colorado plateau

11 years ago

Went west for a couple of days over the holiday weekend.

Juniperus osteosperma, near Moab UT.

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Juniperus osteosperma

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La Sal mountains, the second highest mountain range in Utah after the Uinta range.

This is the western side, and there were fires on the eastern side over the weekend.

J. osteosperma and Pinus edulis at the lower elevations.

Pinus ponderosa a little higher up.

Not sure what's beyond that, as we did not make it too far due to the fires.

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Comments (11)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
ya know. the other day.. when it was 97 .. i actually wondered what it would be like to jump in the car.. and
drive to elevation ...

that first pic is gnarly ... lol ...

sublime.. thanks

ken
Cher
11 years ago
I'd love to have that dead tree cut and placed in my yard. :) Very cool! The mountains are beautiful!
Cher
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Water, water, water! Tom: as for the water soaking in. when I planted mine I created a "berm" about one foot from the tree all around--for 90% of them. The other 10% take as long to water as all the rest of them. The main batch that don't have a berm are the last ones I planted--the extras or potential replacements. I was in a hurry to finish up. DUMB! A few others the berm I created had a gap or two. DUMB! Those with a good perm, they get the water as fast as it can pour out of the jug, the berm holds it all and it soaks in, in its own good time. The others take forever--pour a little bit, let that soak in, pour a bit more, let that soak in. When I am doing this I pour some, set the jug aside, and go to another tree, pour a bit, to another tree, etc. etc., then back to the first one, pour a bit more. AAARRRGH! Sometimes I have 10 or more jugs going at one time in this "replacements" area. Never again! Anyway, with the trees with the proper berm, each watering, including filling the jug and getting the water to the tree, takes maybe, at the most, as much as two minutes per tree. It took me an average, all parts of the process included, 30 minutes to plant each tree (not counting fencing, which was extra time). So I could water each tree 15 times and not spend as much time as I did planting. I guess so far I have watered each one 4 or maybe 5 times. And even if only 30% would have died, timewise I am way, way ahead. And, the watered trees, now with really nice looking buds and thickening leaders will grow beautifully next year, cutting down the time I will have to look after these trees. Water!! But, Tom, where you are where it is much cooler and not quite so drought prone, in a good year you should not have to water. I never did at my timberland. But of course there were three years in the last 20 or so when watering was necessary--one of those years--1988--I planted a lot of seedlings--mostly larch that year, and I don't think any survived. Pam, in places like where we are, we can almost certainly anticipate that we will need to water every year if we want to avoid losses and/or weakened seedlings. If a little tree is struggling to stay alive, it is not really growing roots very well, and not creating the strong top foliage that is necessary to manufacture the elements that go into growing roots the following year. --Spruce
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Yes, Jerry, stick around!! Your pics of those places you've seen are great, and your descriptions of them are good, too! I'm much too old to think of coming out your way any more! I was out there in 1947, and did see a lot of the western states, and the attractions! Then i got married, and my wife had no interest in traveling thru the Rockies, nor seeing the Grand Canyon! (She always thought she'd have an uncontrollable urge to jump over the edge, but i told her she'd not feel much pain if she did!) So, we traveled thru the eastern half of the country! One thing i remember about California--those people either aren't too bright, or they have a great sense of humor! We saw this sign outside a hot dog shop: STOP LETS EAT WORMS Needless to say, we lost our appetite! (But, i have a picture i took of that sign!) And, we didn't go thru Las Vegas! Afraid my cousin Bob would get stuck there gambling, and lose all! Any way, have fun hiking around,don't get lost, think about the guy who had to cut off his hand to get free! Let folks know where you'll be, and come back and give us more of your stories! Rusty Jones
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Simoni
11 years ago
Beautiful photo! Please have any.....
botann
11 years ago
If you visit the west in the summertime, head for the mountains, not the low desert. My wife and I went took a trip last summer down from Montana through Wyoming, South through Colorado, and then to New Mexico, and back. We crossed the Continental Divide 28 times coming and going. I don't recall ever needing the air conditioning.
Nice pictures, Sluice! Thanks.
Mike
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
11 years ago
Nice, as always Nate.

tj
mesterhazypinetum
11 years ago
Nate,
I dreamed always about such nice dense dwarf osteospermas in the garden. Did you give her any name? (Organic conifering)
Wow, thanks

Zsolt
sluice
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Ken, Cher, Simoni, Mike TJ, and Zsolt!

Zsolt, I did not think to collect from that one, possibly next time! Although I did get cuttings from this roadside beauty.
Juniperus osteosperma (not yet named)
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Here is another nice Juniperus osteosperma that was up on the Uncompahgre plateau.
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Dolores river
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Road along the Dolores river, an enjoyable drive through a remote area
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Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus edulis on the Dolores river canyon walls
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Another view of the La Sal mountains
Juniperus osteosperma and Pinus edulis
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dcsteg
11 years ago
Nate,

Again thanks for the tour in the car.

My kind of country. I love the rock formations and of course the free range conifers.

Do I owe you any cab fare?

Dave
mrgpag SW OH Z5/6
11 years ago
Nice tour - I traveled through some of this area a number of years ago and took a picture of what was probably a p. edulis growing out of a crack in the rocks in the Dead Horse Point parking lot overlooking the river - looked a lot like those in your last picture. I have looked high and low but can't find it in my image library. It amazed me that something could grow in those conditions.
Marshall
groem
11 years ago
Ah takes me home, I grew up in southern utah. That is exactly what it looked like. Red rock in all directions, sage brush, juniper and pinyon trees. The trips down south just don't happen often enough.
You mention taking cuttings. Can these juniper be readly propigated by cuttings? Any sugestions? It would be nice to get some little bit of where I grew up.
sluice
Original Author
11 years ago
Dave, Marshall, and Groem, glad you enjoyed these.

The junipers can be propagated by cuttings, by putting them in a mix of mostly perlite and keeping them moist.

colorado plateau

Comments (11)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Cher

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