As a result of leveling out the ground for the deck, we ended up with piles of fill dirt. Having just recently gone to Plants of the Southwest, I had several shrubs I was eager to plant. So, I grabbed my shovel, the wheelbarrow, and the hose and off I went. I’m hoping to turn our front area into a little courtyard retreat where we can sit and enjoy the colors, smells, butterflies, bugs, and bees!

I focused on plants that are more native to the Southwest, like the artemesia familia (or Sages): sand sage, big sage, russian sage, sage bush, rabbit bush or chamisa
Big Sage

sandcastle sage

I did plant two autumn olives, they aren’t exactly native, and can be invasive if you don’t watch them, but they are heat loving and drought tolerant. They get big fast, so are great privacy screens and windbreaks, which we need out here and the birds love them. I put them where there was nothing else so they wouldn’t push anything native out.

Autumn Olive

On a more sad note, we lost Riley’s Max chick this morning. He had been showing signs of distress for a couple of days, and he finally laid to rest sometime during the night. Riley was instantly moved to tears when we confirmed what her instinct was already telling her. They say at age 5 children start to actually understand the concept of death. We buried Max in the backyard and will watch for him in the stars in tonight’s sky. Spotty is hanging in there and will hopefully make it.