Dry, Continued Dry with a Chance of Dry

A consortium put together a release of a couple thousand acre-feet of water into the 90+ day dry Rio Grande middle reaches.  The thirsty sands absorbed so much water that it took several days to reach the Central Bridge.  I don't even know if the "flood" made it to the gauging station at Valle de Oro.  

Sept. 3 waiting for water at the Gail Ryba Bridge

Within a few days the river bed was dry again.  On the prowl for lunch I crossed the Rio from the Botanic Garden to the west side and the cottonwoods in the bosque showed serious trouble.  Some had completely brown, dry canopies.  I suspect those trees will not survive.  Just a one shot estimate:  I'd say we could lose 20% of our trees.  

Sept. 7 looking north from Tingley "Beach"

On a brighter side, the water lilies and lotus at the BioPark have been flourishing.  With shorter days, they are flowering less prolifically, but they are still putting out a few spectacular blooms.  

Water, Water Everywhere (not)

While running errands this afternoon, I ducked down to the Open Space access at the west end of Gabaldon Pl.  I continued on foot across the little Gail Ryba Bridge, which crosses the Albuquerque Lateral.  It was flowing bank to bank.  

From there a short but hot and sunny walk up the ramp beyond took me to a river overlook.  I had hoped to find water in the river bed or, if I was incredibly lucky, actually see its wave front coming down the channel.

As it turned out, I saw neither.  The Rio is still as dry as ever.  The USGS website reports 248 cfs at the Alameda bridge and 212 at Paseo del Norte.  At the Central bridge and at Valle de Oro the flow is zero.  Only at Isleta is there a trickle, 48 cfs.  I think that value is the water from the lateral, which is delivered to the Pueblo, since they have priority.  

Your Occasional Daily Hibiscus

The Hibiscus blooms have been off and on this season.  The 'Midnight Marvel' had a good first flush of flowers and then a pause.  Now it seems to be gathering pace for another show.  

 The unknown apricot variety that was gifted to us has been puttering along with a few blooms at odd moments.  It doesn't seem to produce large masses of buds, but its double blossoms are remarkable.

Caro has just returned from visiting her sister in Pennsylvania.  Now the house can go back to its normal routines.  She  reports on cooler temperatures in the Northeast, while back here in ABQ we are still in the mid-to-upper 90's.  They had thunderstorms that snarled air traffic.  ABQ is still suffer through a dry monsoon and the Rio is still not flowing.  Riparian vegetation is definitely hurting. 

As fall approaches, you 

Late Summer Blooms

The heat continues to break records.  The drought continues to break records.  The Rio is still dry.  Cottonwood leaves are yellowing and falling10 weeks early.  Only about 1.5" of rain since May Day.  

But a few things are still in flower:  Alstromeria, Rudbeckia, Dahlia, Salvia, Oenothera and Pedilanthus, to name a few.   Lagerstroemia is finishing up and even the fall-blooming Chyrsanthemum and Ceratostigma have come and largely gone.  

Pedilanthus flower and fruit

We did some sciency stuff during Monday morning's Nature's Notebook observations.  We've been watching cholla fruits go from green to yellow, back to green, or at least greenish-yellow.  How to score ripeness in Cylindropuntia imbricata has puzzled us.  Some say yellow color is diagnostic.  Others say the loss of spines indicates ripeness.  

We collected fruits at several stages and cut them open longitudinally.  Managed to avoid the spines and glochids.  Still haven't resolved the ripeness issue.  

After all, what does ripeness refer to?  A good definition would be "a condition of fitness for purpose."  

More to come... 

August Phenology

Following the hottest July on record (nationally as well as for Albuquerque), August shows no signs of letting up.  The heat continues near or above 100° every day.  The summer monsoon has largely been a "non-soon."  

Oddly, fall flowers are blooming early.  My current hypothesis is that the extremely early March warmth this spring has tricked some plants into "calculating" that 4 months has passed since the beginning of the growing season (normally April-May) and it's the correct time to bloom.  My bonsai deodar cedar is pushing fall foliage.  Meanwhile in the backyard, Ceratostigma (blue-flowered leadwort) and Chrysanthemum × morifolium (garden mum) are almost bloomed out.  Perhaps judicious dead-heading can prolong their flowering. 

