Desert Wash Garden
Teddy bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) and Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park CA
Evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides) and sand verbena (Abronia villosa) at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park CA
It is probably no surprise that many of our gardens are inspired by nature. Though many of the desert plants cannot handle our winters – these photos were taken in CA at exactly this time of year in 2005, whilst today it is snowing here – there is no reason we should not be able to grow many of the desert annuals. The sandy gravelly desert wash area at the south end of Dryland Mesa was inspired by trips to the California deserts and designed to provide a similar soil environment to the places shown in the photographs. This garden was affected by some of the construction this winter, but last week almost three pounds of seed was sown in the sand and gravel.
Arizona lupine (Lupinus arizonicus) at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park CA
Desert Sunflower (Geraea canescens)
The plants we are trialing include several species of lupines, including a yellow species and several evening primroses. Also resown were plants which have previously grown well in this area such as the California bluebell (Phacelia campanularia).
Scorpion weed (Phacelia sp.) and gravel ghost (Atrichoseris platyphylla) in Death Valley CA
April 20, 2009 at 9:25 am
Great photos…I especially like the first one w/ the layers of mountains in the background! You should think about entering them into Anza-Borrego Foundation’s annual photo contest. You can find the details at their site: http://www.theabf.org.
April 29, 2009 at 1:09 am
yo, great name for site)))