Do you like puppies, iPhones and plants?
If so, then this should be a fun post. If you have an android phone, you will like at least two of the ‘P’s’.
Okay, the first ‘P’ stands for ‘puppy’….
Meet the newest addition to our furry family.
This is Polly. She is an English Labrador Retriever.
We have been waiting 7 long weeks to be able to bring her home. She is fearless, friendly and very playful.
We bought her from the same breeder as our black English Labrador Retriever dog, Penny, who joined our family last year.
So, they are already sisters. Both dogs share the same father.
Penny has been such a joy in our lives and we decided to add another.
Polly was excited to meet her big sister, Penny. But, Penny was scared of her little sister and ran off with her tail between her legs 😉
She is gradually beginning to warm up to her new little sister though. For her part, Polly isn’t the least bit scared of her big sister.
Like most puppies, most of her day is spent sleeping and cuddling with us.
Polly joins Penny and our two rescue dogs, Tobey and Max.
I’ll be sure to share more photos of Polly as she grows up. I really want to take a picture of her and Penny side-by-side, but I’ll probably have to wait a while until Penny gets over being a big scaredy cat.
Crested Saguaro Ribs
The second ‘P’ stands for iPhone. I took an iPhone photography class last weekend at the Desert Botanical Garden. As a garden writer and blogger, I take a lot of pictures and while I have a nice DSLR camera – I don’t always have it with me, so I often use my iPhone for a lot my pictures.
Desert Garden Path
The class was very informative and taught me some great tips. The best part of the class was being able to walk through the garden with our intructor and take pictures of all the beautiful plants and scenery.
Ramada made from natural desert materials.
It is really amazing what good photos you can take with your phone.
Monarch butterfly on lantana.
I was even able to get some close up pictures of monarch butterflies with my phone.
*If you have never taken a class from the Desert Botanical Garden (or your local botanical garden) – I strongly urge you too. They have a large variety of classes and there is so much to learn about all kinds of things..
Okay, back to our list. The last ‘P’ is about plants.
Do you know what is happening next weekend? The Desert Botanical Garden’s fall plant sale!
I can hardly wait!
I always encourage people, no matter where they live, to visit their local botanical garden’s plant sales because you can be assured that their plants are well adapted for your climate. In addition, they often have hard to find plants and new color introductions of some old favorites.
Last time, they even had heirloom vegetable transplants for sale.
I wrote about my last visit this past spring, where I picked up three lovely plants, which you can view here.
I am still in the market for a few more plants to fill in some bare spots in my landscape. The plant sale runs next Saturday to Sunday.
I’ll be sure to share with you my findings!
Succulents: Great Alternative Container Plants
Agave, Arizona garden, Cactus/Succulents, ContainersDid you know that one of the great things about living in the Southwest is the fact that we aren’t limited to just growing flowering annuals in our pots – succulents make great alternative container plants!
Last year, I replaced all of my flowering plants with succulents and I haven’t looked back. They look great and take very minimal care, which fits into my busy life perfectly.
Recently, I visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and saw some great examples of potted succulents, which I thought I’d share with you…
Succulents in pot, Victoria Agave ‘Compacta’
Succulents in pot, Agave parryi ‘truncata’
Succulents in pot, Mexican Fence Post (Pachycereus marginatus)
A trio of variegated agave
Succulents in pot, ‘Blue Elf’ Aloe
As you can see, there are so many options when you decide to use succulents in containers.
Whether you live near the Desert Botanical Garden or even if you don’t – you can visit your local botanical garden for some alternative ideas for filling your containers.
Growing succulents in pot is easy – the most important thing is that they are well-drained, so it’s important to use a planting mix specially formulated for succulents.
Do you have any succulents growing in pots?
Desert Spoon Adds Spiky Texture and Color Contrast to the SW Garden
Southwest garden, Uncategorized(Dasylirion wheeleri)
I love to use plants that thrive in the desert Southwest.
But, I won’t use just any plant – it has to be drought tolerant, low-maintenance and add beauty to the landscape.
One of my favorites for adding spiky texture and great color contrast is desert spoon, also known as ‘sotol’.
It handles freezing temperatures, is evergreen and unlike agave, won’t die after it flowers.
