Desert Art: Cheap or Costly?

One would think that living in the desert and having desert landscaping would be enough, but no. I also have art that depicts our desert and its vegetation. Some of the art is expensive, but other pieces are thrift store bargains. If you are interested in checking your artistic eye or practicing your appraising skills, try to guess where these art pieces came from.

There are three choices. One came from a Goodwill store, priced at $4.95. I had a 20 percent off coupon, so its final price was $3.96.

Another painting is a yard sale find. I don't remember for sure, but I think I paid about $10.

Another one is a painting from a gallery and is by a locally renowned artist. It is an original and cost $500.

A.

B.

C.

To find out the answers, see this post and look in the comments section, but cast your vote in the poll first.

Drive By

Several months ago, Matthew at ¡Ay Chihuahua! took a desert walk near his neighborhood. He brought along his camera so that his readers could see some of the flora he sees every day. Since then, other garden bloggers have provided a visual tour through their neighborhoods, pointing out the different landscape and housing styles of their areas. I really enjoyed reading those posts, so I thought I would do the same in my neighborhood.

My tour was done by car for two reasons. First, it's still too hot to walk. The properties are quite large and spread out so I would have a heat stroke before the end of the block. Second, there are no sidewalks in my neighborhood. In addition, I was nervous about blatantly taking photos of others' property--so I took the stealth approach and used the drive-by method.

I took photos that represent the prevailing architectural and landscape styles in the area. My neighborhood is new--only a few years old, so there are no towering trees, mature landscaping, or anything of historical significance.

This home is what I call faux Tuscan. It is typical of this popular style with its use of a rounded turret entry. Both the entry turret and pony-wall are faced with stone. The landscape is considered "desert landscaping" and it utilizes both artificial turf and granite. The house color is a common southwest color.

This home is considered a Southwest Traditional style with a pony-wall courtyard entry. The landscape ground cover is granite and rip-rap, another common feature in desert landscaping. The small blue-gray palm tree on the left is a Mexican Blue Palm.

This is another faux Tuscan with the rounded entry turret and clay tile roofing. It has a paver stone circular driveway. The landscape granite is a darker color to match the dark neutral color of the house. Notice the ubiquitous pony wall--something that is used extensively to create a modified front courtyard. The palm on the left is a Queen Palm, commonly used in the Phoenix area, but not really suited to this climate. These palms never really look good here. It's just too hot and dry for them.

This is a Southwest Contemporary with a high pony wall and courtyard entry. The circular driveway is decomposed granite that has been treated with a product that hardens it. The landscaping plantings are all native to the Sonoran desert.

The deciduous Chinese Elm shown here is another popular tree in the Phoenix area. It takes more water than the typical desert trees, but homeowners like it because it grows fast and can provide a tremendous amount of shade as it gets older. The house and landscape have all the elements that are common here; granite, riprap, courtyard pony-wall, stone facings, and iron entry gate.

This is my favorite. It is a combination Pueblo/Santa Fe/Southwest Ranch with a wood entry gate. It's a great example of well-balanced desert landscaping. This place also has artificial turf, which is being used more and more.

This home has two other elements that are very popular here, a rounded iron and glass entry door and a courtyard fountain.

Well, I got through the tour without anyone calling the police to report suspicious activity, and I think I've hidden any identifying elements that neighbors would find objectionable. Hope you saw something interesting.

Seven Random Things About Me

I have been tagged by Beth at Morning Glories to participate in the meme, Seven Random Things About Me. Since this is a garden blog I've kept my items on topic.

I am unusual species--an Arizona native. Natives of adult age are getting rarer, and make up only 20 percent of Arizona's population.

You can't be an Arizona native and escape the lure of cacti and succulents, and I have quite a collection, both potted and planted in my garden. My favorites are various species of the Mammillaria, Opuntia, and Echinopsis genera.

Given my druthers, I'd much rather live on the Oregon or northern California coasts about six months out of the year. I don't think about this until the heat hits and my garden goes into summer dormancy. I start doing research and making plans, and after a few months when the weather cools, I can't imagine why I would want to live anywhere else.

I have a 3/4 acre property, but would prefer to have an adobe Tucson barrio-style home and garden. This particular style is similar to those found in central Mexico, where the house really doesn't have front or back yards, just several courtyard gardens surrounded with 10-12 foot walls. The front courtyard walls are set back from the sidewalks only about 4 feet and have a solid entry gate. The small area from the sidewalk to wall is usually planted with cacti. The interior gardens are lush and green, with a variety of tropical and southwest plants. Each courtyard, usually one in front, back and side, has its own garden theme.

I have an addiction to wind chimes. I have quite a few, and can't go to sleep unless I can hear wind chimes tinkling outside my bedroom window.

I read, research and write far too much about plants, gardens, landscape design, and in season, I’ll attend every garden tour I can find, far and near. It's a good thing I'm retired! And, on a different subject, this is my very first meme!

My first priority has always been to complete my landscaping before decorating. In every home I've owned I've always made sure I had a great garden first because I find a barren landscape so depressing. I'd rather spend money on landscaping, hardscaping, cacti and yard art than house stuff.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with seven random facts/habits about themselves. Tagged people then need to report this on their own blog with their seven random facts as well as these rules. They then need to tag seven others and list their names on their blog, then leave a comment for each of the tagged to let them know that they have been tagged and to read the blog.

Here's whom I've tagged:

The Green Fingered Photographer

My Grandpa's Garden

Ms. Green Thumb Jean

My Iowa Garden

Gotta Garden

Our Little Acre

Miss Flower