• Is it raining?

To skip a day of water to your flower pots, you must receive at least 1/2" of rain on the pots. If your pots are under a tree, a ramada, carport or patio, they are not getting rain. Keep that in mind before you decide how to proceed.

Also, remember that if your pots are accustomed to daily watering, that 1/2" of rain is only good for one day!!!

Be mindful and don't let your flowers dry out.

For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener.

Have a question? Email Marylee.

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(Note: The above video was filmed before Dos Manos Farm's owner knew the operation would be taking a forced break for the summer.)

Dos Manos Farm, the local-agriculture project started earlier this year by local-food advocate and all around decent guy Noel Patterson, has been bulldozed. But Patterson is already looking at other opportunities that would allow him to continue his mission to make more local food available in and around Tucson.

Patterson said yesterday that the land he was farming at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona's Marana Heritage Farm was taken back by the City of Marana and that work has begun to turn it into a parking lot for nearby development. Patterson wanted to make it very clear that the action was expected and that the deal was amicable for all parties involved.

But Patterson - who is more dedicated to the local-food movement than just about anybody I've come across - is already looking at a variety of options that would allow him to continue on with Dos Manos Farm, albeit in a new location he hopes will be closer to Tucson. He's also wants to start offering workshops on everything from bee-keeping to raising chickens for meat and eggs.

The last of the produce from the first Dos Manos Farm will be available at the farmers' market this Saturday at Maynards Market and Kitchen. Patterson said he is relatively sure he will be back at the market before long with produce, honey and eggs from other projects he has going.

For those who want to keep up on what Patterson is up to - and if you're into the local-food movement, he's the guy to watch - you can keep up with him on Facebook over here.

Meet Jared McKinley. More accurately, meet Jared McKinley's alter ego Kitty Katt McKinley, which he uses when producing and promoting some of this city's more creative and memorable events through Powhaus Productions and his new company MEOWmeow Productions.

McKinley also happens to be an amazing gardener who has founded a new group called the Arid Land Homesteaders League. The organization's website is an excellent blend of good writing and an ever-growing selection of do-it-yourself food-production tips. You can read all about it right here.

When he's not in the garden or organizing parties - his underwear party hits Hotel Congress on Saturday, June 16 - he waits tables at Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery and brews aerated compost tea for Merlin Organics. He took a moment this week to discuss the Arid Land Homesteaders League:

TW: Tell me a little about the Arid Land Homesteaders League. How is it different from your previous entity, Tucson Urban Gardener.

JM: This all started on accident. I am living in a rental. I am also fairly poor. I thought I was going to move until about a half a year ago when I decided to stay in this house. I started a garden, late in the season, and started writing about it. I am a writer, so it was natural. I revived this old blog I used to lazily maintain years ago when I was working for Dr. Andrew Weil. My writing on the subject started to really develop and the audience exploded. So that encouraged me to expand on the whole thing. The interest is very much there and so I am continuing to feed that interest.

Algae builds up on saucers when they are in the shade during afternoon hours or in a full shade location. The absence of water in saucers will also limit mosquito populations on your patio.

Hose out the saucers as often as possible with a jet setting on the hose.

When on irrigation, set the clock to run the pots for a shorter time to get less run off that collects in the saucers. If you are running your pots for five minutes every morning, reduce it by a minute until it seems to reach the point of enough saturation but little run off. If the pots dry out in the afternoon, add another run time after 3pm. In some cases we have set the pots for as little as two minutes three times a day. This is when you are using an Adjustable Emitter on a stake. If you are using inline emitters, the run times will be longer. (10-20 minutes)

• Adjustable Emitter on Stake

Be mindful that the plants are getting enough water – especially any that are in more sun than others. Since annuals’ roots are in the upper 6-8” of soil, that depth of soil needs to be damp.

As the weather changes (sun, heat, wind, etc) the watering needs can change accordingly. If twice a day for less time is too little, you can try moving to three times a day for that length of time.

With pots 20+ inches in diameter and good growth, you will be able to adjust to once a day in the morning. This should then help the saucers to dry out.

Be sure your pots are on pot toes or feet in order to lift them above the saucer for better air circulation, drainage and to keep the water from wicking back up into the pot.

For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener.

Have a question? Email Marylee!

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One of my favorite colors is purple!

