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La Reserve Rainwater Garden
Rainwater basins and low-care succulent plants to create a tapestry of color.
Sabino Canyon Courtyard Garden
A sleeper of a little garden in a Sabino Canyon area townhouse backyard.
Tortolita Color Blast
It was as if the design had leapt off my drawing board and come to life.
The Civano Seed Bank
Through selective weeding and resowing seeds, she has built up a seed bank in her garden that gets accrues compound interest.
Erysismum capitatum (Western Wallflower)
Tephrocactus articulatus (Spruce Cone Cactus)
Ironwood National Monument
One of the best places to go near Tucson to get deep into the Sonoran Desert in a hurry.
Baja California Norte
I few years back, I traveled to Baja California Norte with my friends Simmons Buntin and Dan Weber to Baja in search of the world’s tallest Boojum tree.
Sophora secundiflora ‘Silver Peso’ (Silver Peso Texas Mt. Laurel)
Thelocactus macdowellii (Chihuahuan Snowball)
Phacelia campanularia (Desert Bluebells)
Bulbine frutescens ‘Tiny Tangerine’ (Tiny Tangerine Bulbine)
Prosopis velutina (Native Arizona Mesquite)
Calylophus hartwegii v. fendleri (Sundrops)
Justicia sonorae (Sonoran Honeysuckle)
Salvia farinacea ‘Texas Violet’ (Texas Violet Sage)
Andropogon scoparius (Little Bluestem)
Aquilegia chrysantha (Golden Columbine)
Asclepias linaria (Pine-leaf Milkweed)
Mascagnia macroptera (Yellow Orchid Vine)
Parthenocissus x ‘Hacienda Creeper’ (Hacienda Creeper Vine)
Penstemon eatonii (Firecracker Penstemon)
Viguiera parishii (Parish Golden Eye)
Astrophytum myriostigma (Bishop’s Cap)
Agave victoriae-reginae (Queen Victoria Agave)
Parkinsonia x ‘Desert Museum’ (Desert Museum Palo Verde)
OPUNTIA ENGELMANNII SUBSP. LINDHEIMERI (TEXAS PRICKLY PEAR)
Ferocactus wislizenii (Fishhook Barrel)
Echinocereus nicholii (Golden Hedgehog)
Agave schidigera ‘Durango Delight’ (Durango Delight Agave)
Opuntia basilaris (Beavertail Cactus)
Cylindropuntia ramosissima (Diamond Cholla)
Chrysactinia mexicana (Damianita Daisy)
Opuntia santa-rita (Purple Prickly Pear)
Opuntia robusta (Dinner Plate Prickly Pear)
Leucophyllum zygophyllum (Blue Ranger)
Hesperaloe funifera (Giant Hesperaloe)
Poliomintha maderensis ‘Lavender Spice’ (Mexican Oregano)
Penstemon triflorus (Hill Country Penstemon)
Calliandra x ‘Sierra Starr’ (Sierra Starr Fairy Duster)
Dalea frutescens ‘Sierra Negra’ (Black Dalea)
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri ‘Autumn Glow’ (Big Muhly)
Parkinsonia microphylla (Little-leaf Palo Verde)
Buddleia marrubifolia (Wooly Butterfly Bush)
Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot Daisy)
Eriogonum fasiculatum (Flattop Buckwheat)
Ferocactus wizlizenii (Fishhook Barrel)
Agastache rupestris (Hummingbird Mint)
Vernonia lindheimeri var. leucophylla (Silver Ironweed)
Agave utahensis var. eborispina (Ivory-spined Agave)
Cooperia pedunculata (Hill Country Rain Lily)
Pedilanthus macrocarpus (Slipper Plant)
Ferocactus pilosus (Mexican Fire Barrel)
Astrophytum myriostigma (Bishop’s Cap)
Ferocactus rectispinus (Hatpin Barrel)
Echinocereus triglochidiatus (Claret Cup Hedgehog)
Opuntia violacea macrocentra (Tuxedo Spine Prickly Pear)
Ferocactus cylindraceus (Compass Barrel)
Ferocactus gracilis v. coloratus (Baja Fire Barrel)
Baileya multiradiata (Desert Marigold)
Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus)
Pachycereus schottii forma montrosus (Totem Pole Cactus)
Astrophytum asterias seedlings (Sand Dollar Cactus seedlings)
Astrophytum asterias cv. ‘Super Kabuto’
Astrophytum asterias (Sand Dollar Cactus)
Ferocactus cylindraceus (Compass Barrel)
Thymophylla pentachaeta (Shrubby Dogweed)
Opuntia basilaris (Beavertail Prickly Pear)
Saguaro National Park East
Sometimes it snows in the park and they close down the road to vehicles.
