Garden Travels

A Special Therapeutic Garden in Arizona

Arizona, Arizona garden, desert gardening, Garden Travels, Landscape Design, Southwest garden

Exploring the Largest Therapeutic Garden in Arizona

Discover Arizona’s Largest Therapeutic Garden in Bisbee. Explore healing outdoor spaces and inclusivity at this remarkable resource and heal your soul. On a recent visit to southeastern Arizona, I was invited to visit a special garden in Bisbee, a small community with a big heart.

The Significance of the Founder’s Garden

My husband and I visit Bisbee every spring and enjoy walking through the older part of town with its historic buildings and exploring the mining history.

therapeutic garden Arizona touching the plants

A Healing Oasis in the Desert

During this visit, I was to speak about gardening to a community group and was given the opportunity to tour a recently completed garden. It gave me so much joy.

The Largest Therapeutic Garden in Arizona

So what is so special about this garden? Well, it is the largest therapeutic garden in Arizona. Its goal is to “serve as a space for our community partners—including hospitals, nonprofits, and other organizations—to incorporate into their services plans for individual and group therapy, day programs serving individuals with additional needs, and other forms of healing.”

Designing a Healing Outdoor Space

The garden is a 3.5-acre outdoor space designed by Norris Design of Tucson and was completed two years ago. That was plenty of time for the plants to become established and to get a feel of what the garden will look like as it continues to fill in.

We toured the garden with the CEO of Premier Alliances, and the history of its humble beginnings was fascinating to learn about.

therapeutic garden Arizona sculpture and water fountains — *A water feature that is safe to touch and feel while visitors enjoy the sound of water.*

Promoting Healing and Inclusivity

In 1962, a group of mothers came together to find and create learning opportunities for their children with disabilities. Back then, few resources were available, so the women took matters into their own hands. They initially raised money by selling homemade cakes.

Over the years, the group evolved into Premier Alliances, which serves people with disabilities in southeastern Arizona. I love how the CEO, John Charley, refers to people with special needs as “People with additional needs.”

therapeutic garden Arizona giant braille sculpture — *A with raised dots (Braille) for the sight-impaired.*

Inclusivity Through Design

Throughout the garden are wide, winding paths taking visitors along landscape beds with plants that invite you to touch and feel.

Over the years, the group evolved into Premier Alliances, which serves people with disabilities in southeastern Arizona. I love how the CEO, John Charley, refers to people with special needs as “People with additional needs.”

The plants are drought and desert-adapted to handle the cold(er) winters of the high desert and hot summers. Many of the plants are found in low and mid-altitude gardens as well. All are meant as a therapeutic garden in Arizona.

therapeutic garden Arizona nurseries — *New greenhouses are ready for growing projects.*

Personal Perspective on Therapeutic Gardens

Gardens can be places of calm and healing. Unfortunately, not all gardens are accessible to people who may have limitations. It’s easy for people without special needs to be unaware of the obstacles that stand in the way of enjoying every day experiences, like parks or gardens.

As a parent of a daughter with “additional needs,” I know how important spaces like therapeutic gardens are and their function within the community.

The therapeutic effects of gardens are for everyone – they reduce stress and enable you to enjoy nature.

therapeutic garden Arizona landscape — *A river rock dry bed helps channel water during rain storms. Firecracker and Parry’s penstemon add welcome spring color.*

Visiting Founder’s Garden in Bisbee

I encourage you to learn more about the Founder’s Garden in Bisbee and its resources. The garden is open to people with extra needs and the general public, Monday through Friday.

therapeutic garden Arizona wide walkways — *The entrance to Founder’s Garden*

Click here to learn more about their mission and how you can visit the garden.

Need a Bouquet? Look No Further Than Your Garden

Garden Travels, Uncategorized

Do you ever wish you had flowers to give to a friend or to decorate your table?

Instead of heading to the store for a generic bouquet, how about creating a lovely bouquet straight from your garden?

Now before you say that you don’t have any flowers suitable for a bouquet, think again.

Here are several bouquets from my garden and a few that my mother put together from her own garden…

gold lantana(Lantana 'New Gold Mound'), orange jubilee(Tecoma x Orange Jubilee) and Texas sage(Leucophyllum frutescens)

Isn’t this a lovely arrangement?

Believe it or not, the flowers in these vases all came from plants that many of you probably have in your own garden.

