Over the past few years, this garden has been a joy to build and work in. Because the architecture of the house was clean-lined and honest, I wanted to create a garden that would compliment the design of the house and walls. When I began the project, the deep koi ponds and swimming pool were in place. My job was to preserve the valuable desert plants on the site, remove thirsty exotics, and create a desert feel with the plant palette. I began by removing a large hedge of oleanders and replacing it with a trio of beaked yucca underplanted with barrel and hedgehog cactus salvaged from the site. In the central planting area, I placed dioon plants and totem pole cactus under a large foothills palo verde. 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. We repurposed a trio of pots and moved them in a line leading to the front door and planted them with Mexican tree ocotillo seeded with wildflowers. We had large custom colored concrete pots fabricated for around the pool which we planted with a large boojum tree, and two ‘Macho Mocha’ Manfreda plants. As the garden has matured, the wildflowers like Goodding’s verbena, Parry’s penstemon, and sundrops have colonized wonderfully.