Apartment living brings out creative solutions for gardening. I recently taught a little workshop on container gardening, which proved a two-fold blessing. Researching the most efficient containers for desert conditions provided the information I needed for myself.
I always like to have samples and how-to displays for any subject I happen to be teaching, so by the time the workshop date arrived I had located resources for buckets, made and planted about a dozen different containers, and had a simple how-to handout worked up! Win-win!
So here is what my little piece of Eden looks like - the patio faces south, which can be a challenge, but there are two Shoestring Acacia trees providing dappled shade, so it's perfect for desert growing: morning sun, afternoon partial shade, evening sunsets!
We have had enough rainfall to bring on the desert wildflower show - spectacular! The cacti are such camera hogs, I'm starting with some recent shots from just around my "yard".
The yellow blossom is on a cholla - they have the NASTIEST, SNEAKIEST thorns, with HOOKS!!
I'm looking up the pink flower - not all flat paddle cacti are prickly pear, but it probably is.
The fruit, which develops by about mid August, looks like a red apple. Tortoises LOVE it! I'll be making sure Tuff gets a treat - although I think the fruit is still larger than Tuff, he is still a pretty small Desert Tortoise at only two years old!