My mother created this arrangement using gold lantana (Lantana ‘New Gold Mound’), orange jubilee (Tecoma x Orange Jubilee), and Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) flowers. As you can see, it is beautiful, didn’t cost her anything, and took minutes to create.

Pink and white globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) , Goodding's verbena (Glandularia gooddingii)

This is a bouquet that I created using flowers from my late winter garden. Pink and white globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) coupled with Goodding’s verbena (Glandularia gooddingii) is a vision of pinks and purples.

purple trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis), angelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) and flowers from my cascalote tree (Caesalpinia cacalaco).

I used a small pitcher to put cuttings of purple trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis), angelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) and flowers from my cascalote tree (Caesalpinia cacalaco).

white alyssum (Lobularia maritima) , purple violas and pink bower vine (Pandorea jasminoides)flowers.

This antique milk of magnesia glass jar makes the perfect vase for sweet white alyssum (Lobularia maritima) , purple violas and pink bower vine (Pandorea jasminoides) flowers.

Flowers aren’t the only thing from the garden that you can use to create a bouquet with.

A mason jar filled with cut branches from a kumquat tree looks lovely on this table in winter.

Maybe your winter garden has no flowers. Well, don’t let that stop you. A small vase filled with seedpods and dried leaves from a Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) looks great on my mother’s diningroom table.

Perhaps you’ve never thought that petunias could look be used in a vase. But, if you use a small, shallow bowl, they can add a beautiful spot of color on your table.

Of course, roses always make a lovely bouquet.

Bouquets created from items in your garden are a great way to add a personal touch of beauty to your space.

So, are you inspired to create your own unique garden bouquet? Step outside in your garden and take a new look at your plants – you’ll probably be surprised at how many would look nice in a vase.

**How about you? What plants would you use to create a bouquet with?

Have You Suffered From Color Blindness in the Garden?

Arizona garden, California desert garden, desert gardening, Garden Travels, Landscape Problems, Las Vegas gardening, New Mexico garden, Southwest garden

Last month, I diagnosed my first ever case of color blindness.

Now, I realize that I am no doctor or medical authority. However, as a horticulturist, I am somewhat of an expert in the garden, which is where I made my diagnosis.

Attractive drought-tolerant landscape in the Southwest

Before I tell you more about my unorthodox diagnosis, I invite you to look at this photo. It’s of a lovely low-desert landscape filled with a mixture of trees, shrubs, and cacti.

Front entry to desert garden with flowering Parry’s Penstemon

Here is another lovely desert landscape with succulents, vines, and a flowering Parry’s Penstemon.

My client has a garden much like those photographed above. It’s filled with a variety of flowering shrubs, agaves, cacti, and ground covers.

So when he called me in a panic telling me that the plants in his garden were doing poorly, I came ready to help him out.

However, once I got there, I didn’t see any problems. His plants looked great! He told me that his plants did look fine before he left on vacation. But, when he returned, they seemed less green and somewhat sickly.

It took me a while to assure him that his garden was healthy, and then we made small talk and I asked him where he went on vacation. His answer? Michigan!

That was an AH-HA moment! I now knew what the problem was, and it wasn’t with his plants. It was his eyes and his perception of green.

Let me illustrate:

A large lilac bush next to a winery in Traverse City, Michigan

Michigan is one of my favorite states to visit because my oldest daughter lives there with her family.

It is a beautiful place to explore with lovely gardens.

Colorful bearded iris in the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

There are stunning botanical gardens awash with vibrant flowers spring through summer along with vivid greens.

Example of a Michigan Farm at Frederik Meijer Gardens

Visiting Michigan in summer is something that I look forward to every year. The gardens with their lush greens are a soothing balm when I’m tired of the hot, dry summer heat back home.

My client had an experience much like this, enjoying the saturated greens of a Midwest summer before he returned home to his garden.

Now, take another look at the desert landscapes below:

Do they look a little less colorful to you? Dare I say drab?

When we travel to regions outside of the desert, our eyes become accustomed to bright, saturated colors that are part of that landscape. Then, when we return home, the soft, subtle shades of green are less evident to us due to the ‘green overload’ we are returning from.

As I explained this to my client, he finally understood that there was nothing wrong with his plants, just his eyes.

The good news is that this is temporary color blindness and that his garden will soon look as beautiful and vibrant as it did before he went on vacation.

Have you ever suffered from temporary color blindness in the garden?

Behind the Scenes at Botanical Interests Seed Company

Garden Travels, Product Review

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Have you ever taken a peek behind the scenes? If you have, you know it reveals so much that you never knew. In the past, I’ve had a look at what goes on in the background in a variety of places including a Kentucky bourbon factory, the Lawry Spice Company, the Wheel of Fortune game show, local television news programs, U.S. Mint, to name a few.

Well, now I can add a visit to a seed company – ‘Botanical Interests’ to be precise.

palmers-penstemon-seed-packet by Botanical Interests Seed Company

Botanical Interests High-Quality Seed Company is most recognized for the beautiful drawings of plants on individual seed packets. But, they are so much more than that.

AZ Plant Lady (me) and my friend and fellow blogger, Teresa Odle of “Gardening in a Drought”

Last month, I toured gardens in the greater Denver area where Botanical Interests also is. We had the unique opportunity to visit their facility and learn all that goes into getting high-quality seeds into hands of gardeners throughout the U.S.

The first floor consists of a large warehouse with floor to ceiling shelves filled with the 600 different varieties of seed. The seed they carry include heirlooms, organics, and open-pollinated flowers, and vegetables.

Imagine a seed warehouse filled with 80 garden bloggers, and you have a pretty good idea of our vision of heaven! I admit it was hard to keep up with the tour as I wanted to read each package of seed we passed by.

Our tour was led by the owner of Botanical Interests herself, Judy Seaborn. She is warm, funny, and passionate. I am so impressed with her attention to detail. From the artistic seed packets to how the seeds are packaged as ‘gifts.’

Here are what the seeds are kept in before they are put into individual packets. Seeds like to be kept in a cold, dry area. Not surprisingly, Denver is the perfect location for a seed company.

Seed quality is essential as you want it all to be viable. Unlike many seed companies who have their seed tested by outside companies, Botanical Interests do their own testing to ensure that the seed is up to their high standards.

Can you guess what this is? It is a special machine from Germany with a micro-doser and seed counter. It makes sure that the exact amount of seeds make it into each packet.

Here is a little known fact – many seed companies have a ‘vault’ where they keep expensive seed to keep it at its peak.

Judy tells the story of when a delivery of seed came in via FedEx. The driver didn’t understand why the owner of the company had to sign for the delivery. That was until she told him the small bag of rare tomato seed was worth $10,000.

pumpkin seeds by Botanical Interests Seed Company

I love pretty things, which is why I enjoy the beautiful (realistic) artwork that adorns each packet of seeds.

Upstairs is an entire art department made up of several artists who are responsible for the drawings on each packet.

I have a confession to make – I wish that I could create drawings like this. My siblings and I are artistic, but display it in different forms. My sister is good at watercolors, my youngest sister is a sought-after professional photographer, and I show my creative talent in designing gardens.

Our tour wrapped up too quickly, but we each carried a gift of seeds to take home to our gardens.

I buy seed from Botanical Interests and have done so for years. I encourage you to do so as well as you will have a garden full of beautiful plants.

Click below to learn more…

An Up Close View of the World’s Largest Rosebush

Arizona, Garden Travels, Road Trip, Roses in the Desert

Do you love roses?

I do.

For those of you who have been following me for any length of time, you know that my love affair with roses is something that I like to share with others. For that reason, on a lovely day in May, I made a visit to the Old West town, Tombstone, Arizona.

This historic town has two different attractions that appeal to me and my husband. He loves old westerns, and walking along the main street and seeing where the famous gunfight took place is something he enjoys. While it’s fun to explore the real-life places from long ago, my favorite destination lies just a block off of the main street…

At first glance, you would never know that a famous plant resides beyond the front door of this historic inn that is now a museum. However, it is in the backyard of this building, the “Rose Tree Inn”, which lies the “World’s Largest Rosebush“.

Due to my love of roses, and having heard of this famous rosebush I am excited to see it in person.

As you walk into the little museum, you feel as if you have stepped back into time within its rose-scented interior. As I venture toward the back where the rosebush is, my first impression is of a beautifully shaded patio area.

Over the patio, the outer branches of the rosebush create dappled shade.

As you make your way toward the main part of the rose bush, the sheer enormity of its size begins to be evident.

In the center of the branches, you can see the large, twisted trunk of the rosebush.

It is really hard to get the scale of how big it is from pictures – but look at how small the door looks off to the right side.