This morning we knocked off another session of Nature's Notebook with mid-summer phenology observations.  The major debate today was on the ripening of Cylindropuntia (cholla) fruit.  I'll now pause typing this blog post while I dive into the online resources....

Lots of rangeland stuff about cholla eradication.  Most descriptions involve fruits turning yellow and then falling from the plant.  Folks at Nature's Notebook told Sandy that fruits that have lost their spines are ripe.  These descriptions seem to come from southern populations that I take to be C. imbricata var. spinosior.  

Our specimen, on the other hand, has persistent fruits that often take 2 seasons to finally drop from the stems.  Of course, by then they've progressed from yellow to a putty shade of beige.  They often turn green to yellow and back to green over the course of the season.  

The photo above, taken today, shows green, yellowish green, yellow, kinda orange, and putty fruits.  We'll be watching this group closely in the months ahead.  

One of the better illustrated resources is the Vascular Plants of the Gila from WNMU in Silver City, https://gilaflora.com/cylindropuntia_imbricata.html .  It shows yellow, spineless fruits in cross-section with pale brown seeds within.  It also mentions the low viability of the seeds.  

That's of little help to us with our spiny, persistent fruits.  Applying the Nature's Notebook rubric of ripeness as an indicator not of reproductive viability, but of value in the food chain, doesn't help here either.  

Reflecting on seed dispersal in chollas, the fruits appear fall in the immediate area of the parent plant.  Possibly they could attach themselves to the hide of passing large mammals.  I'm guessing that wherever the fruit land, they either have to weather for considerable time to expose the seeds or be broken open by some mechanical means like animal hooves.  Either way, I doubt if anyone is eating the fruits, unlike Opuntia, the prickly pear with its moist, dehiscent fruits at ripening.  

Cornish Pasties

 It's been a long while since I indulged in making a batch of Cornish pasties.  I'm not even sure when I began making them.  In any event, my secret sauce is in truth, Worcestershire sauce and Pilsbury refrigerated pie crusts.  Full disclosure:  Caro has me add peas(!).

Either with or without peas, the results are sublime.  I don't know what it is about the simple ingredients, but the addition of  'Swede' (rutabaga) is critical.  From poor copper miner's fare to modern savory, it's an amazing evolution.  

In other news, the Hibsicus cv 'Midnight Marvel' has bloomed out its first flush.  Buds are quickly filling in behind, so expect your Occasional Daily Hibiscus updates in the next few days.  Meanwhile, the double peach one is sending out one bloom about every other day.  

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Forecast is for 102° at the airport.  Could hit 105° here in the North Valley.  I'll break out my infrared thermometer later to see how hot various surfaces are. 

Leaf temperature of Ginkgo

Meanwhile, it's a good day to stay indoors blogging, doing laundry, and baking bread.  Right now the baguette dough is on its third of four rises.  Should be coming out of the oven around 4:30.  

And indeed, at 4:34 we have fresh bagettes in the boulangerie!

August 1

White rabbit. White rabbit. White rabbit.  (Nailed it again!)

Still plenty of pond action at the Botanic Garden.  A number of lotus cultivars are blooming, both in the Camino de Colores pond and in the Lebanese Pond.  

It was forecast to be above 100°, so I got started early for label placement.  Still, I was out there until 1:00 and it was toasty warm.  I had 9 specimens in my target list.  

The Passiflora and the Rhus were easy to find.  Courtesy of another docent, I discovered a second passion flower in the Curandera on the right side of the bas relief.  In afternoon shade, it was not blooming.  

But that was it.  The other composites eluded me.  The Fallopia that I thought was blooming along the western service road was nowhere to be found.  The Cotinus was coggygria not obovatus.  

For something cooler to work on, I'll be mapping some of the late blooming roses in the High Desert Rose Garden based on the photos I took.  

July Update

It's been almost a month since my last post.  I must be getting lazy.  I've seen some great stuff, even as the summer draught and heat suck the vitality out of most things.  

On the way back from Nature's Notebook observations last week, we saw a blue darter on a lotus blossom.  It flew away, but I remembered what Jerry Goffe taught me:  dragonflies usually return to their favorite perch.  So I was not surprised when our blue friend came back after only a few minutes.  

