Sick Of Winter Yet? #7

If you're reading these in numerical order, you might be waiting for the story behind why we stopped one blue agave from blooming. This is it.

Agaves, as already noted, have a well-earned reputation for keeping you at a distance, even worse than cacti, except for cholla. If there is one exception, it is the octopus agave. The leaves are smooth, and aside from the very tip of each leaf, don't stab you. They're even easier to deal with if, like me, you take an ordinary garden clippers and trim off the last half inch of each leaf spike. It won't grow back, and even if you bump into it after that, you'll barely get the meerest scratch, and then only if you work hard at it. 

I decided I had to plant one, and placed it at the front corner of the house, close to the wall. It thrived there, since even under the eave, there was no gutter to defer the rare rain, so whatever fell watered it well. It was a beauty.  In a short time it started its own flowering stalk.

 

 

An unfortunate effect of its location was the stalk grew up into the eaves, trying to shoot through them.

This started a week's tug of war with the top of the stalk: pull, check for movement, check for progress, check for house damage. Repeat. Repeat again. Still again. But don't! break! the stalk !

Once freed from under the roof, it thrived, kept growing, and started loading up in tiny flowers.

 In turn, the flowers attracted the local bees, who loaded up on pollen.

Lots and lots of bees,  for several days. That corner of the house was humming!

We had been expecting seed pods. Once the flower petals dropped, baby plants replaced them instead.

The plants grew, filled in, and suddenly we realized we had some work ahead of us! We had plants needing homes! LOTS OF HOMES! My son Rich put an ad for us in a neighborhood online location where one can sell, trade, even give away whatever. We used it previously to divest of a bunch of X-mas tree stuff we no longer wanted, free to a good home, or an organization who'd find it all good homes. In this case, we invited people to pluck off their own plants as wanted, free. We also invited anybody with ambition (and probably a business) to come over and cut the entire stalk and remove all of them. We had several phone calls for more info, some asking for care tips, easily given.

I had already plucked a couple dozen babies off the stalk, setting them on a wide window ledge in plastic 3 ounce cups of water. They quickly grew roots, went into potting soil in peat pots, in turn got  set into thin aluminum baking pans converted for the purpose, where they could go back outside in sun and be evenly watered from the bottom. Some of those I shared with friends for their yards, depending on their own green or brown thumbs. Some I planted in our yard after they were well rooted.

 One day I stepped out front and noticed somebody had come by quietly and taken us at our word that they were welcome to the stalk and contents. I wished them the best of luck in growing them. We'd had fun.

Being busy with the new "octo-babies", the remains of the old plant were ignored for a few weeks. As predicted, stalk and leaves died . We finally made plans to dig the remainder out, asking Rich for the favor of doing the work. Instead he called me out, having news. There was new growth in the bottom! A few fresh green leaves were poking out beneath the dead leaves.  We still had a nice octopus agave, or would very soon, once the dead was removed. Instructions changed, and the new growth thrived, The babies which were planted got ignored during our snowbirding northern vacation, despite promises before we left for regular watering. By the time we sold the house, we had "only" four new healthy ones in the back yard, still a good result for a favorite plant after a minimum of work.

Note the fat plant behind the octopus agave along the house is one of our large blue agaves I showed in the last episode. After photos of where this octopus ended up and knowing what was required to do in order to avoid damage to the house, but the next time with a real stabber of a plant, I hope you'll understand better why we cut that flowering stalk. Besides, I was informed it produced seeds, not plants, and those really are a lot of work!

Sick Of Winter yet? #5

It's time to talk agaves. There were some interesting ones in both our yard and the general neighborhood. Shapes can be spread out or a tight ball of leaves, but agaves are defined by sharply pointed leaf tips. Some  have sharply jagged leaf edges that rip the unwary, others are more well behaved. Colors for leaves mostly are either green, or blue. Flowers appear from a stalk coming up from the plant's center, and can cover a single pole or be on pads that branch out in ascending tiers to the top. Flowering usually marks the death of the plant. With each variety, what you think you know offers exceptions, except for that sharp tip. With all the possible variety, coupled with tolerance for desert conditions, they are a very popular landscaping plant. Other people farm specific ones to produce tequila.

The one I first fell in love with was across the street. It started as a large bunch of pointy green and sharp leaves near their driveway, about 3 feet out in every direction. One day it started sending up a stalk. It grew higher. Then higher. Perhaps ten feet up the stalk started branching, each branch horizontal, growing its own flat pad of blossom buds at the end.

The thing was, every bud was brilliant red!

It was so spectacular, and so rare, we had traffic stopping just to take pictures of it. I actually had to be careful of them when I went across the street to take my own pictures! The effrontery!

