Our Weather is still being quite Schizo... it will be in the high 80's for a while and then suddenly it switches, turning on a dime and gets windy, wet and bitingly cold the next day! And back and forth it has gone like this, unseasonably unpredictable, so I had held off changing out the Garden this Year until it looked like it might stabilize. Because in the Arizona Desert you have a brief Window of Opportunity for 'Spring' Planting anyway... because the Weather typically goes from Winter straight into Summer Heat... but at least usually it's a Transition that doesn't behave so Fickle as it has this Season!
I had occupied my usual Pre-Spring Gardening Time with other Activities so that I wouldn't risk losing more tender Plants that would be transplanted from Nursery Stock into Pots on the Porch. Several Seedlings that had sprouted from last Season's Seeds that had lain dormant had already bitten the dust in the Veggie Garden because they had thought it safe to come to Life during the Heat spells, since Mother Nature seemed Confused, giving them mixed Messages of when to come out. The Tomatoes which had grown from Seed had already been producing a bounty of Cherry Tomatoes for me but had also finally perished during the sudden Cold spells, which only last a day or so, but just enough to finish them off.
So here I was... finally getting prepped for Spring in our Garden since the Good Weather had held for a while, Promising that no more harsh Desert Wintery Weather was looming on the Horizon... planting all of the Herbs and Flowers I'd Sourced at the Nurseries... Weeding... spending more and more time in the Garden under the Sunshine and Warmth... until Today!!!
I had so much momentum going that it was disappointing to wake up to the sudden drastic drops in temperature, the strong Wind, heavy Rains and even a bit of Hail! Not only could I not finish what I'd begun, but I was Hoping that all of the new Plantings wouldn't Perish from this Schizo flip-flop of intensely Warm for a week and then an unpredicted Forty Plus Degree drop the next!?! Even People were having trouble adjusting... everywhere you looked there were Sick folks from the Crazy Weather patterns... and at least we can Escape Indoors part of the time... the Plants aren't so fortunate, they must Endure it twenty-four-seven!
Its times like these that I long for a Greenhouse or Conservatory... where my Gardening could be Protected in a more controlled Climate Environment. Okay, so that's not the total Truth... it's not JUST times like these... I've pretty much Dreamed and Envisioned a Greenhouse or Conservatory on this Property for over a Decade now. But the ones that come prefabricated that I Adored wouldn't fit due to our other Outbuildings and Cottages scattered over our Acreage... and building a Custom one from scratch seemed a Distant Dream at best since Health, Circumstances and Resources haven't exactly lined up for Grandoise Projects such as that. Yeah, I'm Bourgeois like that... even if I was broke and living in a Shack I'd still want a Victorian Style Conservatory attached to it! *LOL*
Source: PEACOCK PARK DESIGN
Something like Gina Galvin has over at PEACOCK PARK which is my exact Vision for the Perfect Conservatory Studio to sit beside Bohemian Valhalla... alas, slightly too big to order and set up between buildings on our property... dammit! Too bad it doesn't come in sizes... *Le Sigh*
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian