Happy November from Desert Rose! In this month’s blog we will review the importance of having your landscape designed by someone who understands the bloom times of the foliage planted. Misjudging bloom times is an easy way to cause you to have an amazing yard in early summer but then no flowers for the rest of the year. In order to prevent that, we will discuss some simple steps to mix blooms times to make sure your yard looks good year round. Let’s pretend we have a medium-large sized flower bed that needs to be planted. This pretend flower bed mostly receives full sun (+8 hours a day), so we need plants that can handle that much sun. The plants we will use are listed below, outlining all o
Our client had purchased the house with beautiful rock terraced beds already in place, but there were very few plants in the beds. The irrigation needed some work and the tree in the middle of the flowerbed was more of an eyesore. The client wanted a water-wise variety of plants. He also wanted a yard that would look nice year-round. With this in mind, we had a good idea of what the client wanted and went to work on the design. Since the rock flowerbeds were already in place, we started by pulling out the tree and working on the irrigation. A variety of plants were brought in to fill in the large area. We selected a good mix of evergreens and flowers to keep the yard looking nice no matter w
Q: When is a good time to add more bark/mulch to the beds? A: The best time to touch up the beds is once all the leaves have fallen and have been cleaned up. Whether you want composted cotton burrs or bark, we will be glad to help you!
Autumn Joy Stonecrop Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' Zone 4-11 Thick, pale green leaves and stems hold up beautiful clusters of small pink flowers that fade into a beautiful red in the fall. Plant in partial to full sun for best growth. A moderate grower that can reach 2' tall and wide. Looks great in groupings of 3 or as a single specimen by a character stone. Easy to care for and waterwise. Blooms from late summer to early fall. Prune back in late fall/early winter to a few inches above the ground.
In part two, the client wanted a flagstone where they could relax and enjoy the views from their side yard. Our direction was to cover the entire area with gravel with the addition of a few plants to keep it from looking bare. We planted a mix of Blue Mist Spireas and Russian Sage on the outer perimeter and Hummingbird Mint Agastache next to a Powis Castle near the house. A square patio with square steps to the front porch was requested. We cut the flagstone patio with minimum gaps between the pieces for a tight-fitting, custom look. The area was tamped and several inch thick layers of sand was used to level the flagstone. Once the steps and patio were leveled, we laid down the weed barrier,
Q: I wanted to buy some pots so I can have some indoor plants during the fall. What should I look for and what type of soil should I buy? A: Whenever you are purchasing pots always ensure that there is a drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. If there isn't, you can always drill one. Every pot needs a drainage hole to prevent the roots from sitting in water and getting root rot. Also make sure you get a saucer to place under the pot. When it comes to soil, it depends on the plants you are going to plant. For succulents, you are going to want a succulent and cactus specialty soil. For all other flowers, we would recommend something that has coco coir in it to help retain moisture and prevent
Butterfly Blue Pincushion Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue' Zone 3-9 These unique blue flowers that resemble pincushions add to the beauty of any yard. The dense green foliage constantly sends up blooms from mid-summer through fall. A fast grower that can quickly reach 1' tall and wide. Deadhead regularly to promote more blooms. Attracts butterflies. Cut back to a few inches when the plant goes dormant.
This week, we tackle a 2 part series. Our client wanted a mossrock flowerbed around the front porch. They started the work themselves but decided to call Desert Rose for some help. They wanted waterwise colorful plants planted and gravel spread outside the beds. We picked up where the client left off and started the moss rock border on the right side of the steps. We continued the border to the corner of the house and leveled out the area to prep it for planting. With the clients approval, we positioned the plants and started to plant. Phil selected Tickseed, Catmint, Firewheels, Powis Castle, Lavenders, Yarrows, Texas Sage and Russian sage to fill in the beds. We also planted honeysuckle to
Q: How often and how much water should I give to the pots of geraniums that I brought into the house? A: The amount of water you give and how often you water depends on the size of the plant and how big the pot is. As a general rule of thumb, you want to water pots until water begins to trickle out of the drainage hole on the bottom of the pot (make sure you have a saucer under your pot). Once it begins to trickle out, stop watering immediately. When watering, make sure there are no dry spots and all the soil is saturated (as long as you aren't pouring water over the same spot you are doing it right!) When the soil looks dry, stick your finger in the soil to the first knuckle (approx. 1 inch
Oregon Grape Holly Mahonia aquifolium Zone 5-9 Thick, woody stems are covered by spiked leaves to make this unique evergreen. New leaves start off red, then turn green once mature. In the winter, expect scarlet colored leaves to help give your yard a festive look. In the spring, expect tiny, canary yellow flowers to cover this plant. Soon after blooming, small blueberries develop that can be used to make preserves. Plant in full to partial sun and water regularly. A moderate grower that can reach 3-6 ' tall and wide. Can handle a variety of soil types. Prune runners to prevent spreading unless desired. When working on/around this plant use caution because getting poked hurts!
This week, we are going to focus mainly on planting! Our client has a side courtyard with some plants that didn’t make it through the winter. They wanted it to look lush with lots of purple flowers. We started by removing the dead plants and bringing in the new ones. Different varieties of Lavender, Catmint, Pine-Leaf Penstemon, Ornamental Oregano, Salvia and Sandcherry shrubs were used to give the yard plenty of height and texture differences. We raked the gravel into piles to avoid mixing the dirt and gravel. The soil was amended with a composted cotton burr blend and applied a very light fertilizer. The current irrigation system was extended to water the plants, and we made small posas (m
Q: When do you guys shut down irrigation systems? A: It depends on the weather but we are looking at sometime between the third week of October to the second week of November.
Pink Beauty Potentilla Potentilla fruticosa 'Pink Beauty' Zone 3-7 In early spring tiny green leaves emerge from brown woody branches; followed by beautiful pink flowers that are constantly blooming from spring through fall. Super easy to care for with no need for deadheading. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil for best results. A slow grower that can reach 3' tall and wide. It can tolerate mild droughts once established.
Happy October from Desert Rose! In this month’s blog we will review the importance of a fall cleanup. Fall is often when our yards get the messiest - leaves are blowing around, weeds are still able to sprout and grow, and there are plenty of spent flowers that need to be pruned. But is it ok to push a fall cleanup into a spring cleanup? At Desert Rose we occasionally have clients who want to skip fall clean up for financial reasons (which we completely understand) thinking it would be cheaper to wait until the spring clean up once instead of twice. However, skipping the fall cleanup results in the spring cleanup being more difficult, which subsequently results in a higher bill since more t
For this week, our client wasn't too happy with how their yard looked. They felt their yard looked bare and unfinished. When it rained, the yard turned into a muddy mess that often found its way into the house. Our client planted a tree to help add some life to the yard, but the mud was still an issue. They also felt that the patio was too small to entertain guests. The first step of this transformation was to start trenching where the dry river bed would go. Dry riverbeds help guide the water coming off the canale to another area of the yard. Once the trench for the dry river bed was done, we began trenching the area where the moss rock border would go. We cut to fit the moss rock and laid