As blooming progressed, buds started to open, starting from the bottom branches up to the top by the end of a couple weeks. Red gave way to yellow.

 A careful look to the left side of the blooming stalk may look dusty, but it shows some of the thousands of tiny flying bugs swarming the open petals. I had to enlarge this photo enough that the other side of the picture didn't fit the formatted space and needed to be cropped.

It took about a month for all the excitement to die down. The owners had the whole plant dug out and removed. As far as I could tell, no care was taken to allow seed formation so more of these could be produced. I never saw another like this in the years we were down there.

It is a common flowering form for agaves. Only once did I see one like this that only sent a flowering stalk up about 6 feet.

Note how straight and green the leaves are that this short one springs out of.

Compare that to this one in our yard. Its leaf shape is broader, with totally nasty red curved barbs along the edges and viciously long and sharp  tips on blue leaves. A normally self-respecting person does not get too friendly with this fellow, popular as it is in landscaping for its large size and very blue leaves. Each leaf leaves it's imprint on its neighbor as they grow, separate, and spread out, adding interest to the plants.

When this one decided to send up its stalk, it was very thick and sturdy, and abandoned its blue for a more interesting palette, even as it maintained long sharp defenses. We didn't allow this one to bloom. It turned out it was planted too close to the house and would have run into the roof eaves. Our discovery of what happens then is another story.

Sick Of Winter Yet? #4

 There are a lot of tree varieties in the Arizona desert, whether natives or imports. Probably the most well known is the saguaro, now protected due both to its long slow life cycle, and its unique shape from arms. There are a lot visible in the Phoenix greater metro area. Some were likely "stolen" from surrounding desert before protection (for the most part?), and others permitted for movement when a river was damned to allow the creation of Lake Pleasant. Flooding would have killed all cacti in the area, so people were allowed to go in and remove them for replanting. Back when my parents were snowbirds down there, it was happening, so we drove out to the site to see what was up. Nothing appealed to them for digging up. Now, driving around the metro, many are still visible and healthy in the urban landscape, along with many other cacti varieties.

They bloom in the heat of summer, blossoms emerging from the top, with birds often taking advantage of a less prickly perch from the height. Others can carve out a hole in the side of the main trunk for nesting.The plant then fortifies the area around that incursion, behind the green covering,  making a solid chamber holding the nest secure. Water continues flowing through the green.

 In recent years the increasing heat is taking a toll even on them. Down at the west corner of our block we were surprised by one having toppled overnight. So, no doubt, was the homeowner whose car was trapped in his garage for nearly a month. The saguaros are tremendously heavy, as well as thoroughly spiny, and  it takes a special crew to remove a toppled one. You don't just drive over or around it. I would guess one might look for somebody who values the downed plant and it's unique skeleton ribs who might take it off your hands at less or no cost. Or maybe it's difficult finding the right crew... and price.

A couple years later, on the other end of our block, some new resident "required" different landscaping. They cleared off the site, which required a crew of four to topple this old saguaro. Of course half of the street was blocked for hours. Maybe the arms weren't weird enough to please them. Perhaps they really really "needed"  a low patch of prickly pear on that corner with the fine spines that worm their way into your skin and hang out for days before you can figure out how to shed them. The new look is boring and bland. I don't think I have forgiven these owners for the destruction yet.

Sick Of Winter Yet? #3

 There are a lot of photo files to sort through, over 4,000 currently in my laptop library, more on various thumb drives. Thumbnails need to be sorted for themes, and by the time 50 or so wind up on working desktop space, even once I change the name from a number, it's a jumble. So these will keep coming as time and patience allow.  (Sure, now I warn you!)

This funny faced blossom is not what one usually sees with this plant. It's such a tiny bit of a vine which quickly covers an entire fence and blooms off and on through the year.

This mass of color is what usually catches the eye. The white parts are subtle and need a close up, which then enable you to see the other fertile parts of you are willing to pay attention. This was a gift from the neighbor, rooted on their side of the fence, pruned into submission on ours.

Eventually the bouganvilla goes into full blooming mode and looks like this... before starting over again. I never tired of the colors or the work encouraging them.

There are many less tender plants around Phoenix with interesting colors. One from the front yard which I planted early after we moved in is called the red yucca. The name is a misnomer, as the leaves are not spine tipped, nor red, and is from the asparagus family. No, I wouldn't try eating it.

Most of the year it looks like this, often sporting old seed pods that nobody cleaned off.  Yawwnnnnn.

It sends up tall blossoming stems, often over two dozen flowering stalks a season. Pink buds open into yellow flowers, tiny enough that trying to capture the whole negates all the details.