I recently wrote about all the reasons that I like desert spoon along with ideas of how to use it in the landscape, which you can find in my latest article for Houzz.com
**By the way, there is just 5 days left to enter the giveaway I am hosting for Troy-Bilt’s most powerful, handheld blower. Click here to enter!
Drive-Thru Landscaping: The Good and The Mostly Bad
AZ Plant Lady, Landscape Design, UncategorizedDo you ever find yourself pulling into the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant?
I do.
Lately, I have been very busy with landscape consults as well as working on a large golf course re-landscaping project, which have resulted in more than my share of visits to the local drive-thru. Add to that my preparations for a local craft fair in November (along with my sister and mom where I am making basil salt, seed bombs and air plants mounted on creosote roots), preparations for an upcoming family reunion as well as hosting my daughter’s baby shower – we will probably be making quite a few more visits to the drive-thru.
Normally, drive-thru restaurants are places where you can see examples of poor design showcasing overplanted and over pruned shrubs that are too large for the narrow landscape spaces by the drive-thru lane. However, I was truly surprised during one trip through at my local fast food restaurant.
First, let’s look at the landscaping you normally find as you visit the drive-thru…
Over pruned feathery cassia shrubs (Senna artemisioides)
These shrubs would actually work well in this space if you reduced the amount down to three and allowed them to grow to their natural size and form…
Feathery cassia in bloom
Do you think that those overpruned shrubs ever have any flowers appearing in late winter and spring, like this one?
I didn’t think so.
In the Southwest, the types of shrubs that you are most likely to see growing along drive-thru landscapes are oleander and Texas sage species.
Lately, Valentine bush, which is one of my favorite shrubs, has also been showing up more often in these areas.
Again, the problem is too many plants in not enough space. Couple that with the compulsive need to strip the natural beauty from these beautiful, flowering shrubs in an attempt to create anonymous green shapes and you have the perfect scenario for drive-thru landscapes.
With so many bad examples of landscaping while visiting the drive-thru, I must admit that I’ve become somewhat de-sensitized and purposely ignore it.
However, a recent visit to the drive-thru made me take a second look as I drove past this…
Notice anything different?
The plants actually fit into this space and without over pruning!
There is room for the bougainvillea against the wall to grow and while the lantana could use a little more room – it is looking great too.
What I really liked about this landscape was the use of banana yucca. Its leaves added great spiky texture and the flowers are just lovely.
*I did notice the overpruned dwarf oleanders in the background, but I’m ignoring them.
Using fewer shrubs and allowing them room to grow is a great start to rethinking the drive-thru landscape.
The next important part is to stop the frequent pruning of flowering shrubs.
I’d love to see a mix of shrubs and succulents in drive-thru landscapes for more interest, less maintenance and that is more water efficient.
For now, I will keep trying to keep my eyes open for another great example of a drive-thru landscape.
But, I think it may be awhile…
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For other examples of drive-thru landscapes, click here.
If you have shrubs that resemble this and would like to have beautiful shrubs with a pleasing natural shape that actually flowers as well as see some other examples of bad pruning – click here for some of my favorite pruning posts.
Blue Palo Verde Decorates the Landscape
Landscape Design, UncategorizedDo you like palo verde trees?
I must confess that I fell in love with these iconic desert trees with their green trunks and yellow flowers when I moved to Arizona 28 years ago.
Some people may resent the mess that the fallen flowers leave behind in late spring, but I don’t mind – they look like a carpet of yellow.
Blue palo verde (Parkinsonia florida) is on my ‘fuss-free‘ list of trees that add beauty to the arid landscape.
How about you? Do you like blue palo verde trees?
Want to learn more about this desert beauty? Check out my latest plant profile for Houzz.com:
Great Design Plant: Parkinsonia Flor Paints the Desert Green and Yellow
Golden Barrel Cacti – So Many Uses
AZ Plant Lady, UncategorizedDo you like cactus?
I find that even people who aren’t huge fans of cacti, tend to like make an exception for golden barrels (Echinocactus grusonii).
I think one of the reasons for its popularity is because of its globular shape and yellow spines.
Another reason may be that golden barrel cacti are extremely versatile in the landscape. Whether you prefer a contemporary landscape with golden barrels planted in neat, orderly rows or in a more natural grouping – they can be used both ways.
I like to place golden barrel cacti next to boulders, where their round shapes and sunny color provide great contrast.
These popular cacti are native to the desert Southwest and can be grown outdoors in zones 9 and above. However, larger specimens have been known to handle temperatures in the teens.
In colder regions, they can be planted in containers and brought inside in winter.
If you look closely at a golden barrel’s spines, you’ll notice how they criss-cross each other, forming an interesting geometric pattern.
You can probably guess one of the spines purposes – to provide protection from predators who may want to eat them.
However, there is another, somewhat surprising way that the spines help the cactus, which you read here:
“Why Do Cactus Have Spines?”
The care for golden barrels is quite simple. They do best in well-drained, native desert soil in full sun to filtered shade.
Although they start out small, mature specimens can reach 3 feet tall and wide. However, they can take years to reach that size, so they are often planted in much smaller areas and later replaced.
Now for the big question – how much water do they need? Established golden barrels can get by with existing rainfall, but will grow faster and look their best with they recieve a deep watering once a month May through August. The rest of the year, they should be fine with existing rainfall.
Earlier today, I mentioned on my azplantlady facebook page that I had seen golden barrel cacti growing in a very unusual place.
Well as promised, here is the answer:
I came across this cluster of golden barrel cacti growing in Michigan!
To be precise, they were located in a greenhouse at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, which I visited back in June. I was looking forward to visiting these beautiful gardens and seeing examples of plants that grow in more temperate climates, so I was quite surprised to come across a plant from home.
So, even if you live in a climate that experiences frigid winter temperatures – you can grow golden barrels….inside.
How about you? Do you have golden barrel cacti growing in your landscape? Do you like seeing them in a more formal setting or a natural one such as when planted next to a boulder?
Three P’s: Puppies, iPhone and Plants
AZ Plant Lady, UncategorizedDo you like puppies, iPhones and plants?
If so, then this should be a fun post. If you have an android phone, you will like at least two of the ‘P’s’.
Okay, the first ‘P’ stands for ‘puppy’….
Meet the newest addition to our furry family.
This is Polly. She is an English Labrador Retriever.
We have been waiting 7 long weeks to be able to bring her home. She is fearless, friendly and very playful.
We bought her from the same breeder as our black English Labrador Retriever dog, Penny, who joined our family last year.
So, they are already sisters. Both dogs share the same father.
Penny has been such a joy in our lives and we decided to add another.
Polly was excited to meet her big sister, Penny. But, Penny was scared of her little sister and ran off with her tail between her legs 😉
She is gradually beginning to warm up to her new little sister though. For her part, Polly isn’t the least bit scared of her big sister.
Like most puppies, most of her day is spent sleeping and cuddling with us.
Polly joins Penny and our two rescue dogs, Tobey and Max.
I’ll be sure to share more photos of Polly as she grows up. I really want to take a picture of her and Penny side-by-side, but I’ll probably have to wait a while until Penny gets over being a big scaredy cat.
Crested Saguaro Ribs
The second ‘P’ stands for iPhone. I took an iPhone photography class last weekend at the Desert Botanical Garden. As a garden writer and blogger, I take a lot of pictures and while I have a nice DSLR camera – I don’t always have it with me, so I often use my iPhone for a lot my pictures.
Desert Garden Path
The class was very informative and taught me some great tips. The best part of the class was being able to walk through the garden with our intructor and take pictures of all the beautiful plants and scenery.
Ramada made from natural desert materials.
It is really amazing what good photos you can take with your phone.
Monarch butterfly on lantana.
I was even able to get some close up pictures of monarch butterflies with my phone.
*If you have never taken a class from the Desert Botanical Garden (or your local botanical garden) – I strongly urge you too. They have a large variety of classes and there is so much to learn about all kinds of things..
Okay, back to our list. The last ‘P’ is about plants.
Do you know what is happening next weekend? The Desert Botanical Garden’s fall plant sale!
I can hardly wait!
I always encourage people, no matter where they live, to visit their local botanical garden’s plant sales because you can be assured that their plants are well adapted for your climate. In addition, they often have hard to find plants and new color introductions of some old favorites.
