Preparations for spring

The last two days at the oasis were in the 70°s. Ruellia is still blooming in the courtyard. Winter shouldn't be too long this year.

Verbena is coming up all over the oasis, especially in the pathways. Might be an exciting spring for butterflies. I made the difficult decision to rope off two areas of verbena at the oasis. Just until it gets hot in late April and they decline. That's when groups of birders will start arriving so not practical to keep it blocked then. But I'll get to enjoy it in March and April.

Bench blocking access over verbena growing in path

Below is where the verbena patch was in spring 2017. Both places I blocked have alternate pathways, so shouldn't impact birding much.

Also have been trying to get a cement company to assess the possibilities on my road. No luck yet, but it should eventually happen.

And I'm planning on growing Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) around the periphery of the new tank. Found some sprouting beside a rain barrel where one had been growing for the past several years, but has now died. They don't live long, but are very prolific. I painstakingly dug up some of the seedlings. Almost needed  tweezers. Couldn't get them out with soil on the roots, so they're bare-rooted. If they manage to survive I'll consider myself an official green thumb.

Unfortunately, I never know which place I'll need what, so I had left my bottle of rooting hormone in town. I'll take it to the oasis and transplant the remainder of the sprouts. Meanwhile, I watered those still left in the ground. Also ordered seeds by mail.

I guarantee that if I just potted dirt from around the sprouts the pots would fill with new seedlings. Always an option.

I think once I get them established around the new tank they'll thrive and continue seeding themselves there. The water in the tank helps stabilize the temperature around it, plus water running off tanks gives them more moisture, and the tank itself is wind protection. Would love to have Tree Tobacco all around the whole tank with hummingbirds feasting on it. Should make for interesting photos with the green tank behind. Getting way ahead of myself though...  First things first.

As often as I've grown it, I can't believe I can't locate a photo of it at CMO, but here's one I found online. It grows over 7' tall and is native to South America. Very fast grower.

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UPDATE: I was determined and I finally located a Tree Tobacco photo from the courtyard of my house in 1996. Of course, I've long since dispensed with grass and gone more natural. The Tree Tobacco is in the forefront on both sides of this old photo.