For twenty years Mary Irish, along with her husband Gary, tended a garden in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the years they transformed it into a lively and lovely spot that reflected both its place in the world—hot, dry, and often hostile to gardeners who don’t understand its ways—and the particular passions of its two creators. Of course, not everything went as planned, and the garden talked back as much as it obeyed. But for these two gardeners, the unexpected outcome is one of gardening’s great pleasures. 
Mary Irish is a delightful writer. With grace, wit, and obvious affection, she tells the story of how she and Gary transformed a barren half-acre plot around their house in the center of Greater Phoenix into a haven: for its creators and their friends, for the birds and insects and other critters that have discovered it, and for the plants that have made it their home. Although it describes the experience of gardening in one of the most extreme climates in the inhabited world, A Place All Our Own will interest anyone who gardens—and everyone who enjoys a well-told, true-life nature tale.

A Place All Our Own: Lives Entwined in a Desert Garden

History

Irish, Mary

Americas

University of Arizona Press

Newcomers to the Southwest usually find that their favorite landscape plants aren't suited to the hot, dry climate. Many authors offer advice on adapting plants to the desert; now Mary Irish tells how gardeners can better adapt themselves to the challenge.
Drawing on her experience with public horticulture in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Irish explores the vexations and delights of desert gardening. She offers practical advice on plants and gardening practices for anyone who lives in the Southwest, from El Paso to Palm Springs, Tucson to Las Vegas.
Irish encourages readers who may be new to the desert—or desert dwellers who may be new to gardening—to stop struggling against heat, aridity, and poor soils and instead learn to use and appreciate the wonderful and well-adapted plants native to the desert. She shares information and anecdotes about trees, shrubs, perennials, agaves, cacti, and other plants that make gardening in the Southwest a unique experience, and provides further information about plants from other desert regions that will easily adapt to the Southwest. In addition to descriptions of plants, Irish also offers tips on planting, watering, pruning, and propagation.
For anyone who has struggled to maintain a patch of green or blanched at their water bill after unproductive irrigation, the answer to an attractive landscape may be as close as the desert around you. And for anyone who has bought a catalog guide to desert plants and not known which to choose, this book can set you on the right path. Mary Irish shows how to take heart in available plants of adaptable beauty in a book to enjoy while waiting for the next planting cycle.

Gardening in the Desert: A Guide to Plant Selection and Care

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Gardening & Landscape Design

Drawing upon her vast knowledge of perennials and how they perform in the arid Southwest, Mary Irish has produced the definitive guide for gardeners who want to create lush, colorful gardens while keeping artificial irrigation to a minimum. This book will help Southwest gardeners meet the challenge of growing perennials successfully by providing inspired, practical information on how to design dry-climate gardens and an A-Z guide to 156 proven plants. Each entry includes the plant's