This beautiful Prickly Pear cactus flower opened yesterday with such a rich lemon yellow. The plant has several more unopened buds, so we're in for a visual treat over the coming days.

There are several types of Opuntia, some of which are indigenous to the Great Basin Desert. Beavertail (Opuntia basilaris), the Porcupine Prickly Pear (Opuntia erinacea), the Smooth Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa), the Plains Prickly Pear (Opuntia polycantha), and the Brown-Spinded Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha) are such wonders to be found in the Great Basin. In the wild, different species have adapted to different elevations of the Basin and Range.

Opuntia is easy to grow in the ground, rock gardens and in containers. Give them full sun with well draining, course soil that dries out between watering. An advantage to growing them in containers is that they can be moved about. This is especially advantageous when the blooming season arrives, as they can become a temporary center of attention.

If you want to create a rock garden on your property, you need look no further for inspiration than the very terrain that surrounds us. The Sierra and the Great Basin Desert offer endless examples to emulate.

If your yard is sloped with rocks already in place, you're lucky, especially if the rocks are beautiful and well placed. If your yard is flat and rockless, you'll have to collect some rocks. Remember though, rocks are heavy and lifting them can hurt your back! If you want big rocks, you're best bet is to purchase them and have them delivered. (We have some beautiful large rocks on hand this season for this very purpose.)

Rock gardens can be, but they don't have to be sprawling. Even a small space in your garden can serve as an interest point for plants that drain well and do well against rocks that heat up from the summer sun. Place the stones in a pattern or design layout you like, using larger stones as a wall to hold the soil in place. Fill the space between and around the rocks with soil. Add smaller rocks on top of the soil, but reserve some really nice larger ones, too, to make the design look naturally erratic. You might also want to install a drip system.

For the plants, you can pick and choose which ones you want according to color and texture, but also according to what enjoys living in your new rocky microclimate. Choose plants that will grow so as to show off your rock garden, rather than hide it. We carry many plants, including miniture, low-growing ground covers, cacti, sedum and other hardy perennials in small containers that are perfect for rock gardens. We can also help with designs and installations.

Over the Independence Day weekend, the Mule's Ears (Wyethia) were in full bloom in the Sierra mountains. Around Boca and Stampede reservoirs they were green, abundantly blooming, in company with many beautiful alpine wildflowers.

There are several varieties of Wyethia in the Western United States. Close to home, in California, Nevada and Oregon, you can find the Woolly Mule-Ears (Wyethia mollis) and the plain ol' Mule Ears (Wyethia amplexicaulis). California is also home to the California Compassplant (Wyethia angustifolia), the Coast Range Mule Ears (Wyethia glabra), the Whitehead Mule Ears (Wyethia helenioides), and the Humboldt Mule Ears (Wyethia longicaulis). Nevada and Oregon are also home to the Sunflower Mule Ears (Wyethia helianthoides).

Local gardeners often ask whether Mule Ears can be transplanted from the wild. The answer is pretty much a "No" because of the plant's deep tap root which will most likely be damaged with any attempt to move the plant. Nevertheless, bare root propagation is possible. Collecting seeds from the dry flowers might be fun in the summer sun, but it doesn't usually translate into seedlings next spring, although propagation by seed is your best bet.

The best suggestion we can think of is to take a hike this time of year and visit them where they flourish.

Note: Mule Ears are often confused with Arrowleaf (Balsamorhiza sagittata) which occupies roughly the same home range as Wyethia. Which plant do you suppose is depicted in the photo here?

These past few weeks have been remarkable for penstemon flowers. It's a good year.

The penstemon pictured here is a Palmer Penstemon (Penstemon palmeri). It is native to many parts of the Western United States, including Nevada, California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. This is one of the taller penstemons, with its flower stems reaching three and a half feet high. The long lasting soft pink/white, sweet smelling flowers, with their deeper pink stripes and their orange tuffs, look like exotic snapdragons, and are actually sometimes called the 'Pink Wild Snapdragon.' Visitors to the west have have even said the flowers look like tiny orchids. The honey bees and butterflies love them. The wild song birds enjoy the seeds.

This beauty, as well as most penstemon types, is great for erosion control. It loves disturbed and desolate places, and does well in rock gardens and other dry, well drained sites. In a good year -- and this seems to be one -- they can flower from May through July.

Penstemons are great additions to the sun garden. There are many different kinds with as many different colored flowers. From purple, to red, to blue, to violet, pink and white, you can't go wrong with this hardy perennial. We have a wide variety of penstemons this year.

The beautiful white and lavender Columbine (Aquilegia caerules) was established as the state flower of Colorado back in the late 19th century. Also called the Rocky Mountain Columbine, this flower is protected in Colorado with a law that declares its protection as a duty of the state's citizenry.

Title 1, Part 9, Section 24-80-906 reads:

It is hereby declared to be the duty of all citizens of this state to protect the white and lavender Columbine Aquilegia Caerulea, the state flower, from needless destruction or waste.

The statute further declares that it is unlawful, punishable by up to 50 bucks, to rip the plant out of the ground, or to excessively pick the flowers along roadsides or on public lands. It is even unlawful to pick the flower on private land, unless you get the landowner's permission first.

Very adaptable, Columbine plants do well in our area under a variety of conditions, but they thrive if you give them a well draining, rich, moist soil with morning sun and afternoon shade. You can prolong their blooming time into late June and even to mid-July if you remove fading flowers. Your beloved hummingbirds will thank you with a million wing flutters!

The cacti have been blooming abundantly and beautifully this year, but they do every year. Although the cold winter temperatures limit the number of cactus types that grow in our region, the ones that do always delight the senses this time of year.

We have done our research and testing and have found several cold hardy cacti that will do just fine with the long and cold winters of our region. The list includes the Prickly Pear (Opuntia acicularis and O. engelmannii), Santa Rita (Opuntia violaceae), Cholla (Opuntia bigelovii), Silver Cholla (Opuntia echinocarpa), Beavertail (Opuntia basilaris), and several types of Hedge Hog.

All our cacti are grown outdoors, hardened for the harsh conditions of the northern Nevada bioregion. We have several types in easy to transplant four inch pots, as well as several more mature specimens in gallon and five gallon sizes. Cactus plants are great for rock gardens and fulfill many of your xeric needs. Come into our shop and see our selection.