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My Arizona Backyard: Peach Trees Blooming
Red Baron and Mid-Pride peach trees blooming in Phoenix.
My Phoenix Plumeria Garden: 2022 Arizona Plumerias
Monterrey plumeria in my Phoenix, Arizona garden.
Mardi Gras plumeria
Cancun Pink (aka Playful)
Phoenix Garden Spring 2022: Vilardi Garden plants
It’s time for Arizona spring planting in my Phoenix garden. Of course, it’s Vilardi Gardens (some were on sale since they were winter plants/end of season):
Spigarello, collards, fennel, mizuna, dill, radicchio, kale, sorrel, edible flowers (Bachelor Buttons and calendula), leeks, cilantro, tomatoes (Pink Berkely Tie Dye, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Dark Galaxy), and peppers (shishito).
Website: www.vilardigardens.com
And love how well my Vilardi Gardens African Blue Basil and epazote continue to thrive (planted 2020).
March Plantings for my Phoenix Garden
Stocking up on Vilardi Gardens veggies is always a highlight for my spring garden. In early March, I planted:
Tomatoes: Taxi, Bonnie Best, Brandywine Pink, Cherokee Purple, Eva Purple Ball, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, Chocolate Cherry, White Currant, Tasmanian Chocolate Dwarf, Stupice, Indigo Rose, Pink Berkley Tie-Dye.
Peppers: Facing Heaven, Chimayo and Chiltepin.
Miscellaneous: Pingtung eggplant, French thyme and cardoon.
April and May Plantings for My Phoenix Vegetable Garden
Photo taken May 17, 2020
I’m a little late (I usually start planting my spring garden at the end of February), but happy to have time to tend my vegetable gardens again! So far, the onions seem to be keeping the rabbits out. They bypass the garden beds to munch on the lawn, and I haven’t lost a single transplant.
Vegetable bed with Egyptian Walking Onions planted around the perimeter
New additions to the garden include Glacier Lettuce (aka ice lettuce) from my friend Heather, a grower and owner of Twisted Bee Farms. She knows how much I love this unique succulent with its lemony brightness and juicy texture and I am so excited to be growing my first plants!
I had also picked up a few plants in April from Home Depot and our local Fry’s: Herbs were sweet basil, Thai basil, purple basil, mint, German thyme, sage, dill, and parsley.
Sage
For vegetables, I planted Chocolate Sprinkles, Defiant and Husky Red tomatoes, Shikou eggplant, Early Flame jalapeño pepper and poblano pepper.
Chocolate Sprinkles tomatoes
The rest are all from Vilardi Gardens, a favorite grower who supplies local nurseries like my go-to, SummerWinds. You can also find her plants at the Roadrunner Farmers Market.
Vilardi Garden herbs this year include Golden lemon thyme, Mrs. Burns’ lemon basil, Genovese basil, African Blue basil, rosemary, tarragon, epazote and Mexican oregano.
Mexican oregano (Poliomintha longiflora)
I’ve also planted Vilardi Gardens Millionaire eggplant, Armenian striped cucumber, lemon cucumber, Padrón, Facing Heaven and Wenk’s Yellow Hot peppers, burgundy okra, green and purple tomatillos, cape gooseberry, Red Beauty bell pepper, and Brandywine Pink, Green Zebra, Bonnie’s Best, and Cream Sausage tomatoes.
Cream Sausage tomato
Armenian cucumber
My bay leaf bush needs a hard pruning.
And happy to say that my Vilardi Gardens caper plant, which I thought I lost over the winter, is putting out new growth. I’m glad I left the stump! It’s surrounded by self-sown marjoram and oregano that I have to pull up.
To see my plumeria collection (also known as Hawaiian lei plants and franigpani), click the photo below.
Cancun Pink plumeria on May 28, 2020
Arizona Garden March 2020
Between resident rabbits and a busy schedule over the past couple of years, I’ve neglected my vegetable beds, which in the past looked like this and this.
Though, in our current situation, one silver lining to this COVID situation is more time to get back to gardening. After pulling up weeds, I discovered that oregano and marjoram have self-sown.
And my garlic chives, I'itoi’s onions and Egyptian Walking Onions had multiplied and spread.
Egyptian Walking Onions
Some were given away and others went into dishes such as Thai chive rice cakes.
I’m also experimenting with a new way to keep the rabbits out of the garden. I’ve tried netting in the past, but, unfortunately, found geckos would get caught and tangle themselves. Since the rabbits left the onions alone, I’m hoping by transplanting onions along the perimeter of the garden beds, that will deter them from going any further. Here’s hoping!
I also can’t complain about my Lisbon lemon, Rio Red grapefruit and Valencia orange harvest (though I was light on Meyer lemons this year, and no Moro blood oranges or Bearss limes)
Phoenix Citrus Season December 2019: Rio Red Grapefruit and Lisbon Lemons
Rio Red Grapefruit
Lisbon lemons
Arizona Plumeria: Dwarf Singapore Pink, San Diego Sunset, Cancun Pink
Dwarf Singapore Pink
San Diego Sunset plumeria
Cancun Pink aka Playful
Arizona Plumeria: Dwarf Singapore Pink
Dwarf Singapore Pink
Phoenix Peaches: Red Baron and Mid-Pride
Red Baron peaches
This year’s peach harvest was the best yet, although I still am trying to figure out a way to keep the birds from eating half my crop. This year I tried netting, but they still somehow found a way to get underneath it. Back to the drawing board.
Mid-Pride peaches
Mid-Pride:
Arizona Adenium: Purple Rose adenium (aka Desert Rose)
Arizona Plumeria: Monterrey and Jungle Jack Desert Sunrise
Monterrey plumeria
Arizona Peaches: Red Baron
Baby Red Baron peaches in my backyard.
Arizona Jasmine: Pink Jasmine
Every spring, the scent of Pink Jasmine wafts through the air where I have it growing up an arch by my front door. Jasminum polyanthumalso is known as pink jasmine for the pink hue of its buds.
Arizona Peaches: Red Baron and Mid-Pride Blooms
In my NW Phoenix neighborhood, my peach trees start to bloom at the end of February. Mid-Pride:
Red Baron peaches in Phoenix:
Arizona Plumeria: Queen Amber and Monterrey
Queen Amber plumeria
Arizona Adenium: Purple Rose adenium
Arizona Citrus: Rio Red Grapefruit
I had so much Rio Red grapefruit this year that I couldn’t pick them all. Now it’s April and time to prune.
What's Blooming This Week in My Plumeria Garden
Plumerias: Desert Sunrise, Pink Pansy, Celadine, San Diego Sunset, Aztec Gold and Cancun Pink (aka Playful) growing in Phoenix, Arizona