Each fertilized blossom creates a hard seed pod with enough combined weight to bend the long stems, the way this one leans out over the driveway. Eventually the pods dry, open, and drop a multitude of hard black seeds all over. I never see new plants from those locations, so they must need something from either the processes of weather that the Arizona desert lacks, or traveling through something's digestive system to spread to new locations.

Lots of plants down there there produce hard round pods. This one is a tree, with blossoms better described as beige lace. We were usually north at blooming time, or without a convenient camera, when this bloomed in the neighbor's front yard. This is an unidentified variety of palm tree, about 12 feet tall when this was taken, but I've never seen anything remotely edible looking  emerge from it. They did have a yard maintenance company clean up while they returned to Canada, so they had no clue either. Typical palm tree care involved cutting the tops way back. I only ever saw one blooming or fruiting the year we stayed south for covid. I'm only guessing these were hard, since I'm not that tall.

Sick Of Winter Yet? #2

 Perhaps you're tired of white upon white upon white. Sure, it can be spectacular. But for months on end? Trapping you in a world of blaahhh, waiting for even a glimpse of color. It's especially dull after living where color is always present.

Every sunset seems full of color. This is a typical shot. If you are up and peek out early enough, you can even see gorgeous sunrises, but one of the joys of retirement is sleeping in, if that suits you. It did us.

Inside the back fence, skies take a backseat to a Mexican Bird of Paradise. Properly pruned, it gets bushier and more brilliant every year.

If you wish more variety, a similar but larger plant is a local favorite. It's called a bird of paradise, but isn't. I tried for one of these, above, looked it up, went to garden centers, and found a lot of blank faces. The formerly reliable place insisted what they gave me was  what  asked for, but the blah yellow with sparse petals didn't appeal.

Another common flower, the lantana has variations from yellow through pink through lavender, often on the same plant. This is a neighbor's. We removed one when we moved in, due to location and thorns, but later discovered a volunteer in a more out-of-the-way spot and started tending it.

Trees can be spectacular too. This is one of the first of those I planted, after noting the back hard had 3 citrus trees removed before we even saw the place. It was a bank repo, and they chose not to water thirsty plants.  This is a desert willow, and while needing water its first year, it shoots down deep roots and thrives with minimal attention. It also provides great shade in a few years. Note the abundance of buds waiting their turn to bloom, then picture covering the whole tree with these clumps.

If you like purple, this tree gives a show in the spring. I never did manage to name it, which probably means it's an import, like many other landscaping plants. It seems to be something one person plants, the next sees it a few years later and puts their own in, and three more repeat that in a few more years. Then you can go miles without seeing one. The bloom is brief, and mostly after the snowbirds head north. It's worth finding a parking spot to shoot.

The logistics of that are simple, spelled $$$. Most snowbirds have their primary residence in a northern state, and deal with homeowners rates on their property tax. They have to spend the majority of their time up north in order to get a discount. w\Wherever they live in the south, they either rent, or own something much less expensive.  this means they miss half the year in the Phoenix area, and probably have never seen a thermometer registering 123 degrees F. On the other hand, we sold the northern house, bought something less expensive in the south for our primary residence, and spent 9 months there for our property tax discount. Summers in Minnesota were a great time to see the grand kids while they were out of school. Also, of course, a great time not to air condition the AZ house.

Sick Of Winter Yet? #1

 I don't know about the rest of you. Perhaps you love to ski or skate or go ice fishing. Maybe you just hate the heat. I mean, I can get that. This thermometer was accurate when we were in Sun City, and I was impressed enough to immortalize it, right before heading back into the air conditioning!.

But after all, we did spend our winters down there to get out of the cold. And we've had more than enough snow and ice and cold this winter to bring on a bout of nostalgia for those good old days. This was one of the best!

                                

We went down as a committed couple. Covid came along, we reexamined our priorities, and held an official, legal wedding, covid-safe, in our carport, social distancing and all for the 5 people there. This is the "after" shot, both of us holding a Maricopa County wedding license, shot by one of our witnesses and a best friend, Joan Kroll. Our anniversary comes up in a few days.

The spots of orange behind us is a plant called Orange Bells. When we moved in, one of our projects was to remove the water -thirsty plant in that desert yard, and replace them with more heat and drought tolerant ones.

This is a close up shot of a branch.

We weren't the only ones who appreciated the blooms. Hummers were all over the place, so long as a steady supply of food was available.

This little one was a bit too optimistic. The cage it hovered over did have a plant in it, but no blossoms yet.

In contrast, the Phoenix Botanical Gardens had a year-round supply of food for them.