Opuntia engelmannii subsp. lindheimeri (Texas Prickly Pear)
Leucophyllum candidum (Thunder Cloud Texas Ranger)
Acalypha monostachya (Raspberry Fuzzies)
Bahia absinthifolia (Silverleaf Bahia)
Manfreda undulata (Chocolate Chip Tuberose)
Barrio Magic
This barrio-area landscape remodel began as a job to look at a few pots and evolved into a project that involved planting three courtyards, fabricating 4 steel trellises, and planting up over 30 substantial custom-picked pots.
Catalina Contemporary
Scott Calhoun framed views of the mountains with succulents, and clustered interesting cactus species both in the ground and in raised steel planters.
Zona Gardens Studio
Back in 2004, when my wife and I bought a studio space for my business with a blank slate garden, I was pretty excited. I’m just saying that having unfettered creative control is, well, awesome!
Circling An Idea
They hired us to do the design and we drew a circular seat wall, stock tank veggie garden, and lots of succulent plantings that were easy to care for.
Casa Granada
Zona Gardens designed and planted extensive container gardens in nearly every patio nook. The containers hold mix of sturdy cacti and succulents and a few potted annuals to lend color in the cool season.
Eastside Purple
The garden has a pollinator focus and plants such as black dalea hum with activity in the fall. Trees include desert willow and blackbrush acacia.
Rock & Roll Fence
The south-facing fence has warmed and nurtured a pair of Mexican fencepost cactus that are among the most handsome specimens on Tucson’s east side.
Beneath Palms
A curving gravel path and offset ocotillo panel fencing provide a secret passage to the rear garden.
Going in Circles
In this central Tucson backyard, we used circles to concoct a curvaceous plan: we began with a cylindrical rainwater cistern, a circle of turf, a raised circular cacti and succulent bed, with an adjacent circle pattern pavers.
The Green House
In the back we created a deer grass oasis around a stock-tank style fountain and salvaged mesquite tree. The back yard is watered by graywater from the Michal’s outdoor shower.
Working with Yellow
Beginning with a very-much-alive ocotillo fence to screen an adjacent construction site, we planted two varieties of Texas ranger, Texas firecracker bush, beaked yuccas, and mesquite.
Pine-Oak Woodland
We augmented the pine with Chinqaupin oaks, white orchid trees, ocotillo, deer grass, superb penstemon, sandpaper verbena and pale-leaf yucca.
Bear Grass + Silver Carpet
In a narrow rectangular space, we created a geometric grid of flagstone, ‘Silver Falls’ dichondra, interspersed with bear grass and rain lilies.
Sonoran-Asian Fusion
We fashioned as simple courtyard planting using Sonoran plants like desert willows, yellow orchid vine, bamboo muhly, slipper plant and grape ivy.
Moroccan Blues
Taking cues from what is probably the world’s most famous blue-walled garden, Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, Morocco, this central Phoenix courtyard uses silvery leaves and blue walls to make a design statement.
Saddlebrook Cactus Club
Wildlife attracting plants such as desert willow and palo verde trees to help create an equilibrium with the existing cactus-heavy plantings.
Faraway Skies
To break up the long rectangle of the backyard, we used a French curve-shaped steel border to separate a gravel patio from planted areas.
Flagstones + Feather Trees
I put a small stock tank fountain in the center of the garden, which effectively divided the garden into quadrants. In those quadrants I planted gorilla’s armpit, Texas tuberose, partridge breast aloe, and Angelita daisies.
Desert/Oasis
Around the koi ponds I planted bull grass, Chihuahuan orchid shrub, and a variety of penstemon and agave species. Although the garden has a pool and koi ponds, the plants that surround those oasis areas require very little water.
Bounty of Boulders
This site was blessed with a surfeit of large rocks, some as big as VW vans.
Banking on Seed
They created a mighty seed bank in their soil. The resulting garden is thick with penstemon, fairy duster, desert marigold, and brittlebush.