Desert Blooms

Southwest Yard & Garden SCROLL DOWN for LINKS to UPCOMING WORKSHOPS By Dr. Curtis Smith (REPRINT from Oct. 2009) with additional comments from Dr. Marisa Thompson If you find leaves that have been nibbled all the way down to the leaf midrib on your tomato plants, you may have a tomato hornworm in the midst. We found seven chubby hornworms on tomatoes in our experimental plots at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, they’d already damaged more than a dozen plants which are now slowly recovering. Photo credit M. Thompson. This week’s column is a REPRINT, originally written in 2009 by Dr. Curtis Smith,  retired NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist. Question: My garden is doing really well this year, and I want to save seeds from my vegetable plants. Are there special things I should do to save the seeds of beans, squash, tomatoes, and chiles? I want to b...

COTTONWOOD COLUMN COMING SOON! Bear with me, if you're looking for this week's column on a cottonwood tree that's browning on one side of the canopy, I'd like to add input I've received from others and look into this issue a little deeper before posting it. If I quote anyone I'll need to get their permission first. :) Meanwhile, I've gotten 5 new tough, serious tree questions just today from Extension Agents and Master Gardener volunteers in Artesia, Truth or Consequences, Portales, Valencia, and Socorro. Yesterday I received 3 questions from Santa Fe, one from Las Cruces, and one from Santa Rosa! Don't worry, I'm not complaining... or bragging. I'm honored to be a person others reach out to when their plants need help and I'm beyond humbled when I don't have the answers. I'm amazed by how much our trees need and also by how much people care. Please email me if you'd like to help me catalog these tree questions, submit a ...

Southwest Yard & Garden By Dr. Marisa Thompson Lucky shot! I went out to photograph the scarlet globemallow again this afternoon (July 15, 2019) at the NMSU Ag Science Center at Los Lunas to show how the plant not only survived a mallow rust infection, but it continues to set seed and bloom. It was SO HOT and BRIGHT my phone screen darkened automatically and I could hardly see what I was taking photos of, but I took a few anyways without noticing this pollen-laden-legged bee photobomber. Photo credit M. Thompson. 💘    Undersides of these hollyhock leaves are covered with rust pustules. Photo credits Eileen R. Question: What’s causing this rash of dark brown fuzzy spots on the undersides of my hollyhock leaves, and is it killing my plants? - Eileen R., Las Cruces Answer : I immediately knew what you’re describing because we found these alarming spots on the undersides of scarlet globemallow leaves here at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Lo...

Southwest Yard & Garden By Dr. Marisa Thompson with guest contributor Dr. Leslie Beck   Deceptively "cute" yellow flowers and compound leaves of the dreaded puncturevine. Photo from Quay County Cooperative Extension Service (https://aces.nmsu.edu/county/quay/weeds/common-weeds-of-quay-cou.html). Question: I moved here from Massachusetts last August and was late in identifying the cute plant with the yellow flowers as the source of so much pain for myself, my daughter, and my cats. I heard about weevils that attack this weed. Should I try to get some? - Pamela Answer : It sounds like you’re experiencing the joys of puncturevines (aka goatheads). Welcome to the Land of Enchantment! Note: “goatheads” is pronounced “goat-heads,” not “goa-theads” like my friend said when she first moved here. Those pretty yellow flowers are deceptive. The only good thing about getting a few dozen goatheads stuck in the soles of your shoes is the opportunity to do...