You might be impressed when Jan VanTuyl tells you he’s been teaching in the Clark County School District for 40 years, but that pales in comparison to the 60 years he’s been coaching overall. He was the inspiration for the first gymnastics team in Henderson and is currently building a new tennis team at Desert Pines High School.
Some of the tallest sand dunes in North America can be found in the remote and extreme northern section of Death Valley National Park, California. The Eureka Dunes, in the enclosed Eureka Valley, have a base elevation of about 3,000 feet, and from there, they rise up nearly 700 feet more. The formation is about three miles long from north to south and one mile wide.
Question: I was wondering when is the best time to transplant the Amaryllis plants — now or in the spring? They bloomed beautifully this past summer but seem to be getting a bit pot-bound. I also wonder if regular potting soil is best, and when and how often they need to be fertilized?
Question: My purple plum has branches that are dying on one side of the tree. The leaves are all brown and crunchy while the other side seems healthy. Please help.
It’s early Thursday morning, and I’m on the loneliest highway in America heading toward Ely. Earlier in the week, I played golf in the boonies, in Mesquite, Hawthorne and Fallon. Today, it’s the White Pine Golf Course in Ely. Stick with me as I drive this loneliest Highway 50 to Ely, some 255 miles away, for a great story.
Question: I hope you can help with a small problem with our dwarf peach tree. Something is shredding the leaves, and I cannot see anything after a close inspection. Could this be a nocturnal pest?
With the temperatures in our region finally cooling off, now is a good time to head out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. There are many canyons to explore in the park but Pine Creek Canyon should be tops on your short list.
The second annual Slam the Dam event, an open water swim zone championship, is planned for this weekend at Lake Mead’s Boulder Beach.
Question: Help! My Italian cypress are drying out and dying mostly from the top down. They have their own bubblers for water.
If you have ever aspired to hike the world-famous Zion Narrows, over the next month or so is an ideal time to do so. Water and air temperatures remain as pleasant as they’ll ever be, and the threat of flash flooding is lower than the last couple of months.
A proposed Clark County Off-Highway Recreation Park came one step closer to becoming a reality Aug. 2 with a bill introduced by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. As written, the bill would carve 1,000 acres out of the 10,000-acre Nellis Dunes Recreation Area, currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and hand it over to Clark County to create an off-road park. The newly created recreation area would become the largest park in the county.
There are a couple of pleasures that I enjoy in my life. Family and friends are, of course, No. 1. But there’s a certain mystique for me of old towns and history, fast cars and golf. Fast cars beckon to my youth. Golf is thankfully covered with these columns. Old towns and their stories intrigue me.
Question: We have an all-in-one almond tree with the shells just now starting to break through the skins. I was told that September is when the nuts are harvested. I’m wondering if you have a rule of thumb on harvesting these trees.
Along the eastern rim of Utah’s Paunsaugunt Plateau lies Bryce Canyon National Park, a visual feast for the eyes. Standing along the park’s rim, visitors are treated to a multicolored landscape of natural spires, pinnacles and pillars called hoodoos. They got their name because their upright shape, with a little imagination, suggests humanoid or even supernatural beings.
