Hey SW Peeps,

Here some photos of the completed bench arbor and planters. Bamboo in one and a mix of lantana and iris in the other.






Also installed some wall planters for flowering vines at some point.



Thanks for sharing the journey with me!

Really nice, Gina! It all fits so well into your landscape. I've noticed some people who live in the desert try to plant and design like they live in a rain forest.

Hi Karen!

I give my gal pal a whole lot of credit for her inspiration. She is a horticulturist and artist who has made a beautiful oasis on their property complete with cantina, grey water for her iris bed, grape vines on majestic trellis, and incredible stone/cement/mosaic tile work. She has taught, and gifted, me so much knowledge.

Thank you for the kind remarks, Miss Karen. We are really happy how things are turning out these days. I'm hoping to grow birdhouse gourds this year for some fun projects next Spring.

Well, you and your gal pal are giving me a lot of great ideas. Plants have a hard time here with the critters, so I'm leaning toward making more hard scape type things. I love to do mosaic work. Right now my husband is going to make a wind screen to shelter us from the wind when we use our spa. I want to do mosaic work on it as soon as he gets it finished.

That sounds very lovely, Karen! It'll make your spa very cozy. I have great respect for artists who do mosaic work. Have fun with it!

I like those planter boxes!

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the kudos on the metal planters! Everything seems to be doing well in them. I put sweet pea in the "vase" style hoping there'd be enough time before the heat, but it was a bust. I'm thinking about putting luffa or birdhouse gourd and see what happens. It's north facing, so I'm not sure how it will all go as they are both sun-lovers. I am still waiting for the luffa and birdhouse gourd down and the main bed to break soil but it's only been a few days since seeding.

Hope all is well!

Maybe try those sweet pea seeds in the fall.

It is so hot here. One station showing 108. Our mountain is on fire from a lightening strike last Friday. Over 7000 acres so far and only 10% contained. Homes have been evacuated but none burned. Heavy smoke in parts of town.

My hubs was telling me just this morning about those fires in Tucson! Very dangerous especially with those temperatures. How are the winds? My son and his family had just moved to Santa Rosa when those fires started. It certainly is a scary situation. Be safe, Linda!

Flipping year 2020 just doesn't seem to want to let up. We got snow in late March this year!

Snow????

It has been windy and gusts tomorrow may be near 30 mph, so not hopeful for stopping this fire. They talked about maybe in two weeks it would be under control.

I am well away from it, thankfully.

Yep! On March 27th, we got a dusting of snow! I think that's what made my bok choi bolt. Crazy weather this year!