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The high today was 76 degrees and the 10 day forecast shows nothing but high temps right around 70 degrees. I'd say it's not too early to do a little planting or at least to start getting serious about gardening. It's not likely that there will be any serious freezes once we get past Jan 20th and the 10 day forecast extends to Jan 25th and so I'd say we're free and clear as far as freezing temps go!

This is a good time of year to do a little fertilizing. Give those plants the boost they need to take full advantage of spring and to produce lots of growth and flowers. I put out tree fertilizer spikes, liquid fertilizer, and some compost and manure. Spring time in Trona can be bright and colorful with a little effort!

panamint_patty: Thanks for the tips. I may plant some petunias this year. I've had reasonably good luck with petunias. Actually marigolds do alright for me too. Maybe I'll put together a little flower garden just for the fun of it. Maybe some violets, pansies, and sweat alyssum will round out my little flower garden!

Lots of rain in the forecast for tomorrow. I have lots of young plants getting started. Hopefully the rain will be good for them and hopefully it will be enough so I don't have to water for atleast a few days! Drive safely!

panamint_patty: Looks like you got your wish. I doubt you'll have to water until Wednesday or so! It was nice to have a few days of cool, wet weather, but according to the forecast it's going to warm up and stay dry for a while!

Lots of flowers starting to bloom all over the place! There are flowers in the desert and flowers in yards. It's looking like spring despite the lack of rain. It won't last long so enjoy it while you can!

It's getting hot and so it's important to keep those plants well-watered. Water around here may be expensive, but once a plant is dead it's gone! Shade structures are another way to reduce the stress of the heat. It looks like tomorrow will be the third day in a row to break 100 degrees!

15 Most Common Garden Planning Mistakes One Should Avoid!
This article contains a whole slew of great ideas. Gardens are great to have, but difficult to maintain in arid environments. Most plants won't survive out here and so it's important to know what you're doing before you start purchasing and planting!

Proceeding without Planning: One of the biggest gardening mistakes is not making a proper gardening plan and proceeding without it. Set a garden plan for your space including how much to grow, where to grow, what to grow & so on and stick to it. Try to have at least a rough plan for your garden area and start implementing it.

LINK: http://www.oliviassolutions.com/blog/15-most-common-garden-planning-mistakes-one-should-avoid/

The other day while shopping in Ridgecrest I noticed that both WalMart and Home Depot had a lot of geraniums for sale in their garden section. Anyone have experience with geraniums? Do they do well when the weather gets hot? I kind of like them and there are a lot of neat flower colors available. Any info will be appreciated!

How to smarten up your garden without spending a cent
This Koubachi app probably isn't all that useful since you can look up all the info about different plants elsewhere, but it might be interesting to try out.
LINK: http://www.koubachi.com