Now, see how big it looks with me next to it in the picture, above. Note – I am fairly tall at 5’9″.

shady underneath World's Largest Rosebush

The trunk is approximately 12-feet around and very shaggy with strips bark falling off. It definitely looks old.

This photo is taken with a flash, which lights up the area considerably. In actuality, it is very shady underneath.

Even when you stand right next to it, you can’t quite believe the enormous size.

This rosebush is not only the world’s largest – but it is also very old. For that reason, the history of the rosebush and how it came to be in Tombstone is quite interesting.

History

Then the rose came from Scotland in 1887, which makes it over 130 years old. A young Scottish immigrant and her husband moved to Tombstone in 1885. Her family sent their homesick daughter a box filled with cuttings of her favorite rosebush from home.

She gave one of the cuttings to her friend, Amelia Adamson. Together they planted the rosebush in back of Amelia’s boarding house where it has obviously flourished in its new surroundings.

Years later, the rosebush began to get attention with its large size. Consequently, it was declared the world’s largest in the 1930’s.

Now, the Tombstone rosebush reaches over 8,000 square feet!

To get an overall view of the rosebush, you walk to the other side where there are steps to climb. Because the only part you see underneath the patio are its branches, the view from above is quite different. As a result, you have a clear view of the lacy foliage and flowers in the spring.

Can you imagine how beautiful this would look in bloom? It is said that roses absolutely cover the entire upper part of the rosebush with fragrant, white flowers…

This is a close-up of the flowers from a different Lady Bank’s rose.

As you can imagine, holding up a rosebush this large isn’t easy. Therefore, metal rods form a checkerboard pattern that are large wooden posts hold up.

I spot a bird’s nest within the branches.

After I finish with my photos, I stroll back into the museum where I notice row of small rose bushes.

cutting for sale of World's Largest Rosebush

Above them is this sign…

Well, I don’t describe myself as an ‘impulse buyer’, I just have to buy a cutting from this historic plant.

I do have a good spot for it where it can grow up on the wall in my side yard. Because it can’t climb without support, I will provide a trellis for it to grow up on. Lady Bank’s roses also make great ground covers.

Although this rosebush was an impulse buy, it requires less maintenance than more traditional roses. I certainly can’t wait to grow a piece of the world’s largest rosebush!

Colorful Plants, Spiky Pots, Snakes, Roses and the Prom!

Garden Inspiration: Southwest Style

Cactus/Succulents, Containers, Garden Travels, Landscape Design, Perennial, Southwest Texas garden

A boot planter adds a touch of whimsy to a patio table.

I am always on the lookout for new ideas to use in outdoor spaces and on a recent trip to Austin, Texas, I toured 17 different gardens and came away filled with garden inspiration Southwest garden style.

A garden’s style is a reflection of the owner and because everyone is unique, so is the way that they decorate their landscape. I confess that I saw several ideas that I felt representative of my taste and am contemplating replicating them in my garden or recommending them for my clients.

I hope you find things that you will want to incorporate into your landscape.

Wooden picture frames filled with live plants adorn a fence. Southwest garden style

Wooden picture frames filled with live plants adorn a fence is Southwest garden style

I fell in love with the gazebo in Colleen Jamison’s backyard. Filled with comfortable furniture and even a chandelier, I hope to create something similar in my back garden someday.

A candelabra graces a side table underneath the shade of the gazebo while mirrors reflect other areas of the garden.

The simple inclusion of a mirror reflects the other side of the garden and creates the illusion of a larger outdoor space. This works well in shady areas.

A unique handle for a door – a hand cultivator welded to the garden gate.

A stone head spouts a full head of hair made from Mexican feather grass (Nassella tennuisma).

Keeping with the “keep Austin weird” campaign, a garden doorway is graces with a skull and a prickly pear cactus.

A curved garden path leads visitors on a journey of discovery with large concrete balls dotting the way.

An upside down planter hangs from a tree with flowering impatiens. I don’t know how the plant stays in without falling out, but it’s cool!

A large colorful, container is the focal point behind a swimming pool. Pots don’t need to have plants inside them to add beauty to the garden. Pots can serve as a decorative outdoor element.

Four pear trees form an arbor over a rustic dining table. The trees were planted 5 years ago and trained onto a basic structure created from rebar.

Color doesn’t only from plants in Pam Penick’s garden – she adds interest with vibrant hues using planters, cushions, and outdoor carpet.

