An Eremophila hygrophana blooming its heart out while sitting in a pot waiting to go to a job site. A Strawberry Hedgehog (Echinocereus engelmannii) shows of its spectacular purple bloom in front of a sea of Golden Dyssodia (Thymophylla pentachaeta). The Golden Dyssodia is one of my all time favorites. Though it only lives a few years, it reseeds readily and spreads itself around the garden, even to places with no irrigation. It almost never stops blooming and creates little golden swaths in the yard, with little or no effort beyond planting the first plant or two. Blue Flax (Linum lewisii) and California poppy (Eschscholtzia californica) are both available as wildflower seeds and will reseed themselves readily. Blue Flax (Linum lewisii) has truly remarkably blue flowers. It is available both as a potted plant and can be grown from seed. This flower is growing from one of the large genus of cacti called Opuntia, many of which are commonly called "beavertails because of the shape of the pad. All have spectacular, glistening large blooms in the spring, but this one is even showier with both red and yellow in the floral cup. A panorama of plants ranging from California Poppy in the foreground, through Powis Castle Wormwood, an American Agave and finally, growing on the other side of the wall (without irrigation and only infrequent hand watering) an African Sumac (Rhus lancea). All are very drought tolerant plants. A blanket of Gazania (Gazania sp.) blooms cascades around and over old railroad ties. The flowers are wonderful, but so is the silvery, fuzzy foliage. Indian Blanket Flower (Gaillardia sp.) has a stunning large blossom and a very long bloom season. Some varieties are larger than others (I prefer the smaller ones), and there are also variations in flower color... but how can you beat this stunning yellow/red combination!? In this moderate water-use area of the garden, roses and bulbines (Bulbinella "Tiny Tangerine) share space and bloom time in front of a big and old Indian Hawthorne (Rhaphiolepis indica). Bulbines are actually quite drought tolerant, but like many desert plants, can grow in more moist areas as well. A close-up of flowers of one of our native plants, Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua). Many of these individual plants have volunteered in my garden. What can I say: the happy gardener amongst his flora. At my feet is Trailing Gazania (Gazania sp.) in bloom. The tree to my left is my Texas Ebony (Ebanopsis ebano). Though it is a bit cold sensitive and may freeze to the ground in an especially cold winter, I chose this tree because of its tendency to be a "bird-condo"... currently I count 5 or 6 nests in it and the tree is still not all that large. Included are both nests of Verdin and a hummingbird nest all of 2 inches across. Oxalis (Oxalis sp.) blooms pink in front of the silver foliage of a variety of Dusty Miller. I inherited this particular species of Dusty Miller when I bought the house 18 years ago. I love it, but can't seem to find this special variety in the nurseries, and I still haven't figured out its botanical name. Sometimes I find seedlings, little baby volunteer plants, in the spring and I transplant them around the yard. | 
