Always Collecting Seeds & Plants

Even when I have no Place to put them

Alligator Juniper in Anza CA

This morning I replied to a comment post on my Alligator Juniper post to Palomar & Southwestern Colleges Biology Teacher Robyn Waayers. The post was about an Alligator Juniper I had collected while on a visit up Carr Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains above Sierra Vista, Arizona. The tree of course was only about six inches tall, but as I showed in the photo of it which I took at the end of May 2013 this year, it is now about one meter high. Believe it or not, the present property owners don't even know the tree is there. Anyway, it also got me thinking other things I have collected over the years, even collecting things when I have no real place to put them. Seeds are some of those things. Both in California and here in Sweden, I have stashes of seeds in plastic bags everywhere. Sometimes I use them and often not. I suppose I have sort of ScrubJay tendencies. Robyn commented on the uniqueness of those mountains and she is correct. These mountains along with the Santa Ritas to the west and Chiracahuas to the east are unique in that Tropical and Temperate species of all forms of life come together and blend beautifully. Birds, Animals, Plants, everything. I hate to admit it, but perhaps I should have collected in some of those areas. I'm sure there are some rules written somewhere against it, but it's that darn ScrubJay Syndrome in me. I just can't help myself. When my wife and I have visited the Canary Islands in winter to get away from the Swedish cold, I still collect and some things for which have no business outside in my garden in this Boreal Forested climate.

Photo - Tom Peck

I wrote Robyn back about something else I had collected up there another time and that was a Huachuca Agave. It's amazing to be up so high in a Sky Island forest as they are called in Southern Arizona and find Agaves inside the old growth Pine/Oak Forest understory. You just don't associate in your mind such things coming together. And yet there they are. This tiny agave I took was actually a pup I had separated from the mother plant was about the size of the palm of my hand. I planted it under the New Mexico Locusts I had collected years previous on a visit to Ruidoso, New Mexico. The Agave grew quite well, but when I sold the property, I just couldn't part with it. Hence I brought it down to my Mum's house in El Cajon CA, but I didn't have a place for it, so I took it to my place of work and replanted it on the hill.

Photo Mine

This is from our trip to the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson AZ & the Huachuca Agave display

Photo Mine

And there is it. Even has pups on the other side of it. I actually acquired it back in 1996. It's a long way away from it's form birth place high forested shady elevation in another state to a fun sun much hotter southern exposure in El Cajon California.

Another plant I had collected from up there in the Huachucas Mtns was a beautiful native Coral Bells variety with exceptional deep lipstick red colour. So many I had seen back over a decade ago were many with pale red or pink flowers in Nurseries, so a deep bright red was an eye catcher. Unfortunately it was along the side of a dangerous rock cliff face which also had slippery seep or cienega which hydrated the plants. I actually had to scale up this rock face a bit and reach over from the side and pluck out a tiny specimen. Coral Bells will often form several bunches which can be separated to form and grow newer plants. For people unfamiliar with Carr Canyon Falls and where I plucked this plant from, here is an illustrated example to the right and above. This is a dangerous area and it notoriously known for many deaths by people taking *cough-cough* chances like me. So please don't do this. I no longer take such stupid idiot chances, although it doesn't mean I don't think about doing such at times. Fortunately now I simply cop out.

Credit: Tom and Carol Sykes

I brought the plant back to my place in Anza and planted it under a fairly moist area some Redshanks of all plants. But as you can see from the photo by Tom Sykes, plants you do not normally associate together do quite often form strange bedfellows there in the Huachuca Mountains. The plant actually grew into several and once again, when I moved I took them with me to El Cajon CA. I placed them in my mum's newly created planter I built. They did wonderfully for a year until my Mum's stupid Wienerdog (Dachshund) which is a tweaked disturbed hound with an obsession for fetching and if you didn't continually throw her toy, she would go and destroy what plants she noticed you would so lovely attend to. My sister's dog (a Border Collie) was also another one of those insane fetch dogs. I spent over a month creating a kool native plant scene and installed a nice lawn at her brand purchased tract home in Lakeside CA in 2001. This dog was jealous if you refused to fetch and would deliberately tear out plants in retaliation. And that's exactly what happened, it totally trashed her yard. I literally found both of those dogs extremely irritating. What's even more frustrating than that is the inability to move the owner's of such dogs into action to put a stop to it. As a landscape supervisor in San Diego for that property management company, I had developed a reputation for hating the client's dogs. That was untrue, what I disliked was an owner's unwillingness to control and prevent their dog from crapping on our public lawns, especially since the Human owner or master is the main one who has power and authority to make the dog behave. That never happened. Needless to say, those original Huachuca Coral Bells no longer exist at Mum's place. *sigh*

Apache Pine

On another note, I also mentioned another tree for which I had taken back to California from Arizona. This was the Apache Pine I mentioned yesterday in the Alligator Juniper post. I did however, purchase it from James Koweek, who in turn actually did climb the Huachucas and collect the seedlings in the wild because he could never find viable seed or had trouble germinating them if he did acquire it, I forget exactly what he said. But I did have a Nursery receipt when I crossed that California/Arizona border at the Blythe Agricultural Station. But it didn't stop that officer from taking that plant out of the container and messing with the root ball which I thought would have done it in for sure, which was no doubt what he wanted as well. Fortunately the Apache Pine and me had other ideas. Apaches have always been hard to kill. *smile* Sadly, as I mentioned in that post yesterday, a tree trimmer who rented my old place cut it down for a place to park his equipment. Whatever. But just to let folks interested in landscaping in Southern California know, the Apache Pine does extremely well in landscape or garden situations in the interior valleys which are often very hot and dry. Take for an example, the Wild Animal Safari Park south of Escondido in the San Pasqual Valley. I took photos there back in 2007 when we last visited. My favourite place in all that Park hasn't always been around the African or Asian animals, though they are kool. It's the native plant garden and desert plant garden areas.

photo: Mine

In so many ways, this remarkable Pine is similar to Canary Island Pine and would make an excellent replacement. But unfortunately you just don't find them anywhere in any of the local So-Cal Nurseries. Most of the So-Cal Native Plant Nurseries won't touch anything out of state, well, unless of course it's Baja. But I have to admit that it's ability to survive and thrive down along the interior valleys of Southern California does impress me because even the native Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines up in the local mountains will not do as well. They are both very smog sensitive and demand a cooler environment in which the local high elevations offer.

Photo Credit: Mine 2011

This is a closeup of one of the branches of an Apache Pine near the cage enclosure of the Thick Billed Parrot which is a native to southern Arizona. In some ways their cones are similar to Canary Island, but just a bit more round and wider.

Photo: Mine

This shot of the Apache Pines is taken next to the green & red Thick-Billed Parrot enclosure. It's appropriate since both the parrot and the pine share the same habitat in Arizona. Clearly though, anyone can see the tree does rather well at these hotter drier locations where Jeffrey, Ponderosa and other high elevation So-Cal natives would and do often fail. I really hope one day someone out there gets a clue and decides to collect enough seed to start promoting to the public the potential value of Apache Pine in California Urban Landscapes. If you don't believe it can be done, just visit the San Diego Safari Park and Native Plants collection display.

I don't know if my collecting days are finished or what. I don't have the resources for establishment anymore. Or even a favourable climate for that matter. But I still have this inner drive to collect seed and small plant specimens. So I guess I'll always have ScrubJay Syndrome, but I think I can live with it. As a result, I have learned so much over the years with this quirky handicap. 


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Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) @ Ramsey Canyon Arizona

Photo: Mine

On some previous trips to Arizona I always seemed to find something I wanted to take back as a specimen souvenir. Just to see  how it would fare in an Anza high Mountain ecosystem. Many similar climates around Arizona when comparing Anza Valley. This particular trip where the plant was collected was up above Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains above Sierra Vista Arizona. The large tree specimens and signage above were down in the Canyon walk itself. The little tree I found was from driving up Carr Canyon Road just south of Ramsey Canyon Rd which takes you up to higher elevations. As I revisited Anza this year I could see that people are still making the same old blunders purchasing plants from conventional Retail Plant Nurseries only to see their landscape choices fail. But I brought back a tiny 5 or 6 inch high Alligator Juniper seedling from that trip. The time was summer in August. I know, odd time for taking a specimen where most would have collected it in winter or early Spring. But it is possible to collect and transplant if you know what to do and do it quickly. I've done Sycamores and Big Leaf Maples this time of year and with great success as well. 

