Southwestern Springtime Gardens - An Inspiration!

Recent increased hours of sunlight and warmer temperatures in my home town of El Paso, Texas were enough to set me daydreaming about the spring gardening season ahead. When the El Paso Rock and Cactus Club announced their annual tour of local desert gardens,  I knew how I wanted to spend a leisurely Saturday morning.  My intention was just to ooh and aah over other people's efforts. Little did I know that the tour would inspire a new gardening project at our house.

Here are some of the photos of gardens my husband Wayne and I viewed on the tour that started the creative juices flowing.

A pleasing assortment of rocks, cactus, clay pots, and native plants and bushes.

Purple verbena add color to this desert scene

Blooming Apache Plumes in a raised bed

Desert gardens can be shady too.

Armadillo enjoying life in the garden

A gardener cannot have too many pots

Cairns remind me of walking in Scotland

Back home,  I started feeling guilty about having neglected an area in our yard that receives late afternoon sun, which can be scorching. Gardening had been touch and go in this large area, with only the hardiest of native plants surviving:  Mexican Bird of Paradise, Mesquite bushes, Desert Marigolds, Prickly Pear Cactus, Red Bird of Paradise, Vitex, Golden Ball Lead Tree, and some volunteer Palo Verde trees.  I wandered out into this yard one pleasant evening about thirty minutes before sunset with the intention of doing a little pruning and raking. 

An inspiration built in my mind as I inspected the new growth on plants, listened to the songs of birds and cooing of doves, and looked forward to watching a brilliant sunset.   I saw the perfect spot.  It was under three palo verde trees that would some day grow tall and produce fragrant yellow blossoms.  

Wayne hauled an old metal four seasons bench around from the back yard and positioned it under the palo verdes. We swept off a crumbling sidewalk and used the rocks to create a round planting area. My first thought was to raise wildflowers in the circle, but hardy grasses and  native plants like guara or wallflower may add color needed in an otherwise green and gray landscape.

Here is a picture of the beginning of the newly repurposed yard.  Use your imagination to fill in the details! I'm still daydreaming.

House Concert- A New Musical Experience

Celtic music in the Desert Southwest?   Just last fall my husband Wayne and I had traveled to Scotland and Ireland in hopes of finding new musical experiences, but an opportunity was happening almost in our own backyard.  I received a Facebook post advertising a house concert for the Celtic band "Old Blind Dogs" to be held in our neighboring city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, about an hour's drive up the road.

House concert?  What could that be?  Who else would be attending?  How should we dress?  A phone call made our reservations.  The price?  Oh, about $20.00 or $25.00 per person, the young lady on the phone said.  "Take cash,"  she suggested.

Our GPS located the house address in an attractive Las Cruces neighborhood. Although Las Cruces is near my home city of El Paso, Texas, it differs enough in architecture, gardens, food, and social life to provide a brief escape from everyday life.  We rang the bell of a southwestern style house. not knowing exactly what to expect.  Another guest joined us at the door and assured us we were in the right place.  

A hostess welcomed us and offered food on one table and drinks on another.  Oops!  No one told us the house concert was also a pot luck.  Ah well, we will know to bring a dish or a drink next time. We deposited our cash entrance fee in a small box in the entryway and located a front row seat.  

The living room had been cleared and chairs set up, with a few prized seats on sofas or cushioned chairs.  The hostess introduced the "Old Blind Dogs" as being one of her favorite bands. They are a Scottish musical group that has been around since 1990, although many changes have occurred in the line-up during those years. They are part of a revival of Scotland's roots, and are currently on a five week tour of the United States. 

The present configuration of the band consisted of four members; one played the pipes and whistles, another fiddled, a third played a stringed instrument (a type of mandolin perhaps?) and did vocals, and a drummer.completed the band.

Old Blind Dogs,, Las Cruces, NM, March 2016

They were lively, friendly, and energetic. The band played two forty-minute sets with a twenty-minute intermission.  What a treat it was to be sitting very near the band members where I could watch their faces and observe their musical techniques.  A truly intimate setting. 

The atmosphere of the entire evening can be summed up in one word-relaxing.  No demands, no expectations, no moments of social discomfort. I'll be on the lookout for other house concerts in our area.  This new experience had a very happy ending.

To watch a Youtube video of a former "Old Blind Dogs"  band singing one of my favorite Scottish tunes,  "To the Beggin" I Will Go, " click here.  https://youtu.be/5biSoW1926I .