As of early July, the succulent garden in the Environmental Studies Area at Cal State Bakersfield was looking pretty good. The new shrubs & trees planted this Spring were all doing fine (the red Fairy Duster is still blooming). Everything was ready for a good watering, which I gave them as I waited for my son to finish his Cub Scout Day Camp held across the way in the Track and Field area. A little weeding was done, but for the most part the weeds were not much of a problem. As usual, many of the Echinopsis have turned yellow in the sun and heat, but they have always recovered come the Fall. I took the time to plant most of the remaining plants that have been sitting under the Carolina Cherry trees. These included some nice Trichocereus and a Myrtillocactus donated by James Parker last fall. I figured they would do better in the ground than in a pot so I planted them despite the heat (this was at the very beginning of the current heat wave).

The garden still has a lot of work left to be done, including finishing the walkways, placing rocks, drip irrigation, kiosk, planting, shade structures, retainig walls, and souvenier booth (okay, maybe not the souvenier booth).