 

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.  

May Day or Mayday?

I've already said my "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit," so no need to go down that proverbial rabbit hole.  Here are today's topics of interest.  

Although there hasn't been as much publicity as there was for the No Kings marches, today is supposed to be a one-day general strike.  Very appropriate for Worker's Day, May Day.  Of course, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and a tenuous ceasefire is in place despite dualing blockades.  I suppose one could consider today's "strike" a practice run for what might be necessary if (when) TCF tries to stop or overturn the November elections.  In any event, being retired, this is an easy one for me:  an acequia walk or a garden visit, some Ingress, tidy up the office, cook something interesting, Gardener's World on BBC tonight.  

Speaking of tonight, today is the first of two full moons in May.  That's very auspicious, since Caro and I always celebrate an important lunar anniversary in May.  Moules and frites are on the menu along with a favorite rosé wine finished off with dessert from Flying Star.  

Also auspicious is the fact that a thunderstorm rolled through tonight.  The forecast had written ABQ off for any measurable rain, but we've gotten 0.2" so far.  

Late yesterday the NPN-USA folks hosted a Zoom webinar where University of Arizona students presented their research using Nature's Notebook data.  Our BioPark observations were highlighted by one student (thanks, Bellamy!) and Theresa kindly complimented us on our work in the Cottonwood Gallery.  

Screen grab of Bellamy's poster

Like Ships Passwording in the Night

Doing some minor maintenance like password updates this morning.  Expecting to have howling winds by midday, so it's a good day to plan on indoor activities.  I'll make a run to the store to restock vino supplies, but other than that, I'll be done for the day.  

Here are some shots from yesterday afternoon that highlight textures and colors in the backyard garden beds.  

Euphorbia myrsinites

Foeniculum vulgare

Ranunculus cv.

Osteospermum cv.

Antirrhinum majus

While we've had an abundance of native bumble bees, this season there are few butterflies and European honeybees.  Still waiting for black swallowtail caterpillars to appear on the fennel.  

This 4-day weekend is the observation period for iNaturalist's City Nature Challenge.  So far, I've had little time for making observations since everywhere I've been has been cultivated.  Tomorrow, though, I'll be out in the Cottonwood Gallery with plenty of native plants, insects, and birds.  

Stand by for tomorrow's photos.  

Contemplating Baba

Meher Baba taught that one could never know the results of one's actions.  Good deeds could produce evil unintended outcomes.  Evil deeds could yield good.  We're seeing the latter these days. 

President Donald Trump calls environmentalists “terrorists.” Yet he is responsible for destroying more oil and gas infrastructure, and possibly more fossil-fuel demand, than the most optimistic ecoterrorist could in their wildest dreams. By going to war with Iran, the president, who has been openly hostile toward the clean-energy transition, may unintentionally turn out to be one of its greatest allies.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg

Donald Trump has done more to accelerate the energy transition than anyone else alive. The attack on Iran is not the way any of us wanted this to happen, but the unintended consequences of Trump’s pointless war could help sink Trumpism everywhere – and the corrupt and filthy industry that props it up.

George Monbiot - The Guardian 

Van Morrison said it in "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River." 

And we was contemplating Baba, William Blake and the Eternals

Goin' down to the Sisters of Mercy

Looking for the Veedon Fleece

I can only hope that my efforts, meant in the best of intentions, do not in turn on themselves.  After spending a morning in the Lebanon & Beyond Garden at the BioPark's Botanic Garden placing labels with Maria, it was a domestic and restful afternoon.  

Earth Day

It is with some trepidation that I face Earth Day this year.  Mom Nature is not going to be happy with us, either individually or collectively.  

I've been out in the Lebanon and Beyond Garden placing labels with Maria ahead of VIP visitors Thursday afternoon.  Should be able to finish tomorrow just in time.  Sadly, the day may be quite windy in the p.m.  Even so, the Garden is beautiful right now, especially the roses and peonies.  

City Nature Challenge kicks off on Friday.  Nothing official from the BioPark, but I'll spread the word personally.  

In other news, another nuclear scientist has disappeared; found hours later in a burned out Tesla.  Very strange.