 

Conquering The Irrepressible Itch

Ever had one of those? It could have any cause - a bug bite, an allergy, a rubbing irritation. Or, like me, you might combine any/all of these with a skin condition known as dermatographic uticaria. I heard that translated once as  'skin writing", where one could raise a lasting red pattern on the skin by simply gently scratching it!  Short version - everything that can make your skin pay attention will find it reacting as if to repel an invader, with a combination of red, rising, and itchy surface patches. Yep, that was/is me.

There are meds for that, though they were just coming on the market back then, prescription only and pricey, back when I first was "blessed" with it.  My first month's supply was $81. Some allergy meds hint at fighting it. Others are better tailored specifically for it. Those which fight respiratory issues "are not the droids you are looking for."

My first tactic, once I could afford insurance years ago, was to see an allergist, identify everything I react to, and get shots. As for the identification process, a patch was affixed to my back, with a grid where each square held a different common allergen. Once removed a few days later, the Doc can identify what one reacted to and start treatment, coupled with imparting knowledge of what to avoid. In my case my back was so solidly red they had to hold up a grid to figure out what I wasn't allergic to. The adhesive turned out to be one of the culprits. Lots of shots followed, coupled with one of those new drugs.

Mostly they work... pretty much. With the doc's recommendation, I still take twice the daily dose of my allergy pills. Fortunately the price is way down now, and they are widely available OTC. I'm told there are better ones out, but... $$$.

Now try adding a "sling" you have to stay encased in for weeks. Six lonnnnng weeks. And "sling" is so-o-o-o not a cloth triangle slung around your neck and holding the forearm loosely. Start with a bulky padded box,  hard plastic straps encasing your fully dressed torso from multiple angles, with buckles mostly out of reach and beyond your strength, at least initially, tons of rigid velcro obviously made for strength, not softness or comfort. It is designed as a prison while your joint heals.

 Really good job on that "prison " part, folks. Kudos. Mission accomplished.

One needs assistance with almost everything. Allegedly you MAY remove it for "hygiene". Of course it has to go back on, so maybe reconsider that first sling removal part unless you have memorized the reverse process. This means somebody else deals with your clothing, your bathroom duties, cleaning after your bathroom duties,  and your clothing again. Whatever in your life requiring two hands now gets one, plus whatever another person can assist with... on their schedule. This last in no way is a comment on their willingness to assist, but an understanding that their schedule for waking, sleeping, time involved in standing and walking with a walker, etc., does not often accommodate a requirement for "Right Now!" The heart is willing, the flesh is older than my own. Even when help is quick, many times the body's demands don't wait at all. Oops. Just a warning. Prepare ahead if you can.

Don't be embarrassed now. Remember even astronauts and our current President wear diapers. Just a thought.

Then, just for grins and giggles, there's the factor of multiple layers of clothing. Shedding pants, the most frequent ones needing moving, is one thing more easily done, providing one has the right kind of clothing and sufficient need, with both layers at the same time. Replacing them can be done simultaneously or individually. Elastic and stretchy fabrics are pretty much a must. But occasionally, even in the best of circumstances, they do not come to rest in identical locations, resulting in an uneven pull against a moving body part, like a thigh top, as one changes from sitting to standing to walking. ITCH! Let's add the obvious complication of lumpy body shapes to deal with. It's mostly a good thing , because how else do pants stay up, (unless one uses suspenders, which also happen to require multiple hands). I adapt to doing it automatically. I know where all the lumps are. I make adjustments.  Less familiar hands are still learning, so the process is a tad less perfect. Again, fabric binds, irritation grows, and ITCH!!!

Some of the issues are simply the wrong wardrobe to start with. I'm not allowed to lift one arm. It has to go into a sleeve or two anyway, staying vertically down during the process. The official clothing recommendation is have everything for your torso join in the front middle so each arm goes in independently. Of course they tell you that just before surgery. Perhaps your life is arranged well enough that you can just head out shopping, find the exact things you need, and prepare them for use, like by actually checking how they work, and laundering. My life hasn't been that accommodating recently. Browsing my closets and drawers turned up three such garments, all for cold weather wear. Two were hoodie sweatshirts with center zippers. Imagine those metal teeth plastered to your skin and grinding in with every movement. No? Not your ideal? All else in the wardrobe is essentially a tube with openings. 

Exceptions which have front openings are coats, now ruled out - surprise! - due to the requirements of keeping the extremely bulky, never intended to fit inside any sleeve, sling. Do you have a coat sleeve which can accommodate your bent arm in a fat padded box with straps heading out from it in all directions?  Me neither.  Maybe a cape...? Don't have one of those either of course.

Start from the skin and go out. First, forget you ever heard of a bra. It's just too many complications in too flimsy a package, and at my age nothing provides support there anymore anyway. That ship fell off the dock and sailed away over another ocean. So, back to the skin layer, the only accommodation in my wardrobe is a selection of smooth knit summer tops with wide necks and almost no sleeve, donned by putting the surgery arm in first and then maneuvering the top up over yourself - with help - so one head and a second arm go into the appropriate holes.  (You do have just one head and a single remaining arm, right? Not trying to be insensitive here, but I can't help you with ideas if that's not the case.) 

Then of course, adjustments are made, some never considered. In fabric selection, a couple factors become important. First, said tops were not made to be worn for a long time inside another garment. They're for summer, for god's sake!  Mine are loose, not snug. Every little wrinkle, trapped under a "sling" for hours on into days, depending on how many shirts fitting the bill well that you have to switch off,  and what shape you are actually in when first home from the hospital, becomes an itch to swear at, loudly and long. Second, summer clothing just isn't warm. (Duh!) You need more layers to maintain body heat, or possibly a humongous bank account to accommodate really heating up your Minnesota winter home. My budget says no, so this might mean your solution is one of those zipper hoodies like I happen to have, added between layers. (Did you ever select cool weather clothing for softness and lack of skin irritation? If not, good luck. Me neither.) It might be a double polar fleece blanket you try to drag with you around the house without tripping over it, or snagging it on furniture when you come to a stop and try to cover up, but folds keep it in lumps anyway, leaving you to spend hours while minus that second arm trying to arrange it for best effect. Or all of that and more. My surefire plan for next time, if there is a next time, is to ONLY DO IT IN THE SUMMER!!!

I know you're laughing at all this now. You find this all minor. I can hear you! I'll forgive you for now, but just you wait till you find yourself in a similar situation for whatever reason. Listen then for me snickering back. I do recognize the absurdity. But you are forgetting all the movements under that contraption called a sling are resulting in dozens of reasons and locations for unsolvable itching! A stab here, another there, a wiggle won't ease it for more than a half second and you're back like a pig against the farm fence, rubbing, scraping, trying not to make new holes, praying that you can somehow ease the itch for more than a third of a second. (I'll imagine you oinking! I promise!)

What? Lotion, you say?  Go back to page 19 in your post surgery care booklet if you can still find it in the stacks of handouts, where lotion is strictly forbidden. Recall your instructions from your occupational therapist in the hospital who stressed the same thing. The skin surface needs to be kept clean and dry for proper healing, especially to avoid infection, their worst case scenario post joint replacement. 

I wonder if those people ever had an itch? Do they even understand having one?

I finally got fed up with most of this. I've seen the surgeon and healing is coming along well. I've been to the physical therapist who has some teenie weenie exercises I can/should do now and warnings against others. My son and husband have worked to get the "sling" on and off and back on so both are now experts in its workings. I've strengthened fingers so they can work the buckles loose and know which ones are needed in which positions to remove it. I'VE MANAGED TO TAKE MY VERY OWN SOLO GLORIOUS SHOWER! Even a one-handed shampoo. Yep, it took about 4 times as long, but I didn't have to wake up anybody to do it.

And I did not put the sling back on! Ahhhhhh...!

It isn't on now, though I have compromised by wearing it at night when I have no control over arm movements, and am holding my arm mostly in the needed position during the day, never in the forbidden one. 

It turns out I have the perfectly placed pockets for tucking the hand in comfortably in a very cozy polar fleece vest I bought decades ago on a trip to Alaska. I treasure it and thus rarely wear it. The not wearing part just ended. It will show wear when this ends, the end of this month, but be well worth it.

Most of the chronic widespread itches are gone with the removal of the sling. But life is seldom perfect. There is one small, nagging issue. Overnight something pinched and rubbed under the sling AND ITCHES! Because of course! I have dug out the lotion, as that is nowhere near the surgery site. So far I've applied it twice this morning. It helps only until I stop. Again, because of course.

Later in the day I'll tend to laundry and hope some almost microscopic something will get flushed out of the fabric, and not replaced overnight from the sling again.  See how optimistic I am?  Considering how strong and brittle the velcro is, I suspect a single piece broke off and found a new home, hopefully in fabric, not me. I have heard, when I stretch a bit or turn in a torso twist, the loud sound of it sliding across whatever surface it was currently sticking to. I make sure then that it's fastened reasonably- in my definition - close to where it should be, and tuck it back down. Things do get weird that way, but hey, welcome to my world!

Three and a half more weeks.........  Officially.