Garden Photo of the Day

READER PHOTO! Blooms in the desert

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Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Sara Post Lee

Today’s photo is from Sara Post Lee in St. George, Utah. She says, “I live in the Utah desert not far from Las Vegas, with an annual rainfall of only 8 inches.  Learning to garden here after a lifetime of gardening in the rainy East (near Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania) was a steep learning curve, but after 8 years here, I am getting the hang of it.  We have a large xeriscape garden, but each fall, near the house, I plant winter-hardy (in this Zone 8+ climate) annuals that are not waterwise. They bloom a bit all winter and then really burst forth in spring with no irrigation or water other than our winter rains.  This year, we had a more lovely show than usual, thanks to the La Nina weather coming in from the West Coast. By summer, the pansies will be gone, of course, but the snaps will live on if I water them, and the extremely waterwise perovskia and psilostrophe will take over, giving us a completely different landscape. But that’s another story – and photo.  In the meantime, I enjoy the spring blooms, made even more beautiful by their ephemeral nature.” Beautiful, Sara — thanks for sharing!

Welcome to the Fine Gardening GARDEN PHOTO OF THE DAY blog! Every weekday we post a new photo of a great garden, a spectacular plant, a stunning plant combination, or any number of other subjects. Think of it as your morning jolt of green.

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Comments

  1. ncgardener 05/12/2011

    That is gorgeous. I love the colors!

  2. user-7006895 05/12/2011

    I just love lots of snapdragons! Thanks for sharing, this is just lovely.

  3. gardeningmum 05/12/2011

    Excellent job, Sara. Just love the boulders and the structure in the back. Gardeners who have not experienced dry, windy, desert conditions don't fully appreciate what you have accomplished with your garden. I live in Colorado where we get just a little more rain than you do, so I know how hard it is to make it look beautiful. Blessings for continued success.

  4. sheilaschultz 05/12/2011

    Awesome, Sara, I'm eager to see the garden in the summer. I would say you have definitely gotten the hang of gardening in the desert!

  5. LastAngel 05/18/2011

    superb uniq sorry my pure english

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