Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Back to my inspirational garden…

It’s been a while since I’ve visited the “Arizona Garden” (my nick-name for the nearby garden which provided a lot of the inspiration for my front garden redo), so I took advantage of a recent sunny day and went for a stroll. This garden really stands up to its nick-name on a sunny day. The colors and the textures really do say “the desert” or at least my rosy memories of it. Those of you who live there probably feel differently. Sadly it looks like a couple of things didn’t like last winter too much, I think the crispy tree is Arbutus x 'Marina.' This little Dudleya looks a little battered but is surprising still alive, I believe due to its excellent placement next to the sidewalk and sandwiched between a couple of large rocks. A Manzanita in the parking strip also has a few toasty bits. All in all though things are looking great! Walking back to my garden I am so excited to have been able to incorporate many of the same plants here, as well as others “inspired by”. I am really enjoying watching them all grow and change as the season moves on. I can’t wait to see what summer brings!

10 comments:

  1. wow. that garden is totally inspiring it. by my parents house there is this garden that is super wild and eclectic (much like a house you posted a couple posts ago). i love to visit it and just take it all in. thanks for sharing the inspiration!

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  2. Wonderful garden, no wonder it has been an inspiration.

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  3. As a gardener, one is asked many questions by visitors, the very best is "What inspires you?".
    Thanks for sharing this.
    I do hope you knocked on the door of this house and told the gardener how much you admired this place. they would, I'm sure, be delighted.

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  4. Bianca, I love discovering a garden like that, and when it's somewhere that you can return to again and again (like by your parents house) that's even better.

    Spiky O, I can't wait for my plants to grow up like theirs!

    Barry, actually I have met the owner and been toured through the back garden too! Here's a more thorough post about it: http://dangergarden.blogspot.com/2010/05/visit-to-ranchlandsarizona-esque-garden.html

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  5. Worth many return visits. Your gardening style seems to be catching on. We may soon need to redefine "NW Style" to include all the spiky stuff.

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  6. It's comforting to see that even accomplished and established gardens occasionally lose a member plant. Is the "tree" in the 7th picture down an Acacia pravissima? It's beautiful!

    And your yucca rostrada and callistemon are looking GOOD!

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  7. Glad to see your garden doing well! I love to see what inspires other gardeners...I can pretty much walk around the garden and tell you who/what inspired me to chose certain plants :-) Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

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  8. Rather than call it the Arizona Garden it could be called Danger Garden II. Great place.

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  9. Nice post, Danger. To me, it is not a pure SW garden, but a mix of Arizona, west TX, Fanta Se, and some Mediterranean / California. That said, alot of my favorite things in one place, short of some good food from all the above!

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  10. ricki, spiky in the NW, I like it!

    MulchMaid, I believe the tree you ask about is actually a Genista aetnensis.

    scott, you are right, and I hope the owner of this garden agrees when he sees mine!

    Grace, I like the idea...but would tweak it a bit. Maybe "the north danger garden" (since it is north of me).

    DD, yes! Exactly, you are correct. I think the reason that I've always thought of it as the AZ garden is that's how it was described to me before I had been there, and then once I was it just had that dry and weedy feel (I mean that as a compliment!).

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