As summer begins to slowly fade and the heat begins to dissipate, the Southwestern garden comes alive with second spring.
In the absence of scorching 100+ degree temperatures, both plants and people reawaken to the vibrant beauty of the desert landscape during the fall season.
The Allure of Autumn is “Second Spring”
When people talk about their favorite season, many will tell you that spring is the time that they enjoy the most as their gardens come alive, spring forth with new green growth and colorful blooms. But in the desert Southwest, there’s another season that deserves just as much acclaim – fall, often referred to as the “second spring.”
Sky Flower (Duranta erecta)
While spring is a glorious time in the desert landscape with winter blooms overlapping with spring flowering plants along with cactus flowers – it isn’t the only ‘spring’ that the desert experiences.
A Season of Renewal
Fall in the desert brings a rejuvenating touch. The cooler temperatures breathe new life into plants, coaxing them into refreshed appearances and prolonging their flowering displays. Irrigation becomes less of a chore. Birds, butterflies, and various wildlife also make a prominent return during the daytime hours.
The Great Outdoors Beckons
With the arrival of fall, desert residents find themselves irresistibly drawn outdoors. Whether it’s leisurely walks, al fresco dining, or simply working outdoors, the comfortable temperatures and captivating landscapes make every moment spent outside a delight.
Fall is the ideal season for making alterations to your garden. It’s the perfect time to replace thirsty, old plants with drought-tolerant alternatives or expand your outdoor living space by adding new features like patios or pergolas.
Flame Acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus v. wrightii)
Second Spring Planting for the Future
Regardless of your garden’s location, fall stands as the prime season for introducing new plants to your landscape. With three growing seasons ahead, it offers them the opportunity to establish robust root systems before the next scorching summer arrives.
No matter what garden region you live in – second spring is the best time of year to add new plants to the landscape as it provides plants with three seasons in which to grow a good root system before the heat of the next summer arrives.
**Thinking of making some changes to your landscape? Click herefor a list my favorite drought tolerant plants that provide fall blooms.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Artist_Garden_Phoenix_Southwest_264Sep92C20152C9-36AM.jpg424640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2021-09-07 16:45:002023-09-22 16:24:38Celebrating “Second Spring” in the Southwest Garden
Have you ever discovered a hidden garden in a surprising place?
A few years ago, I found myself driving through the historic neighborhoods of the Encanto district in downtown Phoenix. I had finished up a landscape consultation in the area and decided to drive through the nearby neighborhoods in the historic district.
A Blooming Hidden Garden Oasis Amidst Urban Skyscrapers
My initial goal was to see if I could find the home my grandparents owned in the 1940’s. While I didn’t find the home, I did find a house that stopped me in my tracks.
What first drew my eye was this parking strip (also known as a ‘hell strip’) between the sidewalk and street, filled with a bounty of flowering annuals and perennials.
A Kaleidoscope of Colors
The dazzling hues of California poppies, red flax, and plains coreopsis captivated my senses. Against the backdrop of the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, I marveled at the unexpected beauty thriving in the heart of downtown Phoenix.
And so, I whipped out my phone and started to take pictures. The bright colors of California poppies, red flax, and plains coreopsis caught my eye, while in the background I noticed the old, Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum where the Arizona State Fair is held every fall.
As I made my way up the planting bed, I saw more colorful, annual flowers. They are intermixed with globe mallow, ‘Thundercloud’ sage and red yucca.
One flower that I did not expect to see in the desert garden, not to mention downtown Phoenix, was larkspur with its deep purple spikes.
Multi-colored bachelor’s button flowers grew among scarlet flax and plains coreopsis.
A Backyard Hidden Garden Wonderland
Intrigued by the front garden, I met James, the homeowner’s son, who shared the garden’s transformation story. He sowed wildflower seeds in the parking strip, watched them flourish, and then graciously revealed the backyard’s hidden wonders.
Last fall, James took three packs of wildflower seeds (multiple varieties) and threw them on the bare parking strip. Afterward he added some compost on the top and watered well. Over the months, he has watched them come up and was thrilled at how the hell strip had been transformed.
He then offered to show me what he had done to the backyard – a real hidden garden. I could hardly wait to see it after seeing what he has done on the outside.
(A few of the photos are a bit blurry. I’m not sure what went wrong with my phone’s camera. You can still get a sense of the beauty in the backyard.)
Hollyhocks and Timeless Charm
The backyard features a divided lawn with enchanting hollyhocks that self-seed and bloom every spring. An old-fashioned patio set adds a touch of nostalgia. While a concrete pathway, artfully adorned with Bermuda grass, leads to the garage.
