Saturday, April 9, 2016

Perky Sue….

There is no question….

Albuquerque, New Mexico has an extremely harsh environment for growing plants.

I once sat at the feet of local well known landscape designer and garden writer,

 Judith Phillips.

Judith specializes in arid-adapted and native plants,

and she confirmed it….

We get to complain about how difficult it is to garden here for good reason.

The drought conditions, range of temperature, low humidity and our high elevation make it very hard to cultivate most species.

But up comes Hymenoxys scaposa, AKA 'Perky Sue'. 

She bloomed here all last summer 

and seems happiest


between a Rock and a Hard Spot…

You Go Girl you Perky Sue.

She makes me smile every day.

2 comments:

  1. I've seen her (or her cousins) up north here in the Alberta prairie...3000 - 3500 feet up and more in the run up to the Rockies. She's definitely a sturdy optimist! :-)

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  2. Yep. She's pretty amazing. One thing many people don't realize (but I know you do) is that Albuquerque is at about 5,200 feet above sea level (same as Denver), and Santa Fe is even higher at around 7,200 feet above sea level. We are considered 'high' desert, and it gets very cold here, and windy in the Spring, which dries us out even more. Perky Sue seems very adaptable for sure. Love those Rockies!

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