Ron's Log

McCoy Springs

Coachella Valley Hiking Club visited McCoy Springs. Compare their photo with mine. Theirs and mine.

Matt Groening

An interview with Matt Groening about the upcoming Simpsons movie and other things.

Time-Warner

Finally! Tonight during my channel surfing I've come across one of the great (only?) benefits of Adelphia being swallowed up by Time-Warner: high school wrestling from all the schools of the valley. It's great to see young men developing their self-confidence and athletic ability...while in close physical contact with another young man.

More Hike Photos

My photos from this past Sunday's naturist hike can be seen in this Flickr set.

Three samples:

Rainbow

Photo by PSHiker.

We've had clear skies and high winds the last few days, but the wetter weather over toward L.A. hovers on our western horizon. This photo was taken heading west on route 111 toward Windy Point.

Here you can see a photo of the same rainbow taken from Desert Hot Springs.

DHS City Council Candidates

The Desert Sun asks questions of all five candidates for the city council seat in Desert Hot Springs. This one is interesting:

Who are your top three advisers?

Karl Baker: "City Manager Ann Marie Gallant, Assistant City Manager Steve Mendoza and members of the general public."

Bobby Bentley: "My mother, a law professor and Lance Webber."

Scott Matas: "The police chief, the fire chief and city manager."

Ted Mayrhofen: "God - I pray a lot - and people on both sides of every issue."

Adam Sanchez: "Jaime Hertodle, many of the people in Bonnie Garcia's front office and my wife."

Something New For Our Highways

Nick Loong has developed his "NJ Relief Bag" to be used as a disposable urinal in your car.

Each urinal bag is about the size of a regular wallet but much thinner, with a recyclable paper opening featuring a one-way valve, smartly connected to the bag containing safe absorbent material.

The absorbent material turns liquid waste into a non-toxic odourless gel that can later be neatly disposed off.

So, instead of seeing those plastic bottles with deep yellow liquid lying alongside our highways we can look forward to seeing non-toxic odorless gels lying alongisde our highways. A little discussion on the product's biodegradability (or lack thereof) would be nice.

I suspect this device is designed only for use by men.

Amuse Yourself

Maybe everybody's already seen this, but a very funny (6:55) video from the ellen show.

Saline Valley Photos

Some nice pictures around the springs in Saline Valley, but what will catch your eye is the man in clothes!

The Bougainvillea Question

Our cold January weather had various effects on the vegetation throughout Coachella Valley. But there was no variation in the bougainvilleas: all were laid bare in just one night. Some of mine have started growing new leaves, but we all are waiting to see how many are simply dead. Some people, anticipating greater temperature fluctuations as global warming worsens, wonder if they should replace the bougainvilleas with something with a greater frost tolerance. But what would that be? Even if we get more frequent frosts, summer temps will still touch 120°. Should we import plants from Mars?

Some I've talked to are considering Arizona cypress, but that's not gonna give us color like a bougainvillea. But now comes this suggestion via the Desert Horticultural Society:

You might look at the rows of Sophora secundiflora that are growing in the parking lot in front of Bed/Bath Beyond and Target. They pruned them as trees.
I live in Cathedral City and my 8 foot shrub stayed nice and green thru the freeze. It is a nice deep green all year long. There is a gray leaf variety too.
It is starting to bloom now. The blue/violet flowers smell a little like lilacs. large clusters like wisteria.
The seed pods are interesting but poisonous. Plant is not messy. It is from Texas.
I got mine from Living Desert 4 years ago. Another oddity: It sets many bloom spikes the previous year and they open the following spring. So don't prune the plant in the fall or you may cut off twigs that will be blooms in the spring.
Shrub pruning would make good screening and tree type would look nice as stand alone plants.
You could plant some gray foilage like the evergreen shrub butterfly buddleja
marrubiifolia in front for contrast.

Bill Bulger, Master Gardener and Naturalist Living Desert

Here's a little more info on the Sophora secundiflora where we learn that it is hardy down to 10°(F)! Photos here.

Here's what the Western Garden Book has to say:

Naturally shrubby, but can be trained into tree with short, slender trunk or multiple trunks, narrow crown, upright branches. Blooms from midwinter to early spring, bearing sweet-scented violet-blue flowers in drooping 4-8 inch clusters reminiscent of wisteria. A white-flowered form is occasionally available. "Silver Peso" has silvery foliage. Silvery gray or brown, woody 1-8 inch long seedpods open when ripe to show poisonous, bright red, ½-inch seeds. If left untrained, makes a good large screen or background hedge. Thrives in heat and alkaline soil. Moderate water.