Summer Vacation Survival Plan for Our Plants

Like many times before, the weather forecast called for rain. But this time our eucalyptus tree was swaying frantically in the wind and dropped a branch. Dan rushed outside to clear the gutters so we could harvest every bit of the long awaited rain. 

We were hoping to get a new cistern connected before we left on a family trip to Wisconsin the next day. And now we were racing the first storm of a delayed monsoon season, too. 

Dan had ordered some parts to connect a 425 gallon cistern to collect the overflow from our 200 gallon tank. During a heavy rain, the 200 gallon tank wasn't big enough to hold all the water that flowed from our neighbor's huge roof.  Hoping to get the cistern installed before the downpour, Dan had made a soft bed of sand for it to sit on and rolled the 425 gallon cistern in place on plastic pipes.

Unfortunately, the necessary parts didn't arrive before we had to leave. Neither did the rain. 

It finally rained 0.03 inches on July 2nd, just after we left for our trip. We were sad to miss it. 

But preparations for the trip had begun days before. Our "drought tolerant" plants were already suffering from weeks of extreme heat.108 degrees the day before we left on our trip! If my precious plants were to survive for the 11 days that we would be gone, I would need to deep water some - even if that took some city water.  I left the hose running on low to deep water my scorched palm tree and the surrounding agaves a few days before. 

Our droopy Mexican honeysuckle (that usually lived on rinse water) got similar treatment. 
 

I used the remainder of the rainwater in the big 500 gallon cistern to deep water the struggling pomegranate, curry, and moringa trees.  

(Dan drilled 2 small holes in each of the 5 gallon buckets to release the water slowly.) 

 

Our poor moringa had suffered greatly from the long dry winter, and the freeze (among other things.) It just needed it to make it until the monsoon rains started - when we knew it could grow 6 feet.  We gave it 15 gallons of rainwater the day before we left and covered it with shade cloth to protect it from the July sun.   

But I was really worried about my new pollinator plants (Arizona foldwing and spiderwort shown below) that needed nearly daily water in this heat.  Of course, being planted in the rain basin doesn't do a lick of good if it doesn't rain. 

Luckily a new friend came to the rescue - offering to come over daily and water those special plants and some recently planted veggies and newly sprouted herbs in our little garden! That was a great load off of my mind. 

So off we went to Wisconsin to hang out with family. 

But being the water nerds that we are, Dan did a presentation on "A Story of Water in the Desert" for Sustainable Tucson while we were there. 

We needn't have worried about not harvesting that extra rain in the overflow tank. It hadn't rained much while we were away. Sadly, the basin was bone dry, but everything in it survived thanks to the loving care of our neighborhood angel.

Dan went right to work hooking up the new cistern. 

Just in time, too! Three days after we got home we got three days of rain! 1.03 inches worth!

The spiderwort pollinator bloomed in the basin...

The Mexican honeysuckle plumped right up with orange hummingbird trumpets. 

The moringa has grown a foot so far...

The first big rain refilled our 500 gallon cistern, so we needed to use up some so there would be room in the tank for more. 

Jar collects every last drop in the hose

After deep watering the fig tree, pomegranate, moringa and curry, we went ahead and gave the mesquite on the high end of the basin 6 buckets of rainwater, even though we normally don't water it at all. After all, it was supposed to be a big wet monsoon this year.... 

 

We celebrated collecting all that rain with a new sign: "This Home Harvests the Rain." 

#lovemyrainbasin

Wrapping up for the freeze

As anyone who has tried winter gardening in Tucson can tell you, the weather forecast can be iffy at best. I have been getting FREEZE ALERTS for the last few days along with sporadic announcements of possible rain and even snow - so I thought it was time to cover the base of our moringa to protect the roots. 

It was 48 degrees on Wednesday (but it felt colder in the wind) so I wrapped piping insulation around each of the thicker branches down by the trunks (tying it snug with string). 

HISTORY: Before I get any complaints about wrapping plastic around them, let me share a little history of our moringa. About eight years ago we planted moringa seeds in our new right of way basin with the idea that they would be well watered in the coming monsoons. I babied those seeds, using  tomato cage and shade cloth to protect them from the scorching June sun and watering them daily. We were amazed by how quickly they grew in the monsoon rain!  What we didn't anticipate was that, unsheltered on the side of the street, they would die back in a hard freeze.

Dec. 2017. The towels we wrapped around them didn't save them.

Heartbroken, we finally cut back the dead branches. We were delighted when they came back from the roots in the Spring. 

After a freeze warning one year, we tried covering the whole plant but that trapped the moisture and mold grew inside the branches and on our precious nutritious leaves. That's when I started protect them with piping insulation - which seemed to help. But when it rained some moisture did get caught between the insulation and the trunk. (Despite some mold, they still came back). So I started covering the insulation with old plastic table cloths. 

Yesterday it was supposed to rain, so I wrapped a cheap, old plastic table cloth around it to keep the rain out - tucking it between branches and holding it together with binder clips. Then I stuffed a plastic grocery bag in the hole in the top to make sure the rain wouldn't get in.. This was a challenge in the icy wind! I had to hold the tablecloth down with rocks so it wouldn't blow away.

;

Our poor moringa (a tropical plant) has been really struggling with the sporadic weather this year. Record heat and very little rain. I was able to harvest leaves for tea twice, but it didn't come back like it usually does. (Usually pruning it encourages more growth.)

Now it seems confused by the unseasonably warm winter, but no winter rain. It sent out new leaves (that wouldn't grow bigger) and even flower buds!  

Ever hopeful, we deep watered it recently (with the little rainwater left in our cistern) to help it out. 

But with the leaves already starting to droop from 36 degree weather and rain on it's way, I finally decided to harvest the little leaves for soup.

