Desert Blooms

Southwest Yard & Garden By Marisa Thompson Yellow bell peppers picked before the first frost, when still green. Will they continue to ripen and turn yellow? Photo credit Argen Duncan.   Questions: I still have so many green fruit ripening on my tomato plants. Should I pull up the entire plants by the root and hang them upside down in the garage to finish ripening? Before the first frost in my area, I went ahead and picked my yellow bell peppers while they were still green. Will they turn yellow if I keep them on a brightly lit windowsill?                         - Gardeners in Albuquerque & Tucumcari Answers: The good thing about tomatoes is that they are classified as climacteric fruit, meaning they continue to ripen after being harvested, as long as they are mature. As I’ve explained in other articles, “Mature fruits are those with seeds that have fully de...

Southwest Yard & Garden By Dr. Marisa Thompson   Chamisa shrubs looking golden at Albuquerque’s North Domingo Park on Oct. 26, 2019.  Question: Our chamisa was glorious this year, but it is very leggy. Should I prune it back, and if so, how much? I haven’t pruned grasses either, and wonder if that is also something that I should do (feather grass, giant sacaton).                                                                         - Barbara G., Albuquerque Answer: From the plant health perspective, the biggest reason not to prune grasses and small shrubs too early is that the extra material provides a layer of protection...

  Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson ‘Johnson’s blue’ geranium thriving in a pot in June 2020, after spending the previous two winters outdoors. Photo credit Marisa Thompson. Question: Should I bring my potted trees and shrubs inside for the winter? I have a willow tree, a poplar tree, and a berry bush, and I live at 7,300 ft.                                                                          - Ora N., Seed to Supper Participant   Answer: As we all hunker down for winter, I’ve gotten several questions about which plants to protect from the co...

Southwest Yard & Garden **Click  HERE  for Part 1** by Dr. Marisa Thompson Besides being girdled and slowly killed by hardscape at the base, this ash tree in Belen looks normal on the northeast side of the trunk (left) and severely wounded on the southwest side (right) due to winter sunscald (aka southwest injury). Painting the trunk white with a 1:1 mixture of white latex paint and water or a temporary trunk protection, like a loose-fitting paper wrap, could have prevented this damage when the tree was younger and the bark was thinner. Photo credits M. Thompson. Question: What do you recommend for winter care of fruit trees? – Bette A., Albuquerque Answer: Last week, we addressed this question by learning about cold-hardiness and how to avoid drought stress in the dormant season by irrigating properly and using mulch. Another major way to support your fruit trees during w...

  Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson **Click HERE for Part 2** Persimmons still ripening on Halloween in 2017 at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas. These fruit are special because they need a few hard freezes for the astringent compounds in the peel to fully break down. Photo credit Marisa Thompson.   Question: What do you recommend for winter care of fruit trees? – Bette A., Albuquerque Answer: This question was posed during a recent Ready, Set, GROW! webinar given by NMSU Extension Agents Suzanne DeVos Cole of Mora County and Sara Moran Duran of Bernalillo County on growing all kinds of fruit in New Mexico. To watch a recording of that webinar and to register for our next session, “Healthy Soils” for gardeners, at 3 pm on Wednesday, October 20, visit https://desertblooms.nmsu.edu/ready-set-grow.html . In terms of fruit tree management in winter, our biggest concerns are cold damage and drought damage. This is true whether trees are...

Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Curtis Smith Archived column from  August 2007   with intro by Dr. Marisa Thompson This beautiful rose bush at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center Learning Garden is full of buds, but a few of the stems have gotten leggy and can be pruned back now to encourage new buds to bloom before the season’s end. First frost is expected in mid-October. Photo credits Marisa Thompson. STAY TUNED for photos of the buds on the above stems in the coming weeks to see how many of the buds open indoors!   This time of year, we receive many questions about whether or not it's safe to prune landscape plants. I found this column written by former NMSU Extension Horticulture Specialist Dr. Curtis Smith in August 2007 by searching the NMSU Southwest Yard & Garden archives at https://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/yard/search.html . For more details, try searching " pruning roses ." And to access a column from last August addressing the same question for trees, sea...