I love hollyhocks and have grown them in the past. They self-seed and flower for me every spring. All I give them is a little water – that’s all they need.
Floral Edges and Green Delights in this Hidden Garden
The patio’s edge bursts with the colors of blanket flowers, bachelor’s buttons, and yellow daisies. A 20-year-old crown-of-thorns plant defies its small container, flourishing under James’ care. Two Chinese elm trees provide dappled shade on sunny days, creating a tranquil oasis.
The small patio in the back of the house is filled with an old-fashioned table and chairs. They fit the age of the home perfectly!
The pathway separates the two lawn areas and leads to the garage in the back. It was created using concrete molded into geometric shapes.
Bermuda grass is allowed to grow into the cracks for an interesting look.
The patio is edged with flowering annuals such as blanket flower, bachelor’s button, and yellow daisy (Euryops pectinatus).
In this blurry photo, a large crown-of-thorns plant was thriving in a tiny container. Believe it or not, it is 20 years old and thriving in a very small pot. According to James, he waters it twice a week in summer and weekly throughout the rest of the year.
Two Chinese elm trees provide dappled shade on a beautiful spring day.
A small potting bench stands in front of the wooden fence painted a greenish-chartreuse color. This blends well with the garden.
A Symphony of Water and Shade
A fountain graces the grassy expanse, infusing the air with the soothing sound of flowing water. Imagine the relaxation of enjoying this outdoor haven, even in the height of summer.
How relaxing would it be to enjoy this outdoor space? Even in the middle of summer with all of its shade?
A Final Flourish of Wildflowers
Before bidding farewell to this hidden gem, James revealed the wildflowers he’d planted near the detached garage. Bright pinks and vibrant oranges reminiscent of the ’70s adorned the scene. This is a testament to the beauty that emerges from even old seeds.
Bright pink and vibrant orange – doesn’t that remind you of the 70’s?
These tall poppies were planted from 3-year-old seed that James was going to throw out. I’m certainly glad that he decided to plant them instead.
While old seed won’t germinate as well as young seed, you’ll often still get some seeds to sprout – just not as many.
Discovering Life’s Unexpected Treasures
Life is full of delightful surprises, and this hidden garden is a testament to that. Though modest in size, it’s a testament to the power of careful tending. This garden has unexpected beauty that can spring forth from a seed, even in the most unlikely of places.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Hidden_Garden_in_the_Middle_of_Phoenix_Encanto-1.jpg7281024arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2020-04-15 11:45:002023-09-27 08:44:39A Hidden Garden in the Middle of Phoenix
After a record-setting February, I think that it’s safe to say that spring has officially arrived. Plants are waking up a bit early with flower buds bursting forth with glorious blooms.
Of course, an early spring means that people are anxious to get out in the garden. I always say that spring for horticulturists is like tax season for accountants as we get very busy helping others with their gardens.
This has certainly been true for me the past couple of weeks. Staying up until 1 a.m. in the morning and then up early the next morning for the next appointment and afternoons spent designing landscapes and writing articles – I can hardly see straight at the end of the day.
I thought that I would give you a snapshot of the past 10 days.
It all started with an early morning meeting with a landscape committee regarding adding come color to the entry areas of a community. An hour later, I was standing in the middle of a busy street, dodging traffic while taking multiple photographs of sixteen different corner landscapes.
Photo: Cereus peruvianus with golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii)
Later that morning, I met with some clients who had a lovely home and a landscape with ‘good bones’, but that needed some more color according to the clients.
Photo: Ironwood tree (Olneya tesota)
The property was situated along a golf course and had lovely specimen trees that offered welcome filtered shade.
Photo: Fragrant flowers of Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora)
As I walked around the landscape taking photographs for my report, I took some time to stop and smell the fragrant blossoms of their Texas mountain laurel, which smelled like grape candy.
Photo: Pink bower vine (Pandorea jasminoides)
The next day, I visited a family who needed help redesigning their backyard. However, as I approached the front door, my attention was caught by the beautiful pink bower vine that was blooming in the courtyard.
I spent that Wednesday working on designs and reports.
The next day, I visited a lovely ranch style home. The backyard was wall-to-wall grass and the homeowner wanted to create a border around the entire yard filled with flowering shrubs and perennials.
Photo: ‘Heavenly Cloud’ sage (Leucophyllum langmaniae ‘Heavenly Cloud’), yellow bells (Tecoma stans stans) and bougainvillea in my backyard.
As a flower type of girl myself, this was a fun design to get to work on. I created a plant palette that included white and pink gaura (Gaura lindheimeri), purple lilac vine(Hardenbergia violaceae), tufted evening primrose(Oenothera caespitosa),firecracker penstemon(Penstemon eatonii), pink trumpet vine(Podranea ricasoliana), andangelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) among others to ensure year round blooms.