Summer in my desert garden is a time to enjoy its beauty from the air-conditioned comfort of my home. Yet, it’s also when I plan and dream of what I would like to add to it when the weather cools in fall.

Metal stars are on display, framed by star jasmine vine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).

While garden inspiration was in plentiful supply during my visit to Austin, it can also be found in other places such as a roadside planting, a local business’s landscape, a favorite magazine, or perhaps even in your neighbor’s front yard. I encourage you to keep your eyes open to possibilities of what you can do with your outdoor space.

White Flowering Plants for the Southwest Landscape: Part 1

Vacation At Home: A Contemporary, Low-Maintenance Garden

Agave, Cactus/Succulents, Containers, Garden Travels, Landscape Design, Southwest garden, Southwest Texas garden

Is your landscape style more free-form and natural or do you embrace a more modern, contemporary kind of garden with straight lines and right angles? On a recent visit to Austin, I had the opportunity to visit the home of landscape designer, B. Jane, which looks as if it came straight from the pages of a magazine with its resort-style design. If you had a garden like this, why leave home when you can vacation at home in a contemporary, low maintenance garden?

The front of B.’s garden is graced by a large crepe myrtle, located between her two front windows, which help to frame her view from the house. The flat pads of a prickly pear cactus add rich texture contrast among the softer shapes of perennials.

An agave nestles between asparagus fern and silver ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea), which is a ground cover, which I saw throughout the gardens we toured in Austin. It is a type of Dichondra, and I liked it so much, that I brought some home and now have it growing in one of my large containers by the front entry. Silver ponyfoot creeps along the ground or can be used to trail over the sides of pots.

A live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) is planted in a circular section covered in decomposed granite. Asparagus fern adds softness around the outer edges, again, creating nice texture contrast.

Walking toward the backyard, I was quite taken with the square step stones and dark grey beach pebbles – this is a great look that is worth replicating.

As you can see from the potted plants on the patio table, simplicity reigns in this garden, which is filled with native or adapted plants that flourish with little fuss. Low maintenance doesn’t mean that a garden is dull – often the truth is just the opposite as you will see as we continue on our tour.

A rectangular pool runs along the center of the backyard, and colorful balls reflect the colors used throughout the landscape, which is a brilliant way to draw attention to them. A ‘Sticks on Fire’ succulent (Euphorbia tirucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’) basks in the sun, which is a plant that does beautifully in hot, arid climates.

Now, we are at the point in the tour where I became seriously envious. This is B.’s office, which is separate from her house – she simply walks by her beautiful pool on her way to work in the morning and enjoys a glorious view of her garden while she works. Have I ever mentioned that I work in my dining room – that is, until my kids leave home and I get my own office (room).

A group of containers filled with a variety of plants including hibiscus, rosemary, and basil – (yes, basil) adds interest to this corner by the pool.

Bamboo is used to help provide privacy from neighbors and shrub roses add a welcome pop of color.

Even the dog has its own space in B.’s garden with a patch of grass and his own fire hydrant!

Isn’t this a lovely seating area? I love the splash of red and the bamboo backdrop.

Just the perfect spot to sit with my friend, Teresa Odle, who blogs at “Gardening In a Drought” and also just happens to co-write with me and two other writers, for our new blog, “Southwest Gardening”.

I must admit that I am drawn more toward more naturalistic gardens, filled with curves and staggered plantings but, I love the contemporary lines of B. Jane’s garden and its resort-like vibe. You can find out more about B. Jane and her creations here.

A Shady, Colorful Garden Personifies The Uniqueness of Austin

Agave, Cactus/Succulents, Containers, Garden Travels, Landscape Design, Southwest garden, Southwest Texas garden

I like quirky things that are unexpected and outside the daily ‘normalness’ in our lives. That is why I have fallen in love with the city of Austin, Texas, which prides itself on being “weird.” Another reason this Texas capital city appeals to me is their beautiful gardens and rich gardening culture, and my friend, Pam Penick’s shady, colorful garden personifies the uniqueness that is found throughout Austin.

Pam Penick (facing front wearing a hat) greeting garden visitors.

On a recent visit to Austin, I took part in the Garden Bloggers Fling, where garden bloggers from the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, gather and tour gardens within a particular city. This year’s Fling was held in Austin, and one of the gardens I was most excited to see was Pam’s.

