Tag Archive for: article

My Favorite Home and Garden Magazine With a Surprise

Do you enjoy reading magazines about home and gardening?  I do.

Often with the busyness of life, I don’t have as much time to read magazines as I used to.  But, always make time for my favorite subscription, which is Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine.

I enjoy thumbing through the pages that are filled with colorful photographs and articles about beautiful landscapes and lovely home decor with a Southwestern flair.

Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine

I must admit that I have been impatiently waiting for the June issue in my mailbox.  Day after day, I volunteered to go out to get the mail and several times, would come away with a handful of junk mail and bills and little else.

But, finally, it came.

So, why was I so excited about this particular issue?

Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine

Because my first article for Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine was contained within its pages.

Two months ago, I was contacted by one of the editors and was asked if I was interested in writing for them.  Of course, I said yes!

I visited a stunning garden and met with the homeowners as well as the architect who helped them create their landscape.  

It was a slightly new experience for me as I had to interview the homeowners, their architect, gardener, and builder.  

There was so much to see from multiple water features laid with handcrafted Spanish tiles, beds of roses around the pool, a Southwestern Zen garden and an edible garden.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend grabbing a copy so you can see this spectacular outdoor space.  There are also several other lovely gardens featured in the magazine as well.

Guess What Came In the Mail?

Fuss-Free Plant: Chuparosa

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Do you enjoy going out into the garden in summer?

I don’t!

I admit to sometimes neglecting my garden when the temperatures go above the century mark.  My aversion to gardening in a furnace is one of the reasons that I like to use desert-adapted plants that don’t need much attention.

fuss-free plant chuparosa

One of my favorite fuss-free plants is chuparosa (Justicia californica).

It has beautiful red, tubular flowers that decorate the garden in late winter into spring and sporadically throughout the year.  Hummingbirds can’t resist it AND it is drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.

Want to learn more?  Here is my latest plant profile for Houzz:

 

Red-Blooms All Winter and Spring

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Every year as Christmas approaches and most of my plants have gone to sleep for the winter, my favorite shrub is just getting started…

valentine bush

It begins with small buds appearing along each branch.

valentine bush

By mid-January, the buds have burst open, exposing their crimson centers.

red flowers

By Valentine’s Day, my shrubs are absolutely covered in masses of red flowers.

Wonder what this shrub is called?

“Valentine”

(Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’)

You can find out more about my favorite shrub and what it looks like when not in bloom in my latest article for Houzz…

 

Kitchen ideas, bathroom ideas, and more ∨

From designer seating and office desks to message boards and credenza, create your dream home office.
Light up your living spaces with recessed lights, designer chandeliers or even a row of pendant lights.

 

 

Add Dramatic Flair With Ocotillo

Ocotillo

Beautiful Ocotillo Flowers

There is little that can compare to the dramatic silhouette that Ocotillo add to the landscape.

I have been fascinated by these plants ever since I moved to the desert, over 27 years ago.

Since then, I have planted Ocotillo in landscapes around golf courses and even have one of my own, which was a gift for Mother’s Day years ago.

If you would like to learn more about Ocotillo including the fact that they are actually shrubs and not cactus, like many people assume – please check out my latest article for Houzz.com

 

Architecture, interior design, and more ∨

Hire residential landscape architects to help with all aspects of landscape design, from selecting or designing garden furniture, to siting a detached garage or pergola.
As you get ready to host an event, be sure you have enough dining benches and dishes for dinner guests, as well as enough bakeware and kitchen knives sets for food preparation.

**I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that your refrigerator is filled with delicious leftovers 🙂

Now on to Christmas, my FAVORITE time of year!  

Two Iconic Sonoran Desert Plants: Saguaro and Ocotillo

Fall, Flowering Tree and Thanksgiving Plans…

Every year, without fail, my thoughts tend to stray away from the garden and begin to focus on the upcoming holidays.

I start to think about out how many people we will be hosting for our annual Thanksgiving feast along with a host of other things…

Will I be roasting a whole turkey or try to get away with just cooking turkey breasts like we did last year?

Can I ask my oldest daughter into making the trip to Costco and braving the line for their famous pumpkin pie?

Is my mother-in-law up to making her famous stuffing this year or will my sister-in-law be able to help her?

Of course, there are quite a few other Thanksgiving matters on my mind, but I will spare you any further details 😉

Every year when these questions are foremost in my mind and rather far away from my garden, is when my Cascalote tree begins to undergo a beautiful transformation.  Although it is a nice-looking tree throughout the entire year – it gets all dressed up for fall and winter when yellow flowers cover the entire tree canopy.

Cascalote tree

I bought my Cascalote tree when I was a horticulture student in college.  We took a field trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum where they were having a plant sale.

I came back with a 5-gallon Cascalote that I first planted in a large container because we were still in the process of building our house.

Once we moved in, I planted it in our front yard.

That was over 14 years ago and it has grown into a beautiful tree.

You can read more about this uniquely Southwestern tree and why you may want to plant one in your own garden in my latest article for Houzz…

 

Architecture, interior design, and more ∨

From Shabby Chic home decorations to contemporary furniture and the perfect wall mirror, browse thousands of decorating ideas to inspire your next home project.
Find new home builders who can help you create a dream kitchen, complete with stationary kitchen island, a large dining table and a creative cabinet design.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

Happy Thanksgiving Treat…

Guess What Came In the Mail?

I have been waiting, rather impatiently I might add, for a certain item in the mail – a magazine with my published article!

And, I am happy to say that it arrived a couple of days ago….

Birds & Blooms

Here it is!

Companion Gardening

Although, I have written articles for magazines before – but this is the first one that I wrote for a national magazine.

Companion Gardening

Last year, I was asked by the editor of Birds & Blooms magazine to write two articles for their magazine this year.  (I do write twice a week for their blog).

This is the first article, which is about ‘companion gardening’.  

Companion Gardening

I practice ‘companion gardening’ in my own garden and have written smaller articles about it, including posts on this blog.

But, I did do some additional research for this article and was pleasantly surprised to find out more combinations and practices that use combining certain plants together that benefit each other.

Birds & Blooms

I wrote this article from a hotel room back in March, while we were temporarily evacuated from our house when it flooded.

The next article is due out next month and is about ‘drought-tolerant’ gardening.

**Birds & Blooms is a Reader’s Digest publication.  I have found it at my local Kroger’s grocery store as well at Barnes & Noble.

Of course, you can always subscribe to it.  It has lots of great gardening ideas and DIY projects.

**If you would like to order an individual issue, you can get one here 🙂