Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California may be named for a tree you can see closer to home, but it also offers some other attractions worth the 200-mile drive from Las Vegas.
Local Columns
Question: I have planter boxes that get hours of direct sun. I’ve tried everything from corn to edamame, grapes, peppers, tomatillo and many others. I have even put up shading, but either there is too much sun or maybe I overwater. I’d like to start now and get a jump on summer.
Yes, we all began paying more for water as of Jan. 1. And yes, the worst drought to hit Southern Nevada in more than a century is one part of the reason. Another part is the cost of providing the necessary infrastructure to deliver water to a growing population in the valley.
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Question: When do I no longer have to protect my citrus plants from freezing weather?
This has not been unusual weather. It’s the norm. But watch out! February can be dangerous for plants. December 1990 was one of the coldest months on record, but February 1989 was much more damaging to plants.
It’s pretty hard to go wrong with an excursion to Valley of Fire State Park this time of year.
Question: Should I give my ash trees the same iron treatment as fruit trees?
I waited my turn at the three-way stop, then watched incredulously as a woman tearing along in her Lexus never touched the brake pedal as she roared past the stop sign and headed south on Anasazi Drive. And the stop sign had a blinking red light.
Oh, it’s nice to see Seven McKnight again. In “True Story,” we get a chance to catch up on where she’s been and who she’s dating, and we get to spend some time with her friends, too. That’s fun — if you can understand what’s being said in the conversations between the characters. Like other books in this series, Simone uses lots of slang in this book which, while it makes the story authentic, also can make it hard to grasp. On the flipside, there’s enough humor in this book and the characters are appealing enough to make a reader want to stick around and, happily, the confusion eventually takes care of itself.
Question: Can I start feeding my fruit trees now, or should I wait until spring?
Start a New Year’s column with a catch phrase from the early 1970s? Crazy, I admit.
It’s pretty hard to go wrong with an excursion to Valley of Fire State Park this time of year.
Using verse to speak to young athletes, Lesynski highlights the excitement of the game and all its facets to kids for can’t get enough hoops. I liked the way author Loris Lesynski moves between spectator and player POVs here (for kids who are one or the other), and the action-packed cartoon drawings by Gerry Rasmussen just add to the enjoyment.
Question: The low temperatures affected the citrus trees. Most of my new growth is on the suckers. Should I remove them or just let the tree be?
