Blessed are the Weak

Been reading Lia Fail -- the Earth always speaks.   One line near the end resonates with me:  "the insistence that the weak matter even when they are inconvenient."  It applies to the homeless, to wildlife, and to wilderness.  

Been down to the Garden for a Thursday afternoon presentation on Origami in the Garden, a display from some artists on the Turquoise Trail that promises to be spectacular.  October - March with a chance of a seasonal bonsai display to accompany the giant metal sculptures.  We'll see.

Datura

No evening tours this June.  In the past, it's just been too hot and, with the sun setting at 8:20, things are really just an uncomfortable late afternoon walk in the Garden.  

Post-Solstice

We're already past the solstice.  There have been hikes, phenology, baking and cooking, gardening, and photography.  It's about time I got back to blogging.  

Monday Sheila and I taught the first of this year's herbarium workshops.  I collected the dried sheets this morning and some were quite well done. 

Cynara cardunculus

 Last summer we collected a couple flowering artichokes.  The students managed to whack them in half and we pressed them.  This year, we mounted and labeled them.  For such a thick specimen, I'd say they came out well.  

A New Month

Things are lining up to be a busy month.  In a couple weeks we'll have our first Camp BioPark herbarium workshop.  Then later that same week, we'll have a Nature's Notebook brown bag.  

To that end, I was working on the pressed specimens in the herbarium getting an inventory pulled together so I can print labels.  We should have nearly 80 specimens to be mounted by the students.  Some have the potential to be works of art.  

Autumn crocus, Colchicum

Queen of the Night, Epiphyllum oxypetalum

The Evening Garden Walk

Tuesday was the first evening tour at the BioPark.  With some recent docent injuries, we were down to 3 tour leaders, including moi.  With 60 ticketed guests, that meant 20 visitors/guide.  

I was leading the third and last group.  We started out in the Spanish-Moorish Garden, went through the other formal gardens, and then strolled through the Lebanese area to the new Orangerie.  

From there we explored the Mediterranean Conservatory.  That's always good for the Nepenthes and the Bougainvillea story.  

At the 4-way junction north of the conservatories, both the Curandera and the Camino de Colores were blocked by the earlier two groups.  We went west, hopped the rail fence, and took the back path to the Herbarium.

After that, we avoided the others by heading to the farm (the Highland cows were very accommodating).  From there we enter the Cottonwood Gallery to talk about Nature's Notebook while looking for Datura blooms and native 4 o'clocks (Mirabilis).  

We exited the CWG to the horticultural work areas and entered the Japanese Garden through the back gate.  From there we returned via the Camino de Colores, the Desert Conservatory, and the Festival Green.  All in all, a very complete tour with some really good backstage offerings.  

In the Garden

Wednesday was a surprisingly big push to get the backyard shipshape and Bristol fashion.  Then friends came over for a home-made pizza dinner.  A busy day.  

Caro has added some finishing touches (and noticed that the first mosquitos of the season have arrived).  The result is a very lovely and relaxing yard.  Here's a sampling... 

Penstemon neomexicanus

 

Bonsai Banzai

 And it's a wrap.  The 2026 ABQ Bonsai Club's annual Mother's Day Show is in the books.  Once again, we took over the ABQ BioPark's Botanic Garden Atrium and put on our two day show.

A small portion of the show

48 specimens were displayed.  Still waiting on the results from the "People's Choice" voting.  

May the Fourth Be with You

Yes, it's Star Wars Day.  Forecast was for a windy afternoon, but here in the North Valley, it never got more than slightly breezy.  Definitely not windy enough to stop Debbie and I from a midday bike ride in her neighborhood.  

Now we're waiting for the forecast rain showers.  Radar shows the storm just north of I-40 -- very close.  There's also much more stretching from Quemado down to Tucson, Rocky Point, and El Rosario.  I'd call it a bona fide atmospheric river.  

In other news, the war with Iran continues with contradictory reports coming out of Washington.  All the while, the GOP reveals its racist underpinnings with its immediate response to the recent SCOTUS ruling that all but killed the Voting Rights Act.  We now know exactly who the bigots are in this country.  

On that uplifting note, I'll leave you with this photo of my little kokedama, a Norfolk Island Pine.