Friday found me at a beautiful home in the foothills where the client had recently moved in. She wanted help adding more color as well as symmetry to the landscape. This was a large project that was split up into four separate designs/reports.
Saturday morning was spent attending the SRP Water Expo, where I bought my discounted Smart Irrigation Controller.
There were numerous displays, each with a focus on saving water in the landscape.
I saw many people I knew and walked away with my new irrigation controller, which will save water in my landscape. You can learn more about this controller and the Expo here.
After such a busy week, I indulged myself with getting a pedicure 🙂
This week was spent working on creating designs and reports for all of my consults the week before. I did have a few appointments, one of which, involved issues with problems with the turf areas in HOA common areas during which, I spotted more suspected cases of oleander leaf scorch.
This area of Phoenix is seeing a lot of cases of this bacterial disease for which there is no known cure. Affected oleanders typically die within 3 – 4 years from when they first show symptoms.
Photo: Gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida) and Parry’s penstemon (Penstemon parryi) in my front garden.
At home, my own landscape is having some work done. Our 15-year-old drip irrigation system is being replaced. The typical life span of a drip irrigation system is typically 10 – 15 years, so when ours started developing leaks and the valves also began to leak, we knew it was time. So, my garden currently has trenches running through it with PVC pipe everywhere. It will be nice to have it finished and working soon.
On another note, my little grandson, Eric, is now 13 months old. He is a bright ray of sunshine in my life and helps me to keep life in perspective when the busyness of life threatens to overwhelm me.
I am so blessed to have a front row seat as he is learning and discovering the world around him.
I think he would like his own pair of cowboy boots, don’t you?
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Sierra_Star_Fairy_Duster.jpg640500arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2016-03-12 06:04:002020-12-29 11:46:16Flowers, Work and Cowboy Boots
While much of the country is suffering from a truly awful winter season, those of us who live in the Southwest are having the exact opposite problem.
This has been a very warm winter season, with the exception of a few freezing nights back in December.
With temps 10 – 15 degrees above normal, we have been enjoying temps in the ’70s.
I have seen some signs of our warm winter including the fact that I have ditched my slippers and am going barefoot every chance I get. Plants have begun to emerge from their winter dormancy and people are asking me if they can prune their frost-damaged plants early.
In regards to the pruning question, there is still a chance of Southwestern residents getting a spell of freezing weather before we approach the average last frost date. So, pruning too early can actually hurt your plants if by some miracle temps dip below 32 degrees.
But, that may not stop everyone from grabbing the pruners. If you happen to be one of these impatient pruners, make sure that you cover your recently pruned plants if temps dip into the low 30s.
Where do you expect to see vegetable gardens planted?
Most of the time, vegetable gardens are found in the backyard.
But, have you ever thought of locating your vegetable garden somewhere else?
This home in the Encanto district, in downtown Phoenix, has a great way of utilizing space in the front yard for growing vegetables.
The homeowners decided to utilize the space beside their driveway for planting a vegetable garden.
I think that this vegetable garden looks great in this area, don’t you think?
By the way, do know why the homeowner has planted flowers at the end of each vegetable row?
The marigolds and lavender not only add beauty to the garden, they serve an important role in keeping bad bugs away from the vegetables.
Pairing flowering plants and herbs with vegetables is a practice known as “companion gardening”.
There are many other plants that can be planted with vegetables to keep damaging insects away. You can read more about companion gardening here.
I also like how the homeowners added vegetables in front of the house. Some people would tend to plant annual flowers in this area instead, but think how much more fun it would be to plant vegetables there instead.
The vegetables look at home among the ornamental plants such as Agave angustifolia, Texas Mountain Laurel and Red Yucca.
A couple of years ago, I was driving home from a landscape consult and saw this home’s front yard filled with raised beds.
I returned a few months later to visit these vegetable gardens filled with zucchini, Swiss chard, tomatillos and carrots.
This is another home in east Phoenix that has homemade trellises, made from rebar and wire, with cucumber plants growing up on them.
The cucumbers are in the perfect spot where they receive afternoon shade from the large front yard tree.
Both of these gardens are planted and managed by the Farmyard group, who grow organic produce on urban farms in Phoenix and Scottsdale. You can find out more about this group and the services the offer here.
As cool as these vegetable gardens are, most of us cannot grow vegetables in our front yard due to HOA restrictions.
However, if you do not live in a neighborhood with an HOA, maybe you should think about including vegetables in your front yard?
