniature, easily controlled semi-evergreen ground cover that grows pretty much where you want it to.

Gardeners and landscapers use this Phlox for its beautiful display of flowers in the Spring. It's often planted in rock gardens, at the edge of rock walls, and as border accents.

Each year we get in a limited supply of Wala Wala sweet onion sets and first or second year old asparagus crowns. We have both in stock this week, but both are very popular, so don't wait if you want some for this year.

Wala Wala onions are now the official state vegetable of Washington. The onion has a long history with growers in the state, with major efforts to produce an outstandingly sweet, delicious tasting onion -- so sweet, in fact, that people claim to enjoy them freshly picked, raw "like an apple." They are truly delicious and the best onion for appetizers, salads, salsas, soups, grilling, etc. The onions enjoy a rich soil, with plenty of humus. We add some organic chicken manure or some organic Dr. Earth fertilizer formulated especially for vegetable gardening. You'll want to plant them about four or five inches apart.

Last year we tried growing first year asparagus crowns in containers, but without much success. Out of a six pack of young crowns, only one is returning this year. Asparagus roots grow to depths of up to ten feet, so it makes sense that growing them in containers wouldn't be very smart, but we thought we'd give it a try anyway just to see. Some gardeners claim success growing asparagus in containers, and our experiment wasn't a complete failure. In the ground, the asparagus crowns will spread, so you can plant them 18 to 24 inches apart in a bed especially prepared for your asparagus crop.

If you've never grown asparagus, you'll need to allow the crowns to grow at least another season before you decide to harvest them for your recipes. Normally, the first year is for crown development, the second year, the crown establishes itself with deeper roots and becomes a fern. The third year is usually considered the first harvest year. The plant will be fully and abundantly productive in its sixth year. If you love asparagus, you'll love asparagus fresh from your vegetable garden.

The crowns we have are second year crowns, so you might be able to harvest them this year!

The National Weather Service recently issued its Hydrologic Outlook for Western Nevada and Eastern California and even though we received a series of welcomed late winter storms in March and early April, the snowfall we received in the mountains was not enough to offset what the Weather Service describes as "a rather bleak situation." Due to years of drought and increasing water use, the forecast warns of "tight water supplies," "below average stream flows," "low reservoir storage values" and "low soil moisture." A series of April showers would make things more hopeful, but the reality of the situation seems to be more of the same: "Stream flows are likely to remain below to far below average for most of Nevada and the Eastern Sierra Nevada for a forth year in a row."

We can hope for a wet spring which would make things less drastic, but reason and the reality of our situation would suggest that we plan our gardens and landscapes according to drought conscious xeric principles. One such plan would be to catch some of the rain that does fall on and around our homes with rain barrels, such as the one pictured here.

When looking into the notion of xeric gardening, we found that Xeros, in Greek, means 'dry.' But, as a gardening logic, xeric means more than simply dry, it implies gardening and landscaping with plants that actually thrive in conditions that match the water and weather habits of the particular region where we live. So, the meaning is more about gardening and landscaping efficiently and in sync with an arid, low water environment.Ã?

Gardeners and landscapers that work with hardy plants that thrive in drought-like conditions don't have to fight against the elements in order to be successful. Not only do the plants thrive without much effort, but added benefits include little maintenance and reduced expense. This is one of the principle reasons why we specialize in drought-tolerant plants.

Read more about Xeric landscaping principles on our Xeric Landscaping page.

The United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database lists 165 different common names for Phlox, 276 different scientific names, with 92 different types to be found in Nevada. Not all are as beautiful as the one pictured here.

If you are fond of local hiking, different types of Phlox are common sights. Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa) likes the upper alpine regions of the high Sierra, blooming from March to early August according to elevation and snow cover. In the Great Basin Desert, you'll find the Cushion or Carpet Phlox (Phlox hoodii) usually blooming from March into April, but some years even into June, and the Long-Leafed Phlox (Phlox longifolia), blooming usually in April, but it too can have a late blooming season. From white, to bright pink to soft lavender, the flowers grow in thick mats, pretty much hiding the green foliage while in bloom.

Phlox is a good choice for xeric landscapes as they prefer dry, sandy soil. They do well in hot, sunny, rock gardens and ledges and are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring.

Ã?

This is the time of year for the local birds. The Robins are pecking holes looking for new crops of insects. The Mourning Doves are collecting twigs for their nests. The localized California Quail are busy, too, This photo of an ever watchful male was taken yesterday just off Plumb in a backyard between Arlington and Plumus.

The California Quail (Callipepla californica) -- The California Quail's range extends into northwest Nevada. Nowadays, the bird is a common sight along the entire length of the Truckee, in the river's riparian flood lands. Since they build their nests on the ground, the California Quail prefers brush land areas, whether grassland, woodland, or Big Sagebrush desert. This bird will even set up residence in city and suburban backyards -- if there's cover. They are often seen walking fences and running in their small coveys across city and suburban streets.

This beautiful bird eats seeds, small buds, berries and insects. In the city, they seem to prefer bare dirt to grass lawns. Since the new born chicks are unable to escape predators through flight for their first month, both parents are very protective of the chicks.

Other quail in Nevada:

The Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) -- The Mountain Quail's original range was huge, with year round populations extending north to south from Canada to Baja California, east to west in the mountain ranges of Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. During the last half of the 20th century, the Mountain Quail declined dramatically and continues to do so, due mainly to loss of habitat in combination with extensive hunting. According to the Audubon Watch List, hunting this beautiful bird is now banned in Idaho and eastern Oregon. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is attempting to reintroduce Mountain Quail to what remains of their original habitat. The Mountain Quail is larger than the California Quail and lives in higher elevations (as high as 10,000 feet). They do migrate downward when the temperatures drop in the autumn, traveling in coveys of up to 20 birds. As their habitat continues to dwindle due to housing and commercial developments in the mountain regions of the west, there have been attempts to protect the species by officially adding it to the Endangered Species List. So far they remain unlisted, although their extermination is all but complete in Idaho. In Nevada, with a permit, hunters can still kill the Mountain Quail, but with a daily bag limit of two.

Gambel's Quail (Lophortyx gambellii) -- The Gambel's Quail is a true desert quail, preferring the warmer climates of the southwestern deserts. In California and Nevada, this bird can be found in the Mojave Desert as far north as Beatty and throughout Death Valley National Park.

Scaled Quail (Callipepla Squamata) -- The Scaled Quail, also called the Blue Quail was introduced into Nevada as a game bird and remains a favored bird for shooting even though populations are declining range wide. This quail is also a popular aviary bird.

The Iowa State University Extension published an article entitled, "Rabbit Damage to Tree Plantings." The article concentrates specifically on the potential damage done by cottontails and jackrabbits to trees. Both can "severely damage trees by girdling the trunks or major branches or by completely severing the growing points of terminal leaders on small trees." The article also claims a correlation between big snow years and heavy tree damage, apparently because the rabbits can reach more tender stems from atop the snow. Trees that are most vulnerable to rabbit nibbling are ones with thin bark. This would include young willow saplings, poplars, cottonwoods, various fruit trees saplings, including apple, pear, peach and nectarine. For the evergreens, rabbits apparently enjoy pine tree saplings over other conifers.

There are some flowers and vegetables in your garden that might be safe from rabbit nibbling, but it depends upon what else is close by to eat and how many rabbits you have hopping around. If your rabbits have access to an abundance of carrots, tender lettuces, cabbage, green beans, lima beans, beets, peas, radishes, spinach, collard greens, kale, strawberries, then your tomatoes, squash, eggplant, potatoes, garlic, cucumbers and asparagus might get by without much nibbling. But remember, rabbits, if left to themselves without natural predators about, will multiply rapidly, and the more rabbits, the more vulnerable your plants become.

To protect your plants from rabbits, fencing is very effective. For a wire mesh fence you will want to bury the fence about a foot beneath the surface while maintaining an above ground height of around two feet. A rabbit proof fence will help keep other critters away, too, such as deer, squirrels, skunks, chipmunks and raccoons. If you want to guard against voles and moles, be sure to bury the fence about two feet deep.

If a surrounding fence isn't a solution, individual trees can be wrapped with wire mesh. If the mesh isn't fine enough to keep the rabbits from chewing between the wire, be sure to brace the wire wrapping so that it stands away from the branches and trunks of your plants by a couple inches, and be sure to wrap your trunks and branches high enough that the rabbits can't reach above the mesh when there's snow on the ground in winter. You'll also want to keep close watch so that the wire mesh doesn't begin to grow into the tree or otherwise hinder its growth.

Another good way to control rabbits and squirrels is to catch them with Havahart Live Traps. We've used the two-door cage trap for catching ground squirrels. This design allows the rabbit or squirrel to enter from either end. There's a handle guard, too, which protects your hand while carrying the trapped bunny. It's basically a trap and release strategy. Simply bait the trap with some yummy fresh vegetables like carrots and lettuce, place the trap close to where the rabbit likes to munch. Once the rabbit has been trapped, promptly take it to a park or rural piece of open land and release it.

Some gardeners use Fox Urine Granules that are spread around the yard using a shaker. The rabbits smell the dried urine which triggers their fear and defense mechanisms thereby scaring the rabbits away. You can also buy Granulated Coyote Urine to repel visiting deer and it's supposed to work on neighborhood cats that like to use your yard and garden soil as their own private cat box.

