Tag Archive for: Potted Herbs

Confessions from a ‘Plant Nerd’

I have a major confession to make….

I am a total ‘plant nerd’.

When I mentioned that to my husband, he said “I already knew that” with a smile on his face.

I came upon this revelation when we visited Disneyland last week. 

I had my camera ready to take pictures of the kids enjoying themselves.  But, I found myself stopping to take photos of the beautiful plants, particularly the container planting.

In the end, I had three times more photos of plants then of my kids….

But in my defense, it is easier to take photos of stationary plants then kids on moving rides (the pictures came out all blurry).

I do have some great container photos (and other plants) to share with you and some of the kids having fun….

container planting

Ivy pruned into a topiary surrounded by pansies.

container planting

I just love this color contrast, don’t you?

container planting

Creative use of different grasses and flowering plants.

Disneyland

Gracie and Kai having fun in ‘ToonTown’

container planting

If I had a pretty staircase like this one, I would put container plants along it too!

Icelandic Poppies and Alyssum

Icelandic Poppies and Alyssum

Camellias

Camellias (they don’t do that well in the desert, but they are  pretty just the same).

container planting

A three-tiered Azalea

fisherman's net

Gracie and Kai got ‘caught’ up in a fisherman’s net along California Adventure’s Fisherman’s Wharf

herb-planted containers

I love this planting shelf with herb-planted containers.

You don't have to plant flowers for a pretty container.

You don’t have to plant flowers for a pretty container.

cool-season annuals

Primulas are one of my favorite cool-season annuals.

Italian Cypress

Italian Cypress pruned into a spiral.

The kids ran into a storm trooper as well as Darth Vader & Darth Maul.

The kids ran into a storm trooper as well as Darth Vader & Darth Maul.

container planting

container planting , Strawberry Pot planted with succulents.

I love how the ivy trails down the sides of the container.

I love how the ivy trails down the sides of the container.

When we were walking into Disneyland, Gracie told us that the only character she wanted to meet was Mickey Mouse.

Disneyland
Disneyland
Disneyland

To her delight, she saw him three different times 🙂

Guess Where I’ve Been?

Visit to a Client’s Desert Garden

Usually when I am called to a help out a homeowner with their landscape, it is because they are having a problem with their plants, or sometimes they are new to the desert and want to learn how to garden in our dry climate.  

Last week, I visited a homeowner who had some questions about whether or not he was taking good care of his garden.

His house is located just northeast of the metro Phoenix area, in the desert.  He and his wife had lived there for over 15 years and they designed their garden by themselves.

As I approached the front entry, I was greeted by this beautiful Ocotillo that was back lit by the morning sun…

Desert Garden

When approaching a new client’s house, I always look around their front garden, because it gives me an idea of their preferences and maybe problems that they are having.  This gives me a ‘heads-up’ before I actually meet the client.

His front garden was just beautiful and I was looking forward to seeing what his back garden looked like…

Desert Garden

There was a fireplace with a lovely seating area and you could see the pool surrounded by beautiful desert plants in the distance.

Desert Garden

The wall of his back garden backed right onto the desert.  He had some beautiful artistic pieces, including this metal Ocotillo.

Desert Garden

There was a very large Indian Fig cactus.  This type of prickly pear is very popular because it is thornless.  But it needs a lot of room to grow.

This particular Indian Fig was hiding something….

Indian Fig.

A beautiful water feature flowed from underneath the Indian Fig.

Rosemary grew along the side as well as potted annuals.

Isn’t this a beautiful area?

There was also an empty vegetable garden, but the homeowner did have herbs growing in containers….

Rosemary

 Many people keep their hummingbird feeders up year round because we have hummingbirds 12 months out of the year.

hummingbird feeders

This hummingbird faces a mirror.  The mirror serves two purposes, according to the homeowner:

One, it keeps the woodpeckers from making holes and second, it gives them an additional view of visiting hummingbirds.

You can see a little Verdin flying in for a drink of the hummingbird nectar.

Lastly, we viewed a shady area of his garden.

shady area of his garden

The plants in this area do very well in light shade.

There was Heavenly Bamboo to the left, Cape Honeysuckle to the right, Star Jasmine vine next to the door and Texas Mountain Laurel ‘Silver Peso’, which is a gray-leafed form.

I had a wonderful time visiting and I did have a few suggestions regarding proper watering and when to prune.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this beautiful desert garden with me.

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Life is quite busy this week for me as I am sure it is for most of you with the upcoming holiday.

I will post again before Thanksgiving 🙂

Lesser Known Tropical Beauty for the Desert Garden