This year's project

Wow, all your hard work is starting to turn into flowers!

Very nice. Can't wait to see it as it matures. There is a plant that is some sort of sage, ball sage? It has a strong scent, not unpleasant, and is supposedly very xeric. I'm going to try to get more of it. I have pictures but will post on the pic's thread so as not to cut in on this one. You might want to try it somewhere.

:)

Can we fast forward to next spring? This is a great experiment!

Part of me wants to as well. The part that keeps me patient is the part that says there is 9 months of life you don't want to just skip over.

I think the step by step progress is much too exciting to miss. Are you going to try Sea holly (Eryngium) Dave who is Dave? I think it would work well with your choices.

I hadn't looked at that dahlianut. It is an interesting genus. The sharp spines ones are no-go though.

I have little Blue Hobbita which are cute and a pretty blue. I will post a pic when it's open. I just started the larger planum from seed this year. Babies are about 1 foot tall now. I don't think they are all spikey, some are just pointy. Sorry I forgot about your spike/thorn issues.

I may be wrong, but my impression of sea holly is that it tends to look shaper than it really is. I recall it being a wimp -- thorn wise.

I thinks its more like teasel. Bristley not sharp.

So they are only mildly evil instead of intensely evil. ;)

Oh dear, you have it bad Dave.

At least probably the deer won't eat them, if they are mildly evil and prickly......

That is one advantage, Kyla. Of course, I'm 5 miles from the edge of the city so deer aren't a consideration here.

Deer are definitely willing to eat prickly plants if they are tasty -- two of their favorites in my neighborhood are raspberries and roses. Maybe the defense systems of cacti are good enough to keep deer away, but not much else.

I will say that raspberries prickles wouldn't keep me away either.

Everyone and every creature seems to love raspberries. Gophers eat the roots, my dogs ate both the berries and the leaves and of course, the deer came by for munches from time to time. That is why I don't grow them any more. I rarely got raspberries for myself. All those critters get up earlier than I do.
Yes picante, that season who's name cannot be spoken, is very long here in Los Alamos. Santa Fe, too, which has almost identical weather. Both towns are at 7300 ft. more or less.

hahaha Paja, oh what the heck, let's just call it Voldemort! hahaha

Voldemart! Now that's a good idea! That's what it feels like!

Voldemort is a good name. I have entered into my dictionary. But I don't think I will call the seasonal fairys from that time Voldemort fairys as they are not evil. They will need a different name.

Something like snow fairies?

We don't always have snow. It is a toughie to name them.

have you asked them?

Crystalline Wons is the most beautiful of the snow fairies, but there are other winter fairies besides the snow fairies. Tucedis is one of the ski fairies, and his sister, Glide. We see a lot of thaw fairies, but I don't know their names.

Crystal Fairies! They should be called Crystal Fairies because they are sparkly and shimmery and sometimes make the trees 'tinkle' like little bells in the wind. Kyla I will write it in the f*r*o*s*t when they return and see if they like it ^_^

Yes, I was thinking of the Sparkle too. ;-)

Now, thaw fairies, that seems even harder to name...... so in between, so necessary, so slippery, so.......

fast to melt away, you're not really sure you actually saw them!

Can you see their reflections in waterdrops picante? Sometimes I think I see fairy reflections in the water drops running down the windows or falling from icicles.

Thaw fairies are the Elsewhere fairies.

Related to water fairies and mists.

And which are the Erewhon fairies?
Dnut, I've yet to see any fairy reflections.

I thought Erewhon was a natural foods company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erewhon

We read it in high school English.

Never read it! You must remember it well.

Nope, I remember very little of it. Couldn't even remember the author. Molière made a much deeper impression on me.

Moliere. When I was raising budgies one group of babies were Moliere, Javier, Pierre and baby Fridgidaire! Pierre was later given to friends and re-named Roscoe. Roscoe learned how to talk!

Pierre probably thought they were calling him "Racicot", as the pronunciation is quite similar.

Maybe Thaw Fairys are In-Between Fairys that live between Fairyland and the mundane world. Great birdie names funny bird!

They were a nice group of birds. Javier was female and lived to be about 12 years old which is good for a parakeet. She is the one who got stuck in a sticky mouse trap one day when she was out. Had to clean her up with cooking oil, to get the sticky stuff off and dish soap to get the oil off. She lost all her feathers! but recovered nicely. Glad to hear Roscoe kept in the French lineage. He lived with a cockatiel and could mimic it's noises as well as speaking English. He did not speak French, however.

Poor Javier. I had a collie once who got his tail stuck in some of that sticky stuff you paint on tree trunks to keep the insects from getting to the top. The tail came loose easily, but he had gobs of goo in it for a long time. We tried all kinds of stuff to get rid of it and didn't get red of it too well, though. Luckily collies shed as your bird did.
I am amazed that Roscoe could mimic a a cockatiel and speak English. Isn't that fairly uncommon for a parakeet?