Nursery trip

Dad and I made a trip to the Mesquite Valley nursery, which is their neighborhood plant heaven. It is huge, with multiple large greenhouses full of citrus and so many plants that can thrive in the sunny heat of AZ. Talk about a place for an Oregonian to indulge in both plant lust and zone envy.

I got my Dad his Father's Day gift a bit early, a lovely "Orange Jubilee peach bells" bush, plus some flower seeds that like hot dry weather....cosmos and Mexican sunflowers. He likes bright colors in his garden too. Had fun planting them all in a couple of beds and anticipating how much he will enjoy the flowers when they come up. If you love plants I can't think of a cooler gift that planting up beds with flower seeds as a delayed gratification/surprise gift.

I couldn't resist getting myself a plant, a Mexican oregano small enough to get in my backpack on the plane. I use dried Mexican oregano regularly in recipes (like pozole, other soups and beans). We have to buy it in the Latin stores, and I've been longing for a plant in the garden, to save the trouble and expense of buying it.

There is some interesting info (both botanical and cultural) on this plant native to the SW and Mexico.

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ethnobot/images/mexican-oregano.html

http://www.freshcutherbs.com/herbofthemonth_mexicanoregano.htm