Credit: Forestryimages.org

Thumb sized PT Mycorhizae Truffle associated with
young Slash Pines

Back in the 1990s, I was still using Plant Health Care Inc's (PHC) mycorrhizal inoculation mixes. This particular mix I used was called Tree Saver Injectable. I never used a high pressure injection system, I simply used to apply the powder which contained natural humic acids for triggering root growth and most importantly Pisolithus tinctorius spores. I also added some wild collected spores from truffles collected off the Dunn Ranch just north of Hamilton Creek Canyon in eastern Anza. The initial response after a month of transplanting the 6 inch high Alligator Juniper was that a thumb sized Truffle appeared at the base of the tree. Truffles will not appear unless they are able to draw off the carbons of their host. The picture above from Forestry Images for which I am a member, is almost as exact as what I have experienced with all pine and oak transplants or new tree inoculation. Only after the next rainy season and Spring growth will you ever notice any improved vigorous grow in both stems and foliage. The odd thing here with the Juniper however, PT Mycorrhizae is host specific and supposedly will NOT colonize with Junipers. Surprise surprise!

Photo Mine

This little tree was planted in 1996. It never struggled, but did get nibbled on by rabbits until I put the chicken wire around it. Babied it the first your with regular weekly water and tapered off with monthly. After that first year I did nothing. As you can see, it is now about one meter high as of June 2013. Also, notice I put it smack in the middle of old growth Redshank or Ribbonwood (Adenostoma sparsifolium) Chaparral High Desert Elfin Forest. I
never do give it another thought to remove what many people usually consider evil competition. I also contacted Dr Donald Marx (PHC Chief Scientist) in Frogmore South Carolina when I discovered that the colonization actually took. He was blown away too. So was I. So I sent him some pics. It's amazing how much there is yet to be discovered, especially in such an arrogant world where the leadership believes it knows it all. Eventually when the root system reaches a maximum point of establishment and the top of the Juniper pushes through the Chaparral tree canopy, it'll really take off. In the mean time, the environmental conditions will allow very few lower tree branches and being supported in early life by the chaparral will have a nice clean trunk for which that characteristic Alligator bark will manifest itself beautifully.

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

With Alligator Juniper, it's that characteristic reptilian bark pattern that catches and captures your attention while out on a hike. Some giant twisting individuals look like some prehistorical beast trying to free itself from the Earth's hold on it. Arizona Highways one year had a picture of a long dead Alligator Juniper, but which it's skeletal size still provided an illustrative vision of what it must have looked like when still alive.

Photo: Mine

Some interesting fire ecology facts about Alligator Juniper. While like most other living plants this tree will burn, but it also has the amazing ability to sprout back from it's root system. It's rugged reptilian looking bark is tough enough to withstand fire and has been noted that most canopies and crowns of Alligator Juniper are untouched, although lower limbs may be scorched. The foliage example as referenced in the picture above reveals just how beautiful this tree could be for the landscape and especially in areas where there are water issues.

There were other trees and plants worthy of note in the Huachucas. Apache Pine (Pinus engelmannii) is another one of those interesting pines that doesn't fit the profile of pines in So-Cal. It has a brighter green foliage which is itself much like those long subtropical needles pines. When it is a young sapling, it is often referred to as the "Hippie Pine". I acquired one years before my Alligator Juniper find, from a Native Plant Nursery in Elgin Arizona just south of Sonoita. The Nursery was owned by James (Jim) Koweek of Elgin and he later moved his Diamond JK Nursery to Sonoita Arizona just to the north at the Junctions of Hwy 82 & Hwy 83. He has since sold it and now has a Soil Preparation Services company and website here: http://www.azreveg.com/

Photo: Mine

This particular Apache Pine was up that same Carr Canyon Rd. I planted one of these Apache Pines on my Anza property in the early 1990s. After I sold that property in 2002, in 2003 it was rented out by the new owner to a guy who was a tree trimmer. He had lots of equipment and wanted a place for parking it. Understandable since Anza is known for having plenty of citizens with sticky finger tendencies. But he leveled half a dozen fairly large pines to do this along with Chaparral and the Apache and Arizona White Pines were among these. When I visited a few years later and discovered the loss, it was similar to my shock with the Rattlesnake Mountain Torrey Pine removal. Oh well, it was no longer my place anyway. But that Apache pine was almost 10 foot tall with good branch density when I left. The foliage of course stood out with it's bright green (almost Ponderosa looking) and did also prove that such pines would do well there. For all you off the hill plant shoppers, get a clue.

Photo: Mine

Just by way of location and height reference for the former Apache Pine on my property as of 2002. This photo above is a fortunate Coulter Pine that was not touched by the tree trimmers Ax or Chainsaw. You can see the height and branch circumference here are very very healthy. The Apache Pine was on the other side of this photo angle to the north and this tree was only one and a half foot tall compared to the 10 foot tall Apache when I left. So the Apache would have been more than doubled in it's size today if still alive. Also keep in mind as far as growth and health issues go, none of these trees on my former property are watered and have even endured the low rainfall years (eleven or twelve) since 2001 until this present day. So they still haven't done too bad. Shows what a healthy mycorrhizal grid network will do for a landscape system.

And Finally - 

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

Photo: Mine

These last three pictures are of the meadows of grasses and flowers leaving Ramsey Canyon back toward Hwy 91 South. Keep in mind the best time of year to visit is July/August when the summer Monsoons are in full force. Sad to say, from the climate shifting News Reports I am hearing, there may be an abnormal shift from July/August to September/October. This may well screw up many things with regards several ecosystems in the southwest.

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Good Reading References:

U.S. Forest Service & Alligator Jumiper Fire Ecology

Wildlife Habitat transformation in my Mum's front and backyards

At time of posting here back in Sweden, there is some ridiculously load music festival behind my country Gingerbread House. So I use something here called Spotify which is popular here for music listening. It's similar to Pandora and other sites. For the moment I have doors & windows closed and playing James Taylor to drowned out the insanity coming from the world outside. Okay, where do I start ?

In the words of Oliver Wendell Douglas of Hooterville

"What the  . . . ?"  

This is what I saw very early every Tuesday morning at Mum's place when taking the garbage out to the curb for Trash Pick up day. At first, I unconsciously assumed some bird/s were using it as a perched, until one day I decided to look up.

Credit Photo: Mine

This nest was a surprise to me as I have never really seen this before, although I have been familiar with the builder of it for years both in the wild and in the urban landscape business. This sort of hybrid looking mud & straw Swallow nest on steroids is the home for the Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans). 

Below is a nice 56 second video done by Las Pilitas Nursery owner and Nature educator Bert Wilson. It shows the common Black Phoebe which is a dapper flycatcher in the western U.S.A.  They reside near riparian water habitats in the wild, but also known around urban landscapes, especially in and around lawns. You will often see them on a fence post perch next to the lawn, a near by roof top gable or other lookout perch where they incredibly spy out some type of small winged insect in the grass for which you can't even see. They will then suddenly pounce upon the unsuspecting insect and if they at first miss the critter, they then do a number of acrobatics until the catch is made. Unfortunately I don't have all my photos with me back here, as they are on my mum's Picasa3 page. Again here is the video and very familiar sound made by this bird.

Photo Credit: Mine

Unfortunately I don't have a zoom lens on my camera and the fact that I even got this shot was a piece of luck. This is a Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) which you can see at the center of the photo in the Coast Live Oak branch above the full bloom of the Bird of Paradise Bush (Caesalpinia gilliesii) which I previously wrote about a few weeks back Here. I often would sit in the afternoon sun enjoying the afternoon warmth, when I'd here this distinctive chirp sound, only to see this bright deeply yellow/orange coloured bird feeding off the nectar of the Bird of Paradise Bush flowers which are now in full bloom. 

