Murphy Desert Botanical Backyard

One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.
~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show

Far from a garden, but those who have visited our backyard abode know that while spacious and child-friendly, it was also very weedy and barren. Neither Tom nor I have a green thumb and it does take us a lot of effort to figure out gardening and landscaping since it doesn't come easily to us AND living in the desert, it is harder to grow plants and keep the grass lively and green.

After some back-breaking weeding, we fertilized and seeding (not too successfully, but it is a bit better!) and made a huge decision to spend some of our tax return on beginning some landscaping. By someone other than us.

At 5:45am on Friday, the doorbell rang and our green thumbs arrived, bringing two trees, several bushes and plants for our back border. While they look small now, I have been assured they will grow quickly over the next few seasons.

We chose a Chinese Elm and a sissoo tree, dwarf oleander, green cloud sage, purple lantana and red bird of paradise.
And my personal favorite, the octopus agave. I did pick it for its cute name, but also because it doesn't have spikes and the points are soft. It's just so cute!

They also dug up the bushes in the front of the house for us, so I am going research how to raise the bed and maybe put in some rose bushes and/or some flowers. Something that I have to work on so I can perhaps paint my thumb a pale shade of green.