My white garden is in bloom.
I recently decided to change the flowers out in the urn. I had paperwhites planted there, but once they are done, the leaves are not as interesting as a focal point. I decided to dig them all out after they were done blooming, and move them to a few places in the backyard. In their place, I added some dwarf delphiniums from the nursery. I also added back in the stock that I had planted in the fall, which is about done for the season (it blooms as a winter/early spring annual in our climate). I also replanted the bacopa. I added in a few seedlings that were coming up in the garden as well (chamomile and larkspur). While the delphinium is a perennial, it acts more like an annual in our hot climate. I’ve decided that I’d prefer to buy a few annuals for the main focal points in each garden (the urn in the white garden and the center circle around the sundial in back) in order to enjoy some flowers there all year long, rather than waiting for seedlings that only flower for short times of the year. Come summer, I will be putting vincas in this urn, which are one of the few flowers that thrive in our hot desert summer sun.
The tulips have returned to the garden this year. Tulips are usually a one-time deal in hot climates. You pre-chill them for 10 weeks in the refrigerator in the fall to simulate a winter chill, and then you plant them. I did that with these the first year, and they bloomed for us in 2014. Last year I saw a few leaves, but no flowers, and I figured they were done. (You can dig them and rechill them if you want, however). This year they surprised me, howvever, with most of them blooming again, and several of them sending forth a couple of flowers per bulb. The tulips are smaller than they were the first year, which is to be expected. I am happy that they are multiplying in the garden; I certainly never expected them to return. The garden is in full shade all winter, and even now is still about 1/3 in shade.
Another flower to bloom again that also bloomed in 2014 but that didn’t bloom last year are my iris. The leaves came up in November, but they just started to show buds a week ago, and many are now open.
My iceberg roses haven’t bloomed quite yet, but they are all budded, so it won’t be long before they are covered with flowers. This will be their first bloom of the year. Since they are a floribunda rose, they rebloom every 5-6 weeks, until I prune them back in December or January. Once it starts getting really hot, the flowers will open smaller, around the size of miniature roses.
My alpine strawberries are blooming again. These prefer the shade (and will actually burn and die in the hot summer sun in my garden). They are all grown from seed. The strawberries are tiny white ones that are the size of my pinky nail when ripe. They have an intense flavor. In mild climates these can bloom and ripen all summer. Here, they are ripe in late spring for a few months, and again in late fall until our first frost.
The Meyer lemon trees are also in bloom again. I love the perfume from these blossoms. Eventually, these three small trees will grow as an evergreen hedge to cover the cinderblock wall (which is my neighbor’s back wall) and should provide us with lots of lemons for lemonade.
Three years ago this garden was just a dream on a piece of paper. Now it is full of flowers, fruit, herbs, and lettuce.
To see past pictures of my white garden, click here.
Absolutely beautiful!!!!! I’m so happy for you!!! Your hard work has really paid off. I bet all your neighbors adore driving past your house!
Your yard is so pretty. It really has a ‘park like’ setting. I am amazed that in the heat of the Las Vegas area you can grow such beautiful flowers. So very beautiful.. Thank you for sharing the pictures.
My Iris are blooming now too. Most of my plants came from my late mother in law. I remember her when I see them bloom. She also had many roses. She had a rose garden with 24 different kinds and color of roses. She was really a gardening person and spent most of her time in the yard. Her veggie garden was over an acre in size. She had several fruit trees at the back of the garden. Her watermelon and cantaloupe plants grew wild like in her compost…we picked as many as we wanted and could use at each visit. She lived in Johnson City TX. (the home of our late president LBJ) One of her favorite things to do was to drive down the road about 10 miles and view Lady Bird Johnson’s gardens. (they were open to the public back then) They she would come home with a lot of ideas and go to work. She moved plants around in her gardens like other’s move furniture in their home. I was always amazed at how her yard changed. She won ‘yard of the month’ so often in her little town it was almost a ‘given’ that she would win….
Stunning and inspiring!!
Here, in the (usually) frozen North, i’m getting the gardening bug, too. (This year has been unseasonably warm. We’ve gotten a bit more than half our usual snowfall.) I tend to plant more herbs that flower rather than just flowers. This year, i feel like doing things differently. I’ve ordered a Meyer lemon tree for inside growing; i’ve wanted one for years. (I used amazon gift cards) Mine will never look like yours, unfortunately! I’m going to lowes this AM where i’m hoping the plants are arriving and i can get some inspiration.
Exquisite – it’s been amazing watching this develop over the past few years. What a pleasure it must be to relax and enjoy it!
Also, those iris are GLORIOUS.
Seems like you are especially happy about the tulips. They look beautiful. I love how much pride you take in your garden. Wishing you, your family and all the readers wonderful Easter weekend.
I love your coment about her mving plants around in the garden like people move furniture in their home! I read home decor blogs, and many people realy like to rearrange indoors. I like to decorate and leave things in the house, but in the garden, I definitely have some things that I change up each year.
I am rather excited about them! I love tulips, and have grown them before here (at my last house a decade ago). I know they return in colder climates but they are such a rariety here.
I so appreciate the photos you post of your garden… Someday, I hope a visit to our in-laws in Las Vegas will coincide with one of your garden tours!
We’re still working on mastering our vegetable gardens in back, but I aspire to create a vision for our property that, like yours, contains ornamentals interspersed with beautiful edibles.
How did the original concept come to you? I’d like to learn more about how the plan came together!
I would think white blooms would be soothing to look at in the intense heat there. Well, as long as they will last in it. I bet the folks that drive by your house appreciate the beauty that is so different from most desert plantings. You’ve done a beautiful job in creating your dream. We bought a Meyer lemon, and I’m really excited about it arriving!
Hi Elizabeth! I talk about the plan in my original white garden post, if you go back through the archives (around March/April 2013). You can see my drawing on paper there too. I started the disgn by pinning ideas I liked to a Pinterest board. Pretty soon I noticed that I had the same theme going, both in color and in design. Since that was what was catching my eye, I made that my focus!
Right now it’s cooled down a bit; we had temperatures in the 80’s and we are back to the 70’s after a wind storm of several days, but in a couple of weeks we will be back to the 80’s, so right now it is just beautiful to be in the garden. Come summer the flowers that will be blooming are roses, vincas, and zinnias! The next couple of months wil have other things, though–I’m looking forward to those!
Brandy, I am one of your silent followers. I discovered your site during the recession years ago. My husband and I have 14 kids, five of which are adopted. I loved the positive way you embraced your financial challenges, something we have also done for years. You’ve encouraged me in so many areas with your creativity, from photography to cooking and gardening. I have appreciated your efforts for years now and wanted to say thank you!
Brandy, your white garden takes my breath away. Thank you for posting ‘a March update’.
If I had a garden now, it would be white, too, with snow and pussy willows 🙂
Really beautiful now! It is amazing to see how much has changed in three years 🙂
Thank you for sharing all the photos and congratulations that your hard work turned out so beautifully.
I absolutely love the white garden! I have watched this process since you began it and am amazed at how beautifully it’s filled in and grown since you first planted. Not such a very long time at all.
The garden is absolutely lovely.
Your garden is so beautiful! I would love to be a neighbor of yours to be able to walk by or drive by and see this lovely space!
I don’t usually comment, but I have to tell you, your garden is stunning. I love your photography. It’s so peaceful and beautiful.
Hello Brandy,
Your garden is beautiful. I am a silent reader, but want to let you know that you inspired me to create a theme for my front yard. I chose a butterfly garden interspersed with cactii. In South Texas I have to be choosy about what I plant, if intended to survive the summer heat. The butterflies and bees are loving the blooms on the sage and bulbine. I’ll be putting in some zinnias soon. Thank you for the inspiration!
It is so inspiring to see what you’ve created. Thank you for sharing. You’ve encouraged me to think about a theme for some of my gardens.
What a wonderful job you have done. You deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Literally.
Thank you! I remember the original post, and I’ve so enjoyed seeing the evolution of the garden! Yours looks so elegant, and I’m willing to do the work, but I sometimes struggle with catching a vision of what our whole yard wants to look like. I’ll keep pinning and see if something makes itself clear to me! If it’s even half as good as yours, I’d be thrilled!