Hello Gardener,
Welcome to Emerald Gardens Newsletter  Skeleton Leaf Goldeneye
 Viguiera stenoloba
Is native to most of the southwest U.S. from Texas to Arizona
It is extremely drought tolerant and will grow in any slightly alkali soil. Used as a low bush or tall ground cover in xericscape gardens or hillsides.
Skeleton Leaf blooms lightly spring to summer and heavily summer to frost. It is mostly evergreen and fills in quickly. In good soil gardens it will reseed and should be dead headed. It is very deer resistant and is larvae food for butterflies. It also attracts bees and birds.Skeleton leaf works well with Salvia Greggi and Texas Sage for contrast. It grows to about 3 feet tall and 4ft or more wide. Prune midway through summer for a denser plant.
Select Pepper varieties for containers
Peppers are very easy to grow plants if just a few requirements are met.
Some peppers are more prolific and will work for even the patio container gardener. To start you will need about 6-8 hours of sun minimum for good pepper bloom set. A very large container of potting soil,(the better the soil the better the plant) 30 gallons ( about 4 cubic feet of soil) will work well but larger containers can grow more peppers, a good slow release fertilizer like Osmocote or organics like manure/compost, and a liquid feed like Hastagro.
Start peppers now so they will be well established before it gets hot.
Plant 2 pepper plants per 30 gallon container for the best results. Peppers will get big and more than 2 plants will require more than once a day watering.
Best peppers for container growing;
Hot pepper choices: Common Jalapeno, Serrano and my favorite and by far the most productive, Garden Salsa ( one plant will produce several hundred 3-4" medium hot peppers in just a few months).
Sweet Pepper choices are Sweet Banana, Cubanell, common Anaheim(New Mexico) and another of my favorites, Gypsy.
Gypsy pepper produces weekly harvests of sweet yellow peppers without a sharp taste. Leave the peppers a few more days and you have orange and red peppers that are very sweet. Useful for salads, Stir fry, cooking and garnish.
They freeze extremely well in baggies for use all fall and winter.
Geraniums are in season Cool spring mornings are great for growing Geraniums.
Geraniums grow very fast when it is cool allowing you to grow big healthy plants before summer comes around. Geraniums grow extremely well in containers. World wide geraniums may be the number one container flower. Geraniums like the best of potting soils and a few hours of direct sun to bloom well. Feed Geraniums organic foods like fish emulsion or seaweed. They do well with Hastagro. There are hundreds of colors and types of Geraniums. Cutting Geraniums have the biggest blooms and are true to the parent. Seedling geraniums are used for large beds but have smaller flowers. Regal Geraniums have the largest and most intricate of blooms. Scented Geraniums have delicate flowers and are scented with fresh scents like rose, pine, citrus,baby powder,fruity, peppermint and many more.
Well cared for Geraniums will last for years and can become a prized specimen.
Divide and feed bog plants
Now that the weather has warmed a bit, the water plants are starting to stir and the first thing to do is divide any overgrown marginal (bog) plants.
Most plants can be removed from their containers and cut in half with a large butcher knife or limb saw. After cutting up the plants you will pot them in pots with no drainage holes, using a heavy soil like clay or loam. Fill the container around the plant to the level of the original soil line then add about 1" of pea gravel to seal in the soil.
Most marginal plants will benefit by yearly feeding with agriform fertilizer. Place the fertilizer tablet to one side of the root mass when planting.When feeding later in the year you should shove the tablet deep into the soil. Bog plants that grow by runners are planted a little differently.
First, fill the pot about 3/4 full of soil then lay the plant runners crossing each other on the surface of the soil. Add just enough gravel to hold the plants in place and seal the soil. You can add more gravel after the starts show a little growth. Feed the same as the upright plants. Hardy waterlilies should be started on a monthly feeding schedule and divided if very crowded.
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