I confess I broke the cardinal rule of planting. I admit I fell for it. The weather was so beautiful, I not only bought marigolds and one tomato plant, along with some perennials, I planted them before Washoe Valley’s safe planting date for non-hardy veggies and plants of June 1.

Worry not, my fellow gardeners, I was immediately punished. Not one but two freezes came two days after planting.

The perennials are all fine. Amazingly enough, the marigolds made it. However, the tomato is a goner. I know better, but I got caught up in the excitement of warm weather and planting possibilities. 

My friend Kate asked me about pruning some overgrown roses now. She wanted to prune them back almost to the ground. I advised her that radical pruning is rarely the best option. A better plan is to remove a third of the excess growth, any crossing branches, any unsafe one that might poke you in the eye, and any dead growth.

Since roses are prone to many diseases, always disinfect pruning tools between cuts. I use rubbing alcohol, because it doesn’t rust tools. I just put it in a spray bottle and carry it with me bush to bush. Some people use bleach, which does cause rust. Sharp tools are best for pruning roses. Follow up on each cut by sealing it with white or wood glue. This will prevent borers from getting in the stem and killing it down to the crown. “A little dab will do ya!”

During my unwise plant shopping spree, I discovered that fertilizer is now extraordinarily expensive. I was shocked. I guess the Iran war and oil crisis is hitting home in more ways than just gas for cars or diesel for trucks. Yikes!

I am enjoying the multitudes of birds that live on or near our property. There is a robin nesting in a viburnum under our bedroom window. I watch her surreptitiously and I’m hoping there will be babies soon.

The Western bluebirds are prolific, skimming through the air grabbing all the bugs stirred up from our weed-whacking and mowing. They and the robins take enthusiastic and entertaining baths in the bird bath every day. I have a number of hyperactive, black-chinned hummingbirds at our two feeders. Who knew how assertive hummers could be, guarding their territory? I also didn’t realize that house finches would drink regularly at the hummingbird feeders. 

I love spring!

— JoAnne Skelly is an Associate Professor and Extension Educator, Emerita, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at skellyj@unr.edu.

Related

Welcome to the early voting blog!

This biennial tradition to track Nevada ballot patterns begins today as voters flock to the polls — well, perhaps not flock in very large numbers because it is a primary in a midterm with not a lot to excite regular folks. (If you have any questions or corrections, criticisms or kudos, feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’m here for you.)

I will try to update this blog at least once daily, and perhaps more as events warrant. A cautionary note: This is not like a general election where I can tell with some accuracy what the partisan turnout patterns mean, sometimes even being able to declare races over before Election Day because so many Nevadans cast votes early, either in person or by mail. That will not be the case in a primary, where the most significant data point I will be watching is total turnout. The lower it is, the more likely strange stuff will happen and the base-worthy contenders will have a better chance.

For context, statewide primary turnout in 2024 was 19 percent while in 2022 it was 26 percent. Turnout also is dependent on whether there are high-profile races at the top of the ballot, and there really aren’t any, especially because there is no Senate race this cycle in Nevada.

In the governor’s race, the Democratic primary between Attorney General Aaron Ford and she-who-will-not-be-named-by-Ford (Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill, for the record) has not attracted much attention at all because Ford has not spent any money and Hill doesn’t have much. Gov. Joe Lombardo and his allies have done their best to boost Ford’s name ID with all the noise about the AG’s global peregrinations.

It is hard to believe that the feisty and expensive Democratic AG primary will drive up turnout statewide that much from what it has traditionally been, although some local races may have a slight impact. One thing to watch is turnout in Washoe County, which could be higher than usual because of the 2nd Congressional District primary and the Reno’s mayoral race. If it is really high, could that give Hill a chance for an upset? Probably not, but worth keeping an eye on it.

With the assistance of my new best friend, whose name is Claude, I have assembled historical turnout patterns and some projections for this year. You can see from this chart just how low Clark’s turnout is compared to other counties, with Washoe a little higher and the rurals significantly above both urban counties (“M” is midterm, “Pres” is presidential year).

I have used these past totals to help project what 2026 will show, and my best guess (subject to change as votes are cast) is that between 150,000 and 180,000 ballots will be cast on each partisan side. (I am not that interested in nonpartisan turnout except to see just how low it is, despite the explosion in indie registration.) I think the Republican turnout will be slightly higher than Dems. But if not, I wouldn’t extrapolate too much to the general election, which is a completely different animal. (That won’t stop partisans from boasting about their sides’ turnout and victory margins, but it’s best to either ignore or mock those releases.)

Some other facts to remember:

— Sixty-three percent of the Republican voters are in Clark while 78 percent of Democratic voters are in the South.

— Mail turnout was 65 percent of the primary total in 2024, up from 57 percent in 2022. You can use this secretary of state link to track mail turnout, which shows 27,000 ballots already have been returned, or about 1 percent of active voters.

— The first and last days of early voting are usually the highest. We will know something from today’s turnout what the trend is likely to be.

That’s all for now. What interests you? What am I missing? Just ping me at [email protected].

Early voting for the 2026 Nevada Primary Election starts on Saturday and runs until June 5.

There are several polling locations throughout the state, and to find the nearest one to you, click here.

“Early voting is the same as Election Day,” said George Guthrie, Public Information Officer, Washoe County of Registrar of Voters Office. “The only difference is that early voting a lot of times is a lot more convenient.”

If you are planning to head out to vote, here is everything you need to know.

You should check your voter registration before you head to a polling location, but if not, there is no need to sweat.

“Nevada’s really accessible when it comes to registering to vote,” Guthrie said. “If you’re not registered and you just want to walk into a vote center one day and vote, you absolutely can do that.”

Guthrie suggests bring a proof of identification and a proof of residence because the county will need that information to figure out which local races you can vote in based on where you live.

For nonpartisan voters, if you’ve received your mail-in ballot, you probably noticed the choices are limited.

Nevada runs closed primaries, meaning that you can only participate in primary elections for the party you are registered.

However, if you are a nonpartisan, you can change your party registration if you would like to vote in either the Republican or Democratic races, but you can’t vote in both.

Once your registration is good to go, you’ll get your voter card, and make your selections on the tablet.

It may look very similar to the last election cycle, but there is one notable difference. 

“You’re still going to make your choices on the tablet, but instead of those votes being on that little receipt in that little box that you take a look at and you’re kind of wondering, okay, okay, verifying your votes. Okay, I see it. Now, when you vote on that, you’re going to be printing out a full length ballot,” Guthrie said.

After your ballot is printed, make sure you put it in the scanner before you go. If you leave the voting center or polling location with that ballot, your vote will not count and you won’t be able to try again.

One way to skip the line, is filling out your mail-in ballot and then dropping it off at a drop box location.

You also don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home with your mail-in ballot, but you should send that sooner rather than later.

“Every mail ballot has to be verified by the signature,” Guthrie said. “Your signature has to match your record, and sometimes people aren’t as careful with their signatures as they need to be, and it doesn’t match. And if you send in the ballot way too late, you know on Election Day you’ve only got a very short window to contact our office.”

Signature cures must be submitted by 5 p.m. on June 15, six days after the Primary Election June 9.