Trees That Please Nursery

Silver-Leaf Nightshade ( Solanum elaeagnifolium ) is a perennial plant usually growing 8” to 20” tall. It is easily recognized by its silver green wavy leaves and stem color,   often thorny stems, and violet colored, star shaped flowers with protruding yellow stamens. Other common names for Silver-Leaf Nightshade are Prairie Berry, Silver-Leaf Nettle, and Satan’s Bush. Silver-Leaf Nightshade flowers from late spring into fall and is native to the Southwestern United States and into Mexico. It is considered a noxious weed in many states.  Silver-Leaf Nightshade is poisonous and toxic to livestock. Silver-Leaf Nightshade propagates from both rhizomes and seed found in berries. Green striped berries turn yellow or orange at maturity and then dry to brown.   Silver-Leaf Nightshade has an extensive root system     and can form colonies, which makes it difficult to eradicate.   If you have time and patience, Silver-Leaf Nightshade can be eradicated simply by digg...

 The Desert Marigold grows abundantly in dry sandy or gravelly soils, high heat and full sun, with only the moisture that Mother Nature provides. The Desert Marigold is a small plant about 8" – 12” tall and 12” – 24” in width. Its foliage, both stems and leaves, are a hairy or woolly silver gray. The Desert Marigold produces abundant, showy, yellow daisy like flowers from spring until frost. Flowers contain both ray (outer ring with yellow petals) and disc (inner section without petals) flowers. After flower petals whither and the seed heads begin to dry, seeds can be harvested. Seeds mature from late summer through fall. Seeds are maturing now (October) and can be collected. Sow seeds immediately into your xeric landscape. The Desert Marigold makes a great addition to your xeric landscape or cactus garden due to its minimal water needs. The Desert Marigold is best grown in full sun, on dry mesas, sandy or gravelly soils, with low to no irrigation water. The Desert Marigold is har...

Sand Bur ( Cenchrus longispinus ) is native to North America. It has other names like  sand spur, long-spined sand bur, hedgehog grass, and bur grass . Sand Bur is an annual grass usually growing with a prostrate growth form. It is similar in appearance to other grasses prior to seed formation. Individual plants may be 3’ in diameter, sometimes larger.  Sand Bur is a common weed of sandy soils but also grows well elsewhere. Sand Bur will often root at stem nodes that are touching the ground. The root system of Sand Bur is shallow and fibrous making them easily pulled (when immature). Sand Bur produces a flowering spike. As seeds begin to form Sand Bur is easily recognized by its numerous sharp or burred seeds or long spines. As the burred seeds mature they are easily separated from the mother plant and their sharp spines stick to virtually anything. Sand Bur can disseminate its seeds long distances because its sharp spines will hitch a ride on skin, animal hides, sho...

Check out the amazing finds right on our very own back yard!

On September 23 through September 29th members of the IOS joined Michael Melendrez, member and guide  on a tour to Southern New Mexico mountains that contain oak woodlands.  They've expressed their gratitude in this letter that we would like to share with you. These images were from a hike we did into the foothills of the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces

Soil Secrets has another new Dealer offering our products to Agriculture. The Dune Company of Yuma Arizona and the Dune Company of Imperial Valley California Many good things are happening to New Mexico's fast growing Soil Ecology company called Soil Secrets LLC.  From its humble beginnings as a compost and soil amendment company manufacturing products   sold   through its parent company the Trees That Please Nursery in Los Lunas and a dozen other retail nurseries and retail stores in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, to  developing the best molecular biology products in the industry.  Soil Secrets is  now known for being the industry leader when it comes to fixing soils and our products are requested by mine reclamation engineers, design build contractors and the world of agriculture.  Soil Secrets has taken the terms Humic Acid and Mycorrhizal fungi and perfected the quality and efficacy of those products to a standard never seen bef...

Urban forests are an important part of city ecosystems. They improve air quality, provide shade, increase property values, and improve our quality of life. Urban forests can be described in a variety of ways, including vegetation in local parks, public areas, private land, and in or around communities. The high elevation desert landscape of Albuquerque New Mexico is no exception to this. Silver Hills, one of the oldest neighborhoods in southeast Albuquerque, began their urban forest in the 1920's. The neighborhood includes University Boulevard, Gold, Lead, Coal, and Silver Avenue.  Silver Hills has always been known for its large beautiful shade trees, Siberian Elms, plantings encouraged by Clyde Tingley, chairman of the Old City Commission who lived on Silver Ave. Siberian Elms, or Ulmus pumila, are known for being fast growing and hardy in their youth, but as they grow older they become susceptible to insects and disease, and have a relatively short life span.  B...