As two long-time bloggers in the Southwest, Pam and I have been friends for several years and I was fortunate to have hosted her in Arizona four years ago, while she was researching for her latest book, “The Water-Saving Garden.” For years, I’ve wanted to visit her garden and now was my chance.

Pam’s garden flourishes underneath the filtered shade of beautiful oak trees. However, the shade does present some challenges in that there aren’t a lot of colorful plants that will flower in shady conditions. But, Pam expertly works around that obstacle, using her unique design style that she describes as mostly contemporary.

Concentrating flowering plants in the few areas that receive bright sun is one way to add needed color to a shady landscape. Here, the bright colors of this autumn sage (Salvia greggii) contrast beautifully with the blue-gray leaves of a whale’s tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia). While both of these plants flourish in full sun in this Texas garden, they do best with filtered or afternoon shade in the low desert region.

In the absence of flowering plants, texture is introduced with the use of spiky agave and yucca plants. Elements of color are added using garden art such as these blue balls.

I love blue pots, and I’ve found a kindred spirit in Pam, who has them scattered throughout her landscape.

A Shady, Colorful Garden Personifies The Uniqueness of Austin

As you walk through the garden, you need to pay attention as Pam adds lovely detail in unexpected places, like this rusted garden art.

There are garden trends that are unique to specific areas of the country, and I found several of what I call, ‘pocket planters’ hanging on walls. Right at eye-level, it is easy to explore the tiny detail of these small containers.

Walking along the driveway, toward the backyard, the soft shape of bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa) adds a beautiful blue backdrop, and in front, a container filled with Dyckia and a blue heart adds interest.

A sage green garden gate led the way into the backyard.

A potting bench sits along the wall in the side garden where four “Moby Jr.” whale’s tongue agave are planted, which come from Pam’s original “Moby” agave – I have one of the babies growing in my front garden.

Masonry blocks are artfully arranged into a low wall and filled with a variety of succulents.

The garden sits on a slope, which provides a lovely view from the upper elevation where a blue painted wall adds a welcome splash of color as well as a touch of whimsy with the “Austin” sign.

The shadows from an oak tree make delightful patterns along the wall while planters add a nice color element.

Gardening in Austin isn’t for wimps. They have to deal with thin soils that lie atop rock, which is quite evident along the back of the garden.

Blue bottle trees are a popular garden ornament throughout the South as well as other areas of the U.S. Here; they serve the same purpose as a flowering vine would.

As I got ready to leave, I walked among the deck that overlooked the pool where I am greeted by more examples of Pam’s unique garden style. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen octopus pots anywhere in my garden travels, until now.

I had a wonderful time exploring this shady oasis and the innovative ways that Pam has introduced colorful elements. I invite you to check out her blog, Digging, which is one of my favorites.

Garden Inspiration: Southwest Style

An English Garden With Texas Flair

Cactus/Succulents, Drought Tolerant, Garden Travels, Landscape Design, Perennial, Southwest garden, Southwest Texas garden

I love English gardens with their lush greenery, colorful blooms, and somewhat untidy appearance, which may be due to my partial English ancestry. While I don’t make it to the British Isles as much as I’d like, there are lovely examples to be found in the U.S. Earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit an English garden with Texas flair.

Earlier this month, I was in Austin for the Garden Bloggers Fling, which is an annual gathering of garden bloggers that is held in a different city each year. As you might expect, touring gardens is the focus of the Fling and I couldn’t wait to explore the gardens of this area, largely because we can grow many of the same types of plants in Arizona.

I woke up, excited for our first day of touring, only to be greeted by torrential rain. However, I was undeterred – equipped with my rain poncho and umbrella, 3.5 inches of rain wasn’t going to get in my way of seeing beautiful gardens.

The garden of Jenny Stocker, who blogs at Rock Rose, was my favorite destination of the day. She describes her garden as an “arts and crafts Texas-style garden with an English theme”. Her landscape is broken up into ‘rooms’ with many areas surrounded by walls that frame each room while keeping deer away. Doorways provide a tantalizing glimpse into the next room, encouraging visitors to embark on a journey of discovery.

A dry creek bed meanders through this garden room where it is surrounded by both native and adapted plants that thrive despite a thin layer of soil that lies over rock.

Plants, like this foxglove, droop gracefully under the continuing rainfall and with every step through the garden, my feet were squishing in my wet shoes, but it was easy to ignore the discomfort with all the beauty surrounding me.