Credit: (IBC) The Internet Bird Collection

These birds literally love nectar and you will often see them at Hummingbird feeders trying to find a way for a quick sip. There actually are Oriole bird feeders which have larger beak openings for the Orioles, but landscaping with the right plants will attract them also. They are so timid and shy, so photographing is more of a challenge without zoom lens.

Photo Credit: Mine

My Mum's Pozo Blue Sage which is in full bloom now and it's very aromatic fragrance permeates the entire front yard is also attracting numerous Bees like the Honeybee seen here. Although I don't have a picture of them, every so often 4 or 5 large black carpenter bees would show up all at once. I'd usually see them when I was leaving or on my way somewhere else in the Bronco I was driving while there on my visit. A cute little hummingbird was always present as well, but that was until my niece's little black cat caught it and brought it to the front door. The cat previously was bringing large grasshoppers to the front door. Over here in Sweden, many with outdoor cats have a bell attached to their collar to alert the birds. 

Photo Credit: Mine

This is my Mum's Island Manzanita I wrote about here "Canyon Sparkles" Island Manzanita when I first came to visit. It is beautiful, but I've been disappointed that it had not yet bloomed while on my visit. As you can see, there are unopened bloom clusters ready and willing, but perhaps the time is not right. Admittedly, it did have one bloom cluster with two petite looking Chinese Lantern flowers, but that was it. Should have stayed longer - *smile*

Finally there were the small grove of California Sycamore woodland setting I created back in 2005. The previous plant residents behind the house were Fruitless Mulberry and Texas Umbrella or China Berry tree. Both needed to come out. The China Berry was extremely messy and weal brittle branches began falling during strong windy storms. The Fruitless Mulberry was also messy, but also had trunk and branch rot from improper pruning by my father. Below is the photo from back then and the updated background photo as the back area appears today with the California Sycamores, Canary Island pines, Tecate Cypress and Torrey Pine. Most of Southern California on this last visit has been a huge disappointment for me as far as the public's lack of interest in landscaping and the horrible example of it's Municipal, County, State and Federal leadership. I have no faith that this will ever change anytime soon. Anyway, below is some of the transformation with regards creating a microclimate of sorts for plants that cannot take full sun. So-Cal is so lucky as to have a climate that can be used for any plant theme concept. Pity that most don't realize it.

Photo Credit: Mine

This was taken in January 2005 when my wife and kids came for a visit. Notice the Texas Umbrella tree on the left and the Fruitless Mulberry on the right just behind the roof line of view.

Photo Credit: Mine

This photo is actually taken in the backyard in August 2007 where you can see the progress of the California Sycamore woodland. This was taken also during the finishing up of the cobblestone pathway which was the final blow to my knees. Should have worn pads. I've done lots of stone steps and brick or cobblestone pathways in the Landscape business. The trees at this point are 2 1/2 years old, but the grass is no longer there and has been replaced by bark mulch layer with native under story plants like Snow Pea, Chaparral Currant, Fuchsia Flowering Gooseberry and California Coffeeberry. Tecate Cypress is to the left in this picture and the exact spot where I'm standing is over a small Torrey Pine which is so large now (20') that taking this same photo angle would be just about impossible. I have a strategy for establishing such a plant community rapidly in both the urban landscape and habitat restoration in the wild and then allowing Nature to run it's course and it has to do with observations I've made over the decades about Bajadas or Alluvial Fans in Southern California mountain foothill regions. I've revisited some of these places on my last trip and I'll share them with everyone next week. Trust me, it's worked for me every time.

Photo Credit: Mine

This was taken on our visit back in May 2011.  Notice the roof line and the California Sycamores woodland along with the Canary Island Pines. The Canary Island pines were never planned, but volunteered from the mulch I had brought over from work just a year before I left for Sweden. Below, this is how things appear as of a couple weeks back at the time of this writing April 2013. I'll later post some pics I have of the California Sycamore plants under story which in itself replicates unique plant communities which exist under many Oak woodlands in California. The exciting thing is that such plant community establishments under Sycamores or Oaks are actually wildlife magnets which makes the whole gardening/landscaping game worth it if done properly.

Photo Credit: Mine