Last time, they even had heirloom vegetable transplants for sale.
I wrote about my last visit this past spring, where I picked up three lovely plants, which you can view here.
I am still in the market for a few more plants to fill in some bare spots in my landscape. The plant sale runs next Saturday to Sunday.
I’ll be sure to share with you my findings!
How to Tell If a Plant is Drought Tolerant
Drought Tolerant, UncategorizedWhen you visit a nursery, do you wonder which plants are drought tolerant as opposed to those who will wilt if not given enough water?
There are a few different traits that many drought-tolerant plants share. For example, did you know that small leaves and gray foliage can be signs that a plant may be drought-tolerant?
I recently shared several traits to look for when shopping for drought-tolerant plants for Houzz.com
I hope this article will help you to create a beautiful, drought-tolerant garden!
How to Spot a Drought-Tolerant Plant
Gardening in the Desert Southwest – Interview
desert gardening, UncategorizedHave you ever gardened in an area where spiny cacti, dry heat, and scorpions are common elements?
I was recently invited to be on the podcast, “Back to My Garden” where I shared some of the highs and lows of gardening in the desert along with some helpful tips.
So, if you are wanting to pick up some helpful tips on how to garden in the desert Southwest OR you just want to know what I sound like (just kidding), I invite you to listen to the “Back to My Garden” podcast, which you can listen on iTunes, or you can listen by clicking here.
I would be thrilled if you took a few minutes to listen. My hope is that you enjoy it and come away with an understanding that you really can grow a beautiful, drought-tolerant garden in the middle of the desert!
Three P’s: Puppies, iPhone, and Plants
Silvery, Purple Beauty
azplantlady, Southwest garden, UncategorizedAt first glance, violet Silverleaf (Leucophyllum candid) may look like a nice gray shrub with a smattering of purple flowers.
BUT, when you crank up the humidity and add some summer rain into the mix and it really explodes with color…
These shrubs literally stop people in their tracks with their purple beauty.
(Leucophyllum candid) is easy to grow in arid climates and when not in flower, its gray foliage provides great color contrast in the landscape.
Find out more about this Texas native and why you’ll want to include it in your garden in my latest plant profile for Houzz.com:
Have you ever seen this shrub growing? Do you have one in your landscape?
A Rose Garden Garden Fit For a Castle?
A Rose Garden Garden Fit For a Castle?
AZ Plant Lady, UncategorizedDo you love roses? I do.
I used to have 40 roses in my Phoenix garden – I must admit that I went a little overboard.
Showing my sister a few of my roses back in the 90’s
Now my rose garden consists of three well-loved roses…
Abraham Darby
Although my passion has steered toward using drought tolerant trees and plants to add beauty to the landscape, I still have a special place in my heart for roses.
So, whenever I am on the road and a rose garden is nearby, I always take some time to “walk through the roses”.
Back in 2001, we took a trip to Ireland. This was when we had two kids and not five (we adopted three children from China a few years later).
Of course when traveling in Europe, castles are always on the ‘must-see’ list. While visiting the city of Kilkenny, we decided to make a stop at Kilkenny Castle.
The problem was, was that all of Ireland and Great Britain was under quarantine conditions at many of the tourist attractions due to ‘foot and mouth’ disease, which was highly contagious and speading to livestock.
So, much of our trip was spent looking from the outside in.
Fast forward 2 years later and we found ourselves in Kilkenny again and we were thrilled that there were no restrictions.
My husband was anxious to go on the tour of the inside of the castle, but the problem was, was that I couldn’t tear myself away from the rose gardens surrounding the castle.
It was June and the roses smelled heavenly and were so beautiful.
Whenever I find myself on a large estate or castle (which isn’t all that often), I like to dream of what I would do with the gardens.
In this case, I would probably tear up more grass and add more roses!
I look cranky in this photo, but I blame it on the jet lag from arriving in Ireland the day before.
After spending an hour touring the grounds, we did make it indoors for the tour, which was very interesting – I like history too!
The next day was spent touring the surrounding countryside, but in the afternoon, we found ourselves drawn to the rose garden again and sat on the benches reading.
I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon, do you?
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For more information on roses and how to grow them in the desert, I have listed several blog posts that will help that you can access, here.