People also try putting large glass jars of water in the yard; the reflections can scare the rabbits. Others set up a fake owls, a rubber snake or a garden hose placed in the grass like a snake.

This spring, the Havahart Live Trap will be our first strategy to rid the yard of our Lagomorphic visitor.

It seems that the Easter Bunny has taken up residence. We're seeing him more and more nibbling the grass usually at twilight. We're pretty sure this one is a type of Cottontail, but we're not yet certain. Come to find out, rabbits are not actually rodents, although closely related, but of another order, called Lagomorpha. Logomorpha includes rabbits, hares and the pika. Still, they seem to think all the vegetables in the garden are there for the nibbling, so now we have to decide what to do...

There are several different rabbit types that live nearby:

Pika -- In the Sierra's high, subalpine belt, between 7500 and 12000 ft, higher elevations lives the Pika (Ochotona princeps), also called the Rock Rabbit. The Pika isn't actually a true rabbit, but they are genetically related.

Pygmy Rabbit -- Another indigenous rabbit is the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). Its range includes the Big Sagebrush regions of Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Washington. According to the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, the Pygmy Rabbit is endangered mainly due to the loss and fragmentation of its native habitat ("conversion of sagebrush rangeland to agriculture; development, including oil and gas production; and wildfire frequency in some areas). Since this rabbit feeds mainly on sagebrush, the widespread destruction of old growth Big Sagebrush country greatly effects the rabbit's ability to survive. The little rabbit must also endure the local predators like coyotes, foxes, weasels, bobcats, badgers, owls, hawks, eagles, and humans who use the rabbits for target practice.

The Cottontail -- There's at least two species of Cottontail in the Sierra. The one that lives in our area is the Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), who likes the Big Sagebrush forests of the eastern side of the range. The Cottontail is very common, and also a favorite for hunters.

The Snowshoe Hare -- The Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) turns white in the winter for camouflage in the snow, then brown as the snow melts. It's found in the conifer forests where there's plenty of water loving vegetation along year round streams.

The Jackrabbit -- The Black-Tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) is a fun sight to see in the desert. They live on both sides of the Sierra ridge, and can be seen amongst the Big Sagebrush forests of the Great Basin.

Source: Sierra Nevada Natural History (California Natural History Guides)

Since our local growing season is relatively short -- especially for the alpine regions, but also for the high desert valleys -- April is a very important month for gardeners. So get busy!

When planning for seasonal color, the Arabis Snowcap is a perfect plant for early spring. This medium growing, spreading perennial has fragrant clusters of pure white flowers that appear in March and April. It loves the desert sun and blooms for four to six weeks. It's easy to grow and perfect for well-drained rock gardens, garden walls, containers and borders. Plant it now, enjoy the blooms, and watch it reappear again next year just to make you happy.

This year you might like to try growing annual poppies, like the Shirley Poppy and the California Poppy. Poppies are easy to grow from seed and this is a good time to plant them. Since the seeds are so small, an easy way to spread them more evenly and to protect them from being tossed about by strong April winds, is to mix the seeds with some fine potting soil or composted humus in a small container, then scatter the mixture in prepared flower boxes, borders, and other empty spots in your garden.

If you grow Chrysanthemums, April is a good time to divide your larger plants and replant the divisions. The same holds true with other spreading perennials that benefit from division (including cacti).

Since the local insect-eating song birds are getting frisky this time of year, early April is a good time to place a birdhouse in your yard. (We have some nice birdhouses presently in stock, but supplies are limited.)

Don't forget that Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. As you make plans to celebrate, be sure to choose the spot carefully; you'll want a spot that fits the growing habits of the tree to be planted. You'll want to dig a large hole for the root ball. As part of the Arbor Day celebration, before you plant the tree, you can fill the hole with water and take a mud bath with your friends. Be sure to choose a tree that will work well in your landscaping design. We invite you to come visit our nursery. If you need help choosing a proper tree, we can show you an amazing selection of both deciduous and evergreen trees, from miniature ornamentals to mighty Sequoias.

Here's a checklist of projects and plans from our April Gardening Tips page:

• Plan for springtime flowers
• Plan your water garden
• Plan your herb garden
• Design your vegetable garden
• Plan your balcony garden
• Design or redesign your landscape
• Choose your starter seeds
• Divide and repot indoor plants

Of course, since the April sun provides some mid-day warmth, there are outdoor projects we can tackle as well:

• Turn and prepare the garden soil
• Clear the last remaining leaves
• Plan and build or repair your arbors
• Fertilize perennials, shrubs and trees
• Prune your trees and shrubs if needed
• Stake your tall perennials and vines
• Set up a birdhouse or two or three