I held the branch and pulled off the biggest leaves. (No, I don't have 3 hands! Dan is holding the strainer for me...) Still hoping for warmer weather, I did leave some sprouting leaves with the flower buds. 

The table cloth did its job and kept out the rain (a whole 0.02"!) nicely. 

Back in the warm house, I washed them and removed the tiny leaves from their stems. 

I added moringa to some veggie scraps to make a super healthy broth. 

This gave me a chance to use up some wilting veggies I found in the fridge and some leftover broth, noodles and bread for soup and sandwiches.

After removing the kitchen scraps from the broth, I added potatoes, carrots, peas, and more moringa. Finally, I threw in some left over noodles to make a yummy noodle, veggie moringa soup. 

Nothing warms you up like wrapping up in a fluffy housecoat after a hot shower and enjoying a piping hot bowl of noodle, veggie moringa soup. 

By the way, we didn't end up having a hard freeze last night after all. (Maybe tonight?) Last I looked, the buds were still hanging in there! Crossing my fingers for them to finally bloom. It's always a bit of a gamble on whether to harvest them or not. 

UPDATE: After the hard freeze some smaller branches, leaves and buds are dead. But some bigger branches, leaves and buds are still alive after 2+ days of freezing weather. So covering the base really seems to have helped.  

Some life left after 2+ days of freezing weather.

UPDATE (March 28, 2025) 

I may have left the pipe insulation and the plastic tablecloth on too long. (I didn't have time to take it off before leaving on a family vacation.) But I removed it immediately when I got home. I was pleased to find some healthy branches with leaves growing there.

Unfortunately, I also discovered some pale, twisted branches under some of the piping. 

I went ahead and pruned back the dead, hollow branches and cut them into mulch.  

Then I gave it a deep watering, hoping it would recover.  The twisted branches finally got some color and began to grow leaves. This moringa is a fighter! 

Oddly the bunnies ate the healthy leaves and left the unhealthy ones. 

UPDATE (June 7, 2025) 

Those who have followed our their plight may be aware of how the moringa have suffered from our sporadic weather in the unsheltered streetside basin.

On the 8th anniversary of planting the four moringa seeds, I have learned that it was a serious mistake to plant them in the right-of-way basin. While they did flourish and grow with the monsoon rains, they were unprotected from the deep freeze and the brutal record heat. A micro burst even took one out! Now only one of the four trees remains. (Bunnies recently finished off the stunted leaves on the second one.) I believe they would have done much better if they had been protected by a wall or other trees in a guild. 

On the bright side, the last moringa is coming back nicely with periodic deep watering and the merciful 1/2 inch of rain on June 1st.

Moringa on June 5, 2025

I am confident that it will continue to grow like gangbusters during the upcoming monsoon season and provide plenty of nutritional leaves for our family. 

Observations of a Crazy Winter on our Rain Garden

As a "would-be citizen scientist", I guess it's time to share my observations about the impacts of our crazy weather on our front yard rain garden this winter. 

The leaves on the jujube trees have fallen, as expected this time of year. We have taken the advice of local rainwater harvesting guru Brad Lancaster and left them in the basin to nourish the soil and retain as much moisture as possible. 

The globe mallow (the green shrub above) seems confused by our crazy winter weather. Is it sticking around in response to the unseasonably warm weather? (Many days around 80 degrees.) We haven't had our usual winter rains, so there isn't enough moisture to allow it to grow flowers. 

But take a closer look... Tiny yellow wild flowers have come up in the mulch. I spotted some little butterflies and bees pollinating them. (There is actually a species of native bees that burrows down in the mulch.) 

Our poor moringa trees also seem confused by the variable weather. They haven't frozen yet, so that's good. We still hope to gather some leaves for tea. (We have already harvested them twice this year. But they usually grow back...) They have sprouted new leaves. But I have watched in anticipation for weeks, and the  leaves don't grow big enough to harvest. And a few leaves have turned yellow. 

The latest development is some buds sprouting, but even with some additional rainwater from our cistern, they are struggling to bloom. (Thank heavens for the one winter storm in November that filled our cisterns.)

Moringa story continued here: 

Wrapping up for the freeze

Despite being watered daily, our sunchokes never grew beyond a foot before they withered up and died. They grew 3 feet last year and had yellow flowers. Last December I harvested more of the yummy tubers than we could eat...

As passionate rainwater harvesters, we always look forward to the winter rains filling our basins and cisterns. So it is pretty discouraging to have such a dry winter. Believe me, this isn't normal. Check out the normal highs and lows and rainfall in December and January from the National Weather Service. 

Our mesquite trees are starting to turn yellow and lose their leaves (which is normal this time of year.) The leaves that are left after the leaf cutter ants get their share become a part of the mulch in our front yard basin.  

 I'm afraid we won't have the abundant wildflowers we had last year. But I still find joy in seeing a variety of birds digging around in the mulch for food. I recently caught this goldfinch (below) getting a drink in our bird bath. 

Every morning Dan and I watch from the dining room window as the birds land on our decorative saguaro rib and then dive down to get a drink or splash around in our bird bath. 

Some regular guests are the Gila woodpeckers (pictured below), mourning doves, curve-billed thrashers, mockingbirds, sparrows and finches. We even had a red tail hawk once. 

This particular day there were so many birds all around our rain garden. I shooed away a stray cat that was hiding under the hackberry ready to pounce. That's why we keep ours in doors. Here is Freddy watching safely from his perch in the house. 

So, what have I learned from my observations during this unusual winter? That it is important to leave the leaves in the basin. The pollinators and birds really appreciate it. Cold weather or hot, rain or no rain, I still love my basins!  #lovemyrainbasin

More information: 

Basin Observations from a Would-be Citizen Scientist