English rose

3 Little Roses …Time to Plant

Yesterday, we worked on getting the holes ready for our new English roses.  Now the kids and I are so excited that we are almost ready to plant them. Here are the soil amendments that I purchased - Bone Meal, Compost, Blood…
New Home

3 Little Roses…Ready For a New Home

They are here!!!  I was oh so patiently waiting for my English roses to arrive from Heirloom Roses. I had ordered three different English roses a few weeks ago as it has been too long since I have had roses in my garden.  You…
Podranea-ricasoliana

January GBBD – Winter Flowers in the Garden…

January is the slowest time of the year for blooms in the desert.  However, due to our year-round growing climate, there are still a lot of flowers to see...  Bower Vine (Pandorea jasminoides) My Valentine shrub (Eremophila…
Javelina

Face Off With Wild Pigs

Working on golf courses provided me with many opportunities to interact with our native wildlife.  Now, most of my interactions were welcome - roadrunners, jackrabbits,  even baby raccoons.  Some encounters were unexpected -…
Community Center landscape

Living Green in the Desert Garden

 Community Center landscape which I was honored to have designed along with renown landscape architect, Carl Johnson. This past weekend, I participated in a landscape discussion panel as part of a "Living Green in the Desert"…
Little Farmers

A Small House, Transplants and Chickens

The newest addition to Double S Farms is rapidly coming together in preparation for their newest residents.....chickens. Little Farmers #1 & 2 are having fun as the chicken coop is being built. Little Farmer #2 loves to play in…
Newly planted cacti

A Garden Arises From a Mountain of Trash

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During a visit to a park, I came upon a beautiful little garden that rests on top of 2.2 million tons of trash.  This small succulent garden is but a very small part of the park which rests upon a recently closed landfill. Newly…
little seedlings

Vegetable Seedlings and Another Confession…

Isn't there something just so wonderful when you see little seedlings start to sprout?  It makes me feel like it is springtime even though it is still the middle of winter when I see the tiny green leaves begin to break out from the…
desert tortoise

Why Did The Tortoise Cross The Road?

To be honest, I have never wondered why before, until I met a desert tortoise who wanted to cross a road. Desert Tortoise, Stock Photo My encounter with a desert tortoise occurred while I was on my way home in the late…
Flood-Irrigation

A Flood In The Garden….On Purpose

One of the most interesting things I encountered when I first moved to Arizona was driving down a residential street and seeing front yards full of 3 inches of water.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that this was done on purpose to…