Underneath the heritage mesquite trees on Cactus Boulevard is an active ecosystem of butterflies, bees, native plants, new mesquite trees and more. Here, neighborhood volunteers are working to create a Rain Garden. They are weeding and cutting back invasive plants (like Bermuda grass) and protecting the more precious plants with wire weirs. It may look like weeds out of control, but it is not!
Three sandwich board signs are now being used when our volunteers are working in the neighborhood. The signs are double-sided: on one side, a handwritten (temporary) sign explains the activity nearby; on the other (permanent) side Rafe Sagarin is remembered with his assemblage of graphics celebrating the special nature of our community.
For those interested in native plants, we have a new database of most of the plants in the Rain Garden. Go to https://www.plantsmap.com/organization/plants. RillitoBend neighbors have included photos and write-ups; all are welcome to contribute photos of the plants in the garden by emailing them to flowers@rillitobendna.org.
Some plants in the Garden are still in bloom, such as Ivy Leaf Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea), Datura (Datura stramonium) and Cinderella Weed (Synedrella nodiflora). Come and see: the purple morning glories are lovely!
We continue to work with the City of Tucson and the Rancho Morado Homeowners to further enhance the Garden. We plan to install boulders to protect the Garden from vehicles and smaller rocks to create check dams to catch water. We will be scheduling work sessions to control invasive plants and protect our native plant environment. Look for emails from RillitoBend Neighborhood and for our workday signs.