A small water feature, complete with water plants and a fish, create a welcome focal point.

Potted plants like this potted brugmansia and golden barrel cactuses add visual interest to an alcove. Did you know that golden barrel cactus are native to Texas and Mexico? Many of the plants we grow in Arizona come from these regions.

An angelic face peeks out from a wall of creeping fig, which grows well in the desert garden in shady locations with adequate water.

An overturned pot spills water into the pool, providing the lovely sound of water while creating a lovely focal point.

The swimming pool was unique in that it looked like a water feature with the surrounding flowering plants, many of which, are allowed to self-seed.

This was my favorite garden room, so I took a video so you can get an overview of the beauty of this area.

In another area of the garden, raised beds were filled with edible plants. In between the beds, were flowering plants that create a welcome softness and attract pollinators, which in turn, benefit the vegetables.

Lovely Verbena bonariensis decorated the edible garden with their delicate purple blossoms.

Jenny makes great use of grouping potted plants together on steps and I recognized ‘Blue Elf’ aloes in a few of the containers, which is one of my favorite aloes that I use in designs.

Stacked stone forms a raised bed that surrounds the circular wall of this garden room where a bird bath serves as a focal point.

Decorative animals were tucked into different spots, just waiting to be discovered by garden visitors, like this quail family.

Here is a great whimsical element that I enjoyed where Mexican feather grass was used to mimick the movement of water for stone fish.

Much like desert gardens, cacti and succulents were used to create unique texture, like this spineless prickly pear (Opuntia cacanapa), which is native to Texas but also grows nicely in my Arizona garden.

The blue-gray color and spiky texture of artichoke agave, contrasts beautifully with the softer textures of lush green perennials.

As we got ready to bid adieu to this Texas-English garden, I walked by an opening in a garden wall where a single agave stood sentinel and was struck by how a single plant can have a significant design impact when placed in the right spot.

This garden was a true Texas treasure and I came away in awe of its natural beauty. However, this wasn’t only the garden that inspired me – there were sixteen other gardens left to explore and I invite you to come back when I’ll profile another of my favorites.

An Imaginary Land With Real Plants

Cactus/Succulents, California desert garden, desert gardening, Garden Travels, Southwest garden

(Desert Adapted Plants) Indian Mallow (Abutilon palmeri)

I always enjoy seeing well-designed landscapes that make use of many of my favorite desert adapted plants. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to explore lovely landscape areas that existed within an imaginary land with real plants that were used to provide a sense of reality to this fictional place.

I invite you to explore these areas along with me and look for clues as to where it is.

Globe mallow, Mexican honeysuckle, and Indian mallow

This is a gorgeous layering of three different shrubby plants. Indian mallow (Abutilon palmeri) anchors the background with its gray-green leaves and yellow flowers. In the middle stands Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera), which has lovely foliage and orange flowers that appear throughout the year. Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) adds nice color contrast with its foliage and orange flowers in the foreground. All of these are drought tolerant and thrive in desert gardens.

Continuing our exploration, we walk by a desert planting filled with young saguaro cactus, ocotillo, and a little yucca. It almost made me feel like we were in Arizona.

The beautiful green foliage of a jojoba shrub (Simmondsia chinensis) stood out against the reddish walls of a ‘canyon’.

Mexican fence post cactuses (Pachycereus marginatus) along with other cereus cacti add a lovely vertical element.

Naturally-themed areas are filled with a plant palette that places you in the desert Southwest. But, we were several hundred miles away from the real desert.

Have you guessed where we were yet? Here is another clue:

Information signs reveal the different kinds of plants in this imaginary land. Your final clue is the name of the plants as well as the shape of the small prickly pear pad.

We were exploring the town of ‘Radiator Springs’ which came to life in the movie ‘Cars’ and its sequels. These are my favorite Disney movies because they take place in my own backyard.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this imaginary town was constructed and the plants used to create a look of authenticity. However, there were some notable exceptions to having live plants throughout Radiator Springs.

Old-fashioned rear lights were used to create imaginary flowers at the Cozy Cone Hotel.

Other car parts serve as components of this cornucopia.

While I was distracted by both the real and imaginary plants, other visitors were thrilled by the appearance of the inhabitants of Radiator Springs.

Have you ever visited Cars Land at California Adventure? If you get the chance, you may be surprised to find inspiration for your desert garden.

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