Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Recently we spent eight gorgeous, stupendous, fantastic days at our ranch in New Mexico. Our neighbors there had emailed us to say they'd had a "little rain". They suggested we might want to pack some old shoes to slog around in while at the ranch.

OK...rain?

They also mentioned they'd pulled some weeds so we could get into our garage. Huh? How could a weed make or break the entry into a garage? This is New Mexico now, where vegetation is minimal at times...and at other times non-existent. Last July when we visited, the yard had just had it's final grading and the house and barn were surrounded by dirt...just dirt. Looked pretty innocent to me.

But Mother Nature sure knows her stuff. Just add some moisture and stand back!

This:



Turned into THIS!



The BAD and the UGLY were yanked out of the ground (with malice aforethought), thrown into the back of a pickup and hauled off to (I hope) never be seen again. All seven pickup loads. And that was just weeding about 10-15 feet out from the house.

Curse you, you evil tumbleweeds!



The GOOD and lovely were allowed to remain to spread their seeds and make our place prettier for the next time we visit.

A nice clump of "Blue Grama Grass".



An unknown dainty star-flowered plant.



Yellow "Coneflower-ish" flowers and a white flower of unknown identity.



Pretty-in-purple "4 o'clock".



Anyone have a name for this one?



"Indian Paintbrush", right?



You're "the man", er "lady", Mother Nature. Please keep up the good work!

6 comments:

penni Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:24:00 PM  

It is amazing what a rain shower or two will do here. So glad you got to visit the ranch -- ya'll come again soon -- hear?

Aragon greyhounds Wednesday, August 11, 2010 9:30:00 PM  

Whoa what growth. I don't recognize any of the wildflowers down there but I will see if I can come up with any names for you.

Sandy ~~~ Thursday, August 12, 2010 9:35:00 AM  

Hey there...thanks for ANY help on the names of these flowers..or ideas on what field guide to buy so I can do the research next time a "pretty new face" comes around.

Kim Friday, August 13, 2010 3:03:00 PM  

White stuff - Candytuft
Yellow/Orange daisyish - Coreopsis

Sandy ~~~ Friday, August 13, 2010 3:11:00 PM  

Hey thanks Kim! Makes sense on both. ;-)

clairz Saturday, August 14, 2010 1:57:00 AM  

Hey, you have the beginnings of some nice xeriscaping! But 7 pickup loads is a lot. You'll have no problems filling that retirement time...

I was talking to a friend who has been in New Mexico for many years and he said that this is the greenest year that he has seen so far. At our house near LC, we have weeds appearing that seem to grow a foot a day when I'm not vigilant. On the other hand, the plants in the chile fields also seem to be growing awfully fast!

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