Desert Gardening

I spent  Friday-Monday on a job application and then found out that my babysitting job didn't need me for Tues/Wed. Big bummer on the pocket book. So, I needed a break and some reconnection to creativity. So, planting began! Korey has wanted this cactus, it is called a prickly pear cactus, and each of the little nodes has hundreds of thorns in each. According to the nursery, one way to plant it is to cut the bottom off of the planter. Then, you cut vertically and place it into the hole dug into the planter. Once it is in you just start to lift the wrapping off. If we can keep it alive--this sucker could live upwards of 20 years!

This will turn a pretty purple in the winter and can get very tall

 Next up I wanted to put the pots Korey and I found in June to use. But, there is also no "curb appeal" to the front of the house. So I came up with a red, yellow, gray theme. Korey found these really cool metal flowers and I was struggling to find a spot for them. I moved the grill to the other side of the yard and made a little wall. As you can see, there are all kinds of power/cable boxes to block. I think a simple screen or lattice spray painted gray and placed behind it will really give it a fresh look. I spray painted old pots that were in the yard and a lantern which we found at Marshall's but was never used. I think it adds some nice height. 

On the left I put the flowers, painted pots, and the cactus will go right behind those. However, right now there is a 4 inch scorpion I trapped under a bowl back there!  Waiting for Korey to come home and kill it. I took care of stomping on a baby one last week, but no way can I tackle this. 

And I was super happy with how my address plate turned out! Inspired by the Nate Berkus show, I went to the craft store and bought the wood frame, then spray painted the base coat yellow. Then I found adjustable (key!) acrylic numbers. Put those on the front and then spray painted the red. I set it there for now, but hopefully it can go right under the lamp.