Spring Has Sprung in Las Vegas

Spring has sprung in Las Vegas and it can’t come soon enough. Springtime is always a joyous time for me. It seems like a new beginning after a long, uneventful winter. Even though we didn't experience the extreme cold or snow that much of the country has endured, the desert is still drab for the winter months. Watching all the trees and plants 'wake up' is a delight.

The temperatures range from the high 30s and low 40Fs at night to as high as the low 70sF on sunny afternoons. The mountains have received their share of snow and there's still skiing on Mt. Charleston, but here in the city, trees are leafing up, shrubs are flowering and plants are beginning to bloom.

We've been busy doing outdoor chores for the last few days. The front yard needed lots of sprucing up. We have a pine tree that enjoys dropping pine cones and needles in great masses and our neighbor's leaf-shedding tree add to the yard debris. We're desert-scaped for the most part which means rocks. cacti and desert plants, not grass. Though the rock requires less care usually, it can't be raked with a leaf rake, so the clean-up involves moving rocks around with a heavy rake and blowing the debris into big piles then piling them into big lawn/yard trash bags. Luckily, our trash removal company has a ‘bulk day’ twice a month which makes it easier to dispose of all the yard waste.

The agave needed trimming... no easy feat as they prefer to be left alone and have defense mechanisms that insure they get their way. David was not deterred, however and the agave got their needed haircuts. He, in turn, shed a little blood during th… — The agave needed trimming... no easy feat as they prefer to be left alone and have defense mechanisms that insure they get their way. David was not deterred, however and the agave got their needed haircuts. He, in turn, shed a little blood during the process.

Our Queen of the Night cactus was trimmed last autumn and she's looking great. The junipers and rosemary also got trimmed and shaped... a cumbersome job, but with satisfying results. We removed a gnarly old prickly pear last autumn and replaced it with a red lantana the other day.

In the backyard, we replaced a couple of golden lantana that didn't seem to be thriving. We also added a Judy Garland rose bush... brilliant orange and yellow blooms and a sweet scent. We also added a red monkey flower which supposedly attracts hummingbirds. We’ll see. Hopefully they'll survive. We're not green thumbs by any means, but we do enjoy the splash of color in our otherwise earth tone backyard and most plants manage to survive despite us.

We're still contemplating what to plant in the raised planter that Paul and David built a couple of years ago. It's in need of painting, so David prepped it for a new coat of paint and commenced spraying. Now we can decide what to plant. Mary and Paul have each tried tomatoes and peppers which thrive for awhile, but then roast in Las Vegas' intense summer sun. Mary's herbs have traditionally done well. Last year I planted some annuals... marigolds and petunias. They, too, did fine until the summer heat dried them up. I'm thinking if I plant early, maybe we'll get a crop of green beans or something edible before the summer arrives.

We're also waiting for the desert to come into bloom. March and April are prime months for desert flowers. Maybe a trip to Death Valley NP, only a couple of hours away, will be a good respite and a chance to trying out tent camping and our new camping cots. Below are some pics of desert bloom in March 2020.