This is part of my garden in June. Many folks would find such a conglomeration of plants disconcerting, and some landscape designers would be appalled, but I like a good mixture of plants lushly planted, along with elevation changes, bright colors and bold textures. In this view, there are 12 different plants, with some repeated. There are low hills, a swale and dry wash with rip rap, a landscape boulder, a kinetic wind sculpture, and yard art. 
I have a couple of concrete benches sitting under the canopy of nearby Chilean Mesquite trees, (Prosopis chilensis) and I like to sit on this one in the evening when it starts to cool off. This is the perfect spot for watching the moon as it moves across the sky. On an early summer night when the moon is full, it is hard to go back in the house. The other bench in located to provide a beautiful view of the setting sun.
This is an odd mixture of Tecoma Stans 'Orange Jubilee' and a Prickly Pear, but I think it works. This unidentified cactus has some pads that are 26 inches wide and 18 inches long, and it keeps its light blue-purple color all year. In the winter, the pad margins are a darker purple. 
Orange, purple and yellow dominate my garden. This is typical of desert gardens. It seems most drought tolerant plants have various shades and hues of these colors. I love Purple Fountain Grass, (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') and I have six of these graceful plants located throughout my back yard. 
13 comments:
Gardens must reflect the preferences of their owners. After all, they are an ongoing and evolving act of creativity and care. I think your garden looks great---lots of things to discover and explore at an appropriate scale.
Good point, too, about creating places to sit in the garden. Why have an outdoor environment if you can't (don't) live in it?
I LOVE that purple prickly pear with the orange Tecoma stans! Is that not a 'Santa Rita'?
Thanks for more long shots of your lovely garden.
How nice to see some overviews of your garden as I was wondering how it looked. Now i know. ;-) I like it that you have placed your garden seats for maximum enjoyment of either sun or moon. That purple fountain grass looks stunning!
Beautiful colours and textures in your garden. I love to see other peoples space, always inspiring.
Sitting on the bench in the moonlight sounds perfect....what a lovely way to spend time.
Jocelyn, you're right Why do all the work to view it from the house!
Pam, no, not Santa Rita, unless it's a mutant. Similar, but it is different than my Santa Rita cacti.
Thanks, Yolanda. I'm thinking of planting some Purple Fountain Grass in the front too. Maybe next spring.
Cheryl, I too love seeing other people's gardens. I love garden tours, and driving through neighborhoods to check out the landscaping. Also, books and newspaper articles about various types of gardens. When a blogger posts photos of their gardens, I always spend a lot of time looking a the various views.
I love that purple prickly pear... I bought a santa rita once, on ebay, and it turned out not to be a santa rita... It's great, but not what I wanted. I still need to find one. And I'm jealous of this garden...
Such a pretty garden. Certainly not typical of our midwest gardens. But I love the colors and the textures.
The pictures of your garden are wonderful- the purple cactus and the orange are amazing together! What type of rock do you have in the areas withouot plants? My yard is just dirt with weeds that keep me busy where I haven't actually worked the ground for plants and it is a constant struggle to keep it looking good in our Arizona climate-
really beautiful! We could use the heat and warmth that you have...rain again today, yuck!
Claude, this garden is a lot of work and as we get older, it is becoming somewhat of a burden. Sometimes even the cactus nurseries have mislabeled plants. I don't find out until they bloom and it is really irritating. I see mislabeled stuff on Ebay all the time. Cactus collectors can just look at the photos and tell, but since you know about cacti, the seller must have just thrown in what he wanted. Santa Rita should be easy for you to get where you live, and for free!
Beckie, Mid-west gardens are fabulous! So lush and green, and so many great veggies. But in trade for that, you have the winters....
Dee, the yard is 1/2-minus granite gravel and the color is Madison Gold. In the front I have the same thing, but the color is Desert Brown. You can't really tell the difference in the two. For an even more natural look, decomposed granite that's even smaller grade works well.
Jean, I can't imagine where in the world it would be cold. Once the heat starts, I forget that other places are a few weeks away from the official summer.
Only in the desert would this be considered lush ;-0.
I like the jubilant nature of it, but I'm considered "the weird plant guy" among my design classmates.
I find that 'Santa Rita' prickly pear is the generic name that nurseries give any purple Opuntia. Once I went to three different nurseries to find a 'rita, and the plants were very different between them. I bought one from two places, and they have performed very differently in growth and hardiness. Whatever yours is, it's gorgeous, particularly against the tecoma.
Aiyana, what a lovely spot you've created - rest for the body, interest for the eyes. The lavenderish tints of that prickly pear is gorgeous in addition to its sculptural appeal.
Hello, I really enjoyed reading your posts in your blog and find your garden interesting and different, but fitting for AZ. The cacti are great and so are the succulents. We get to plant alpine semper vivum over here and I love it. I have a very small collection of them. Since they don't need much care and do well without watering in the summer, I especially enjoy them. Greetings from Germany, Andrea
Post a Comment