{"id":12,"date":"2018-02-26T21:49:33","date_gmt":"2018-02-26T21:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=12"},"modified":"2018-09-28T01:33:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T01:33:51","slug":"named-house-smoke-tree-manor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/named-house-smoke-tree-manor\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Named the House Smoke Tree Manor"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the first plants we noticed when we were looking to buy in Coachella Valley, especially in the Cathedral City Cove area, and most prolifically in the dry washes, was the Smoke Tree.\u00a0 The name derives from the smoky look of the tree with its wispy blue-gray leaflets.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Smoke Tree Not In Bloom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But, while this tree looks feathery, it has more than adequate self-defense measures as you will discover if you venture too near.\u00a0 We fell in love with the look of the smoke tree, especially when it is full bloom in the late spring and early summer.\u00a0 The masses of purple blossoms completely cover the tree such that is disappears into a cloud of lavender “smoke.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Smoke Tree in Bloom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since we so loved this native tree, we decided to build a color palette around it and name our house after the tree as well.<\/p>\n

Smoke Tree manor was built from July 2017 to January 2018 with a move in date of about January 15, 2018.\u00a0 Smoke Tree Manor was intentionally built to meet and mostly exceed the 2016 California energy standards.\u00a0 With a large solar installation the house is intended to be net zero and as of February 2018 we have a credit with Southern California Edison totaling more than $300, meaning that we are succeeding brilliantly with our net zero planning.<\/p>\n

Smoke Tree Manor is nestled in the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains and provides a clear line of sight across Coachella Valley to the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the north.<\/p>\n

We chose silver and blue gray as exterior colors with a cool gray interior.\u00a0 But the signature feature of our home, well, one of many, but probably the most noticeable from the street, are the deep purple exterior gates.\u00a0 Some people ask why purple since they don’t think of purple as being a color “of the desert.”\u00a0 The smoke tree blooms prove this impression false.\u00a0 And other desert plants, including certain paddle cacti, are also purple, but none are as resplendent as the Smoke Tree.<\/p>\n

We deeply wish that we had a Smoke Tree on the property but, alas, we do not.\u00a0 We have considered digging an existing small tree up and transplanting it, but we have been warned that Smoke Tree seedlings send down a tap root until it finds water and then it starts to grow above ground.\u00a0 And disturbance this tap root will spell instant death to the tree, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to transplant.<\/p>\n

A kind neighbor, knowing of our wish, found two smoke tree seedlings in the yard of the house he shares with his husband and he offered to let us try to dig it up and transplant it.\u00a0 We tried but it appears to have failed, most likely due to damage to the tap root in the extraction process.<\/p>\n

However, I have read that Smoke Trees are easy to grow from seeds and I found Smoke Tree seeds for sale from the Theodore Payne Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Theodore Payne Foundation is dedicated to the preservation and propagation of California native plants and trees and they are a great resource for anyone seeking to grow native California plants.\u00a0 We shall see what success I have with this seed growing endeavor.<\/p>\n

I know Smoke Trees to be very hardy once established, requiring literally no additional water at all.\u00a0 The tap root does the work of supplying water to the entire tree.\u00a0 And, Smoke Trees that are cut down by those who are insensitive to its beauty, or by the utility companies if the tree interferes with power lines, grow right back up from the stump in a wild profusion of young growth and blooms.\u00a0 Interestingly, the sap of the Smoke Tree is bright deep red, appearing exactly like human blood.\u00a0 When you cut a Smoke Tree is appears to bleed and perhaps that is its way of telling us to leave this majestic and beautiful desert native alone to continue its growth cycle without interference, a commitment that I am glad to make as regards my Smoke Tree neighbors.<\/p>\n

Now you know the story of the naming of Smoke Tree Manor and the origin of the house color scheme.\u00a0 This should serve to dismiss the idea held by some, including the California DMV personalized license plate division that rejected our request for license plates reading SMKTRE1 and SMKTRE2 as offensive to community standards, that we are referencing the most popular and newly legal hobby in California, smoking marijuana.\u00a0 While we didn’t name the house after that type of smoke, we support those who do mean marijuana when they reference “smoke.”<\/p>\n

If you are in the area, stop by and check out the new digs.\u00a0 And wish us luck with the new seeds and in our attempts to give Smoke Tree Manor a real Smoke Tree beyond its name.<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0 The Manor part just satisfies the ego needs of one of the owners who fancies himself “Lord of the Manor.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the first plants we noticed when we were looking to buy in Coachella Valley, especially in the Cathedral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}