You can start out small – maybe that area that you would normally plant flowers? ** A word of caution: don’t plant vegetables in front if you have problems with deer, rabbits or javelina.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about growing vegetables in the front yard…
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Have you ever seen a miniature garden? They are becoming very popular and are sometimes called ‘fairy gardens’. I must admit that I’ve been quite intrigued by them and so I was very excited with the publishers of “Gardening in Miniature” sent me a book, free of charge, for my honest review.
If you aren’t familiar with miniature gardens, it is helpful to think of them as large gardens shrunk down in size into a tiny world that fits into a single container.
If you like to peruse Pinterest, you have undoubtedly seen some great examples of miniature or fairy gardens.
I came upon a collection of miniature gardens for sale at an antique shop in upstate New York a couple of years ago.
They were planted in old enamelware pots and bowls.
As you can see, there is a pathway delineated by the larger pebbles, small fiber optic grasses, and a yellow viola in this garden.
This garden has a tiny shovel and watering can in it.
For some people, the accessories are the most enjoyable part of creating a miniature garden. I would probably be stuck in my local Michael’s or Hobby Lobby trying to decide what small accessories to include in my little garden.
I must admit that I have been thinking of creating my own miniature garden. Imagine a tiny world neatly contained inside of a pot. For those of you who experience cold winters, you can enjoy having a little garden indoors all winter long.
Have you considered trying to create a miniature garden?
Well, if you have – then I have a great book for you to read…
Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo is a visual feast of beautiful and unique little gardens.
Of course, there is much more than miniature garden photos. The book has all the information you will need to create your own tiny garden. From container selection, a list of plants, soil type and how to care for your little garden – this book covers it all.
A beautiful garden is well-designed and small gardens are no different. Gardening in Miniature offers helpful advice on how to design your tiny garden using plants, pebbles, water features and adding small furniture or figurines. Have you ever created your own miniature garden?
*I was given this book, free of charge, for my honest review.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Fairy-Garden.jpg546640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2013-07-31 14:00:002021-01-22 03:54:32Miniature Gardens – Creating Your Own Little World
I must confess that the heat of July keeps me indoors most of the time.
In fact, I try to make my trips out to my garden under 15 minutes or less. I just don’t like to sweat.
But, I do have two things that I have to share with you.
The first one is – my pumpkin seeds have all sprouted and are growing!
July Vegetable Garden
All four came up.
I didn’t plant them inside of my vegetable garden, because of how large they get. I learned my lesson a few years ago. You can read my post about it if you like – “What Is Wrong With This Picture”
July Vegetable Garden
I also put some chicken wire around the planting site to keep my dogs from digging up my newly planted seeds.
For water, I put a single drip emitter in the center, which is connected to the drip system of my nearby vegetable garden.
My pumpkins should be ready in October. Right now, that seems so far away – but it will be here before we know it!
The other day, my husband and I stopped by Starbucks for some coffee. Starbucks for us is a guilty pleasure. We don’t go there all the time. Maybe 3 – 4 times a month.
Well, as we were waiting for our coffee to be ready, I noticed a bin filled with bags that caught my attention….
Some of you may be wondering what coffee grounds have to do with gardening. Well they actually work in a variety of ways that benefit the soil in your garden.
Used coffee grounds:
– slowly release nitrogen into the soil
– improve the texture of both sandy and clay soils
– are loved by earthworms who ‘eat’ them and leave behind their coveted droppings
– are a source of phosphorus, potassium and micro-nutrients such as magnesium, copper and calcium
– can be used in compost piles instead of manure
So…..are you tempted to use coffee grounds in your garden? Do not just throw them out in the garden. You need to mix them with your existing soil. Apply a 1/4″ layer and then rake them into your existing soil.
You can also use them in your compost pile. Used coffee grounds are a ‘green’ compost material and shouldn’t make up more then 20% of your compost.
So, are you still wavering on whether or not to use them? Okay, how about this fact:
**Starbucks gives their used coffee grounds away for free. If you don’t often find yourself inside of a Starbucks, you can always use your own coffee grounds.
Now, maybe your local Starbucks doesn’t give away their coffee grounds. Well, you should ask. The more people ask for them, the more likely they are to ‘bag’ their used coffee grounds and give them away.
You can always wait until the baristas are not busy and ask if you can have their used coffee grounds that they have right then. You can even offer to take them in the plastic trash bag that they are already in.
Now, that I know that I can find used coffee grounds at my local Starbucks, I will just have to stop by more often and of course, I will have to get some coffee.
https://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1531.jpg622640arizonaplantlady@gmail.comhttp://www.azplantlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/favicon.pngarizonaplantlady@gmail.com2011-07-01 12:05:002021-02-13 13:30:35Help in the Garden, Courtesy of Starbucks….
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