Eclectic. Wild. Scattered. Littered with the kids’ toys and gardening projects unfinished. I love my yard and also admit to zooming in on favorite plants for blog and Facebook posts to hide the mess of the big picture. When a current client asked to see how I group plants together, it became an invitation to view my yard through a medium-sized lens. Below are a sampling of clusters I love for their diversity of shades of green, warm- and cool-season stars, textures, even plants living vs. dead. In nature, there’s a place for it all.
A dose of daily smiles – year-round. The annual zinnias bloom brightly in summer, and came up from seed left behind last fall. The onions are perennial, growing great in the winter and spring then sporting seed heads in the summer. Below are Mexican honeysuckle and a Gooding’s verbena that like the shade provided by the container above and sport flowers when watered well.Zooming out a bit, the combination of the raised bed and large pot below contain plants that like daily water. The pots to the right contain succulents that tolerate less attention.My “butterfly garden”, though currently without many blooms. It successfully softens the west-facing backyard wall that receives full sun much of the day and year. Combined with the neighbor’s trees behind the wall and our rocky slope to the left, this edge is a corridor for lizards, rabbits, birds, and snakes – and butterflies returning soon.Same butterfly garden – Indian mallow, blue mist, Mexican sunflower – plus our palm tree-sheltered pond beyond.The “desert corner”, some of the oldest landscaping in the yard. The dark green saguaro, aptly-named golden barrel cactus, and stark ocotillo were placed over 15 years ago, the bright green creosote about 12, and a fluid forest of dusty green brittle bush that we periodically thin out after they seeded themselves.A re-post from spring: wolfberry, Parry’s penstemon, and firecracker salvia in full bloom under the live oak……fast forward to beginning of fall and zooming out for context: The wolfberry is half leafed-out (after losing every leaf in June) thanks to monsoon rains but done flowering, the penstemons are dormant stubs eaten by rabbits and kicked over by kids, the salvia didn’t survive the summer, and the mixed perennials in the foreground I expect to revive in the coming cool days.The really zoomed-out view.Four different raised beds in various states of use. Not clusters per se- but realistic, messy life both botanical and parental. My main edible beds right now are in Marana Community Garden and at Miles ELC.Terrain matters. This is a top view of the steep slope we recently rip-rapped. The decades-old, fluffy and flowery bird of paradise that was barely hanging on before is benefitting from stability, attention, and monsoon rain. The young desert willow one terrace below is quickly growing more leafy branches in its improved tree well. The scene is diversified by the neighbor’s large, angular palm tree below. A visual cluster can be achieved even if plants are spaced apart.A jump back to late spring and a few miles north: bluebells and poppies from a native wildflower mix in the Marana Community Garden. NOW is the time to plant wildflower seeds wherever you want a colorful, diverse, hardy cluster of growth in your garden. They will grow throughout fall and winter and begin blooming around February.
Are you ready to learn more? Whether you are eager for edibles, want to attract wildlife, or prefer visual delights, Nature to You can help you imagine and implement your new or improved garden.
