Gardening in the Desert {Garden}

Although it has it's own set of challenges, you can garden here in the desert and have a nice little crop, along with tons of fun!  Remember when I shared pictures of my Blossoms with you in March?  Well just look at how my little apricot tree is doing now!

This dwarf apricot tree is just perfect for the side of my front yard.

Anyways...It all starts with a trip to my local nursery {where I love to visit the turtles & fish}  and to pick up some things for my garden.  Here in the desert you can plant your garden as early as late February.

There are many vegetables, fruits, fruits trees, herbs and flowers that will grow here.  Also since our growing season starts early you should check the labels for early blooming and ripening plants.  This helps you to have success and gives you a better crop.  We also are lucky enough to have Fall as an additional growing season, with most plants slowing down in the middle of the hot Summer.

So I load up my wagon with with tiny plant and herbs, not forgetting to...

look at the PINK flowers and...

add some {of course} to my order!  I always seem to have a little spot that needs to be filled in somewhere!  We had an especially cold Winter this year and some of my flowers, that usually last year after year, finally got a little ragged looking.  I try to fill my gardens with flowers and herbs that will continue on every year and then just add more in spots in as needed.  For the past three years I have been spending half of my week out of town so my gardens need extra attention right now.

Oh and don't forget to pick up some lady bugs!  I love getting them and setting them free.  I see many every day when outside and I love it, along with the fact that they eat aphids!  {Speaking of lady bugs, this weekend I will share an update on my lady bug mystery - fascinating!}

I love herbs and use them everyday in my cooking!  They are so easy to grow too.  They do wonderful in pots and flower beds.  {This comes from my first garden experience as a child and growing strawberries in a large whiskey barrel.  I was hooked!  Then as a young newlywed and gardening in pots fit right into my apartment balcony life in Studio City.}

 I plant half of mine in pots.  They act like small raised flower beds, which is great for growing small things.  I remember my grandmother growing artichokes and other vegetable in old bathtubs in her backyard gardens.

I also have a designated area just outside my kitchen doors where I plant more herbs.  Then I sneak herbs in many of my flower beds, like this one surrounding my fountain.    I do this in part, because many herbs help with keeping bad bugs away, but really just because they smell terrific and grow so well year round here in the desert.

A peek at my sage already flowering!

Found a few basil that are flowering as well!  

{My basil does better in pots with afternoon shade, but most herbs love the sun!}

My all time favorite is the Lambs Ear!  

A must for any herb garden {I could just rub those fuzzy little leaves everyday}!

 

Tomatoes do very well here in the desert.  I especially love to grow the smaller cherry tomatoes.  I have some in pots as well as others in the ground next to my herb garden.  As with most of my vegetables, I place them where they will have afternoon shade.  Here in the desert this helps when temperatures get very high!

They are already starting to blossom!  My parents have a very large raised flower bed  near their pool, where the yard steps down, and their tomatoes do fantastic there as well.  I love it when they go out of town in the Summer and I have to walk down the street to babysit the tomatoes!  I love eating them everyday in the Summer!  There is not much better than that!

Here are some of my different types of lettuce.

 Look at how they're growing!  We've already been enjoying them!

This year I added a grapefruit tree to my citrus collection.  It's in my side yard Secret Garden.  Where I already have a tiny lime tree and a very productive Lemon Tree  {that I shared with you last Winter}!

They are all blossoming quite well and are so aromatic!  Citrus in the desert do well in pots {if they are the dwarf variety} but also do better near your home and protected from that afternoon sun.

I bought two new pomegranate  trees.  We had one at our old house years ago and I miss them.  So finally I am just doing it!

I planted only one grapevine for now.  In my old house I had a huge arbor built all along one side of my house just for grapes!  It was a dream!  My great grandmother grew them also here in the desert, many many years ago.  She had a huge yard with a garden house made of grapevines {next to her frog pond} and we would play out there for hours!

 I planted my childhood favorite!  Strawberries!

This year we are trying to grow a raspberry bush.  For years, in downtown Las Vegas, there was a French restaurant called Andre's and they had huge raspberry bushes growing on the side of their building.  Not usual for the desert but we will give it a try!

Probably the All-time BEST Gardening experience yet with my children was this!  A sneak peek for you because I will share the FULL story sometime after the end of the Summer!  I have a few other planted things that I will share with you later as well {a girls gotta keep something up her sleeve for later you know}!

So there you have it!  A bit of gardening here in my desert... and yes it is possible!  Whether you have a simple pot of herbs in your kitchen window, or potted strawberries on your downtown balcony, or a little patch in your yard for an herb garden, or a full garden and orchard out in the country...take a moment and do something fun for yourself and just plant it!  What is your favorite garden memory?  I'm dying to know!