Hot Gardens newsletter about drought and vanished Anasazis

Hot Gardens Newsletter: June

The Disappearing Anasazis. The drought in the Colorado River drainage area continues. For the now-vanished Anasazi people this would not be unexpected. They experienced drought centuries ago while living in Arizona.

Historic drought continues

2004 winter snows in the Rocky Mountains were below normal and the Colorado River is drying up. At Lake Mead for example, the water level behind Hoover Dam is 70 feet lower than it should be and a town that was submerged when the Lake was filled back in the 1930s, is exposed again. Lake Powell, behind the Glen Canyon Dam farther up the Colorado River, has even less water in it. (By 2011 the reservoirs have begun to fill up again, then stalled again until the winter of 2016-2017. As of 2022 the water level behind the dams has fallen again. The up-and-down effect continues: 2023 brought increased snowfall and then higher levels of water behind the dams)

And, rain or no rain, the Colorado River no longer empties into the Gulf of California – but vanishes into the parched earth near the Mexican border before reaching it. (Note: in 2021 a major effort resulted in the Colorado River once again trickling slowly into the marshlands at the edge of the Gulf of California.)

Newcomers to the Southwest may not be aware that the great “oasis cities” — Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles — rely heavily on the Colorado for significant portions of their cities’ water supplies. Local groundwater is not enough for the millions of people.

Decades long droughts

While all of us who live in the desert southwest and California hope that coming winters will give us above-normal precipitation, there is evidence that previous desert dwellers, the Anasazi people, faced decades-long drought.

By looking at tree rings, researchers have discovered that there was a major drought in the Southwest between 1125 and 1180 – that’s 55 years! Again, in the following century, a drought came and, this time, the Anasazi destroyed their kivas, abandoned their pueblos and left the area. The prospect of a decades-long drought is real. Consider this when you design and plant a desert garden.

Golden barrel cactus mammillaria cactus red rock
One of the mini-gardens of succulents and cactus in the Desert Garden section of the Huntington Botanic Gardens. These are Golden Barrel cactus, natives of Mexico.

Cactus Confession. Cactus and Succulents are the ultimate drought-tolerant plants, but we confess they have never been of great interest to us until a recent visit to the Huntington Botanic Gardens San Marino, California. The Desert Garden section of this Botanic Garden is guaranteed to inspire a love of succulents and their prickly cousins, cactus. And what a joy– almost every single plant is clearly identified on an easily readable label.

As important as the individual specimens are, the overall design of the Huntington Desert Garden is spectacular. For one thing, they have not planted one specimen here, another there. The plants are massed in groups to create dramatic, dense borders and mini-gardens along winding paths beneath pines and mesquites.

We have added a new page to the Hot Gardens website to show you how beautiful a cactus and succulent garden can be.

Summer is the time to plant palms

Palm Season. Another note about the Huntington Botanic Garden: they have huge section devoted to Palm trees right next to the Desert Garden. Unlike other trees, palms do best when planted in warm weather. They love warm soil around their roots. Of course, a newly planted palm, like any transplant, needs additional watering until it is established. Some of these palms will thrive in the desert, others will not. Be sure to check with your local nursery about which palms do best in your area. (Then after you have seen the palms and cactus at the Huntington, go to their Tea Room for a traditional English Tea!)

New Climber. There is a new hybrid of the Cape Honeysuckle in nurseries this year with a light yellow blossom. This South African native vine blooms beautifully for months on end and is probably one of the best climbers for the desert. It needs support so plant it adjacent to your arbor or pergola; it is too vigorous a grower for a simple short trellis.

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