• Kara Smith of The Contained Gardener
• Summer Purples

Here is a list of purples that are working well in pots in the heat

Annuals:
Gomphrena (Buddy and Gnome)
Blue Salvia
Lisianthus (watch over watering)
Vinca (there is some lilac and lavender)
Pentas
Neurembergia (Purple Robe)
Osteospernum

Perennials:
Scabiosa
Scaevola
Navajo Salvia
Angelonia
Calibrachoa – does best in morning sun only
Verbena
Heliotrope Blue (shade)
Lavender – low water

If you want to add another color – try choosing from one of these:

• See How These Colors Might "POP"

For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener.

Have a question? Email Marylee.

Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.

• Plant Care and Photo by Kara Smith of The Contained Gardener
• A Well Grown Winter Potted Garden

The beauty of pots is that you can always add more. Go shopping for a couple pots today and maybe even pick up the soil. Get them set and then go to the nursery another day - and be ready to plant no later than the very next morning. Be sure to water your plants when you get home as the trip in the car may have dried them out. Remember, the nurseries are watering 4" annuals two to four times a day in the heat.

Our Potted Garden classes are taking a break for the early part of the summer. If you have something you would like us to offer, let me know!! In the meantime, stay cool and stay connected right here!

Have a question? Email Marylee.

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• Pedilanthus - Another Potted Favorite

I prefer suggesting plants that do not go dormant in the winter, nor do they need to be pruned each winter. Plants such as our grasses and salvias fall into this category and although they are beautiful during the warm months, they do not do our pots justice in the winter. My experience with potted landscape plants such as bougainvillea, sages and Texas Rangers in pots has not been satisfactory.

My list includes the following:

» Gazania
» Scabiosa
» Artemesia (many varieties)
» Lantana (I prefer treating this as an annual)
» Lavenders (grey leafed better – not the soft green)
» Arctotis
» Ajuga (Shade)
» Euphorbia amygdaloides & Euphorbia martinii’ (prefer morning sun)
» Salvia: Indigo Spires
» Euonymus
» Society Garlic
» Red Yucca

What can you add to this list? Email me.

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• Would you rescue or throw this plant?

Have a question? Email Marylee.

Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.

Creating a container garden is an act of beauty in itself. There is no digging in the ground, which especially in the desert is daunting. Pots can be moved, plantings easily changed and as we grow older (never old), pots can make it easier on our backs as we can sit in a chair to tend them.

A thoughtful creation of a container garden will be a work of art. Be it a combination of colorful flowers – perennials and/or annuals, a single planting, vegetables and herbs, succulents and cacti – a potted garden easily becomes a living, breathing addition to your home’s outdoor living areas or a beautiful welcome for your guests.

Get inspired! Now is the time.

• Flowers, Herbs, Kumquat Trees and even Tomatoes Grace a Kitchen Courtyard. Potted Garden by The Contained Gardener

Have a question? Email Marylee.

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• Potted Garden by The Contained Gardener

PLANTING

• Warm-season annuals such as cosmos, globe amaranth, gloriosa daisy, marigold, and zinnia. Be sure to check that the plants’ root systems are well developed by gently lifting the plant from its nursery container and looking for a light-colored ‘road map’ of roots.
• Warm-season flowering bulbs such as canna, dahlia, daylily and gladiolus.
• Vegetables including beans, okra, cucumber, peanut, pumpkin, melon and squash.
• Seedlings of pepper, tomatoes, squash, eggplant and green onion.
• Warm-to-hot-season greens such as amaranth, purslane, Malabar spinach, and Yakina Savoy lettuce can be sown now and grown through summer — just as we do, all will appreciate afternoon shade from a tall trellis, tree, or sunflowers to the west.
• Seeds for warm-season flowers such as gaillardia, salvia, sunflowers — great for the kids! and zinnia in garden beds.
• Plant container-grown roses.
• Plant new citrus and protect trunks from sunburn. Don’t fertilize when flowering.
• Plant desert landscape shrubs, cacti and succulents so that the roots re-establish before the summer heat.
• Late this month plant your summer annuals such as Vinca, Penta, Scaevola, more zinnia and other heat seeking flowers.

PRUNING

The danger of frost is past. Look for new growth on landscape and potted plants and prune winter-damaged plant parts back to new growth.

FERTILIZING

Watch for iron deficiency on citrus, pyracantha, gardenia, nandina and bottlebrush. Look for yellow leaves with green veins and apply chelated iron according to package directions.
Always water before and after applying any fertilizer.

WATERING

Adjust drip-irrigation systems to accommodate new plants and the warming temperatures.

For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener. Have a question? Email Marylee .

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