Gardening Decisions

(Palm Springs-Style Gardening: the complete guide to plants and practices for gorgeous dryland gardens by Maureen Gilmer, and published by Sunbelt Publications, 2009)

After the recent wind storms that we have been having here in Palm Springs, the old bushes by the side of our garage that lead up along the path to our neighbor's condo were getting a bit bedraggled. In fact, they were really just about dead so we asked the gardeners to just take them out. It's been about a week or so now since they did, and the light along the path that was hidden in them now shines at night and yet we needed to plant something new there.

Last week a friend and I went to check out one of my favorite nurseries, Moller's Garden Center in Palm Desert, but I just couldn't decide on anything. It's a tough area to plant; faces north, is long and narrow, and is shaded by the garage most of the day except for a few hours in the late afternoon, the hottest part of the day. Anyway, after talking to three or four employees, I got a bit confused and left.

Then Thursday while Steve and I were at the Palm Springs Art Museum after viewing the Mapplethorpe Portraits before the show closes, we were browsing in the gift shop. Steve saw the Palm Springs-Style Gardening: the complete guide to plants and practices for gorgeous dryland gardens by Maureen Gilmer. Browsing through it I like how gardening expert Gilmer had various types of gardens popular here (Spanish, Mid-Century Modern, Bighorn Natural, Desert Modern, Mediterranean & Tropical) and her "Top 10 Picks" for each one. Now, if I bought every book published about Palm Springs, I'd have a mini library, but this one seemed most helpful in my current quest so we did.

Today we headed out again in search of something that would either fit into the "Spanish or Desert Modern" mold. First we headed to the garden center at the Living Desert in Palm Desert to see what they might have. We got a few suggestions, but since we had just missed their big garden sale, their selection wasn't as large as we had hoped. So back to Moller's we went so I could show Steve some of the things I'd be suggested a week earlier. This time I think we lucked out. We got an employee who was not only suggestive, but helpful and even more careful to guide us in selecting a single species instead of several even it wasn't what we had initially envisioned.

And the winner was Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora).