Phoenix Gardens ~ More Than Granite

My daughter, who lives in one of Phoenix' historic home districts, brought me a bouquet of roses from her garden the other day. Rather than desert landscaping, she has the type of garden commonly found in the earlier days of Phoenix, when people coming from other climates duplicated the homes and gardens they left behind. Most all the historic neighborhoods in the area still have grass lawns, citrus trees, oleander, non-native trees, roses, and palm-lined streets.

I took some photos of homes in several historic neighborhoods so that folks can see that Phoenix is not all granite and cactus, Mesquite and Agave.

The styles of the homes are eclectic; California Bungalow, English Tudor, Spanish Revival, Classic Bungalow, Ranch, Spanish Colonial, Craftsman, Period Revival, Prairie, and Tudor Revival.

Most all the historic homes are one story, but in the oldest neighborhoods, a few two-story homes, such as this Spanish Colonial, are more common.

I think this is a Tudor Revival, but I'm no expert on early home styles. The vine covering part of the house is a Macfadyena unguis-cati, or Cat's Claw, which is a popular vine in Arizona. This one is my favorite. It was featured on a home tour I attended, and it is just as meticulous on the inside.
You can see a typical two-strip driveway on the right. Most of these narrow driveways originally lead to a small garage in the back yard. Notice the sculpted shrubs, another common sight.
The tree on the left began as some type of cypress shrub 70 or 80 years ago. As it grew, it was trimmed into a tree shape. This is another common sight in these old neighborhoods. I really don't like these tree/shrubs at all. They always have sprouts along every branch.

Mature trees surround this property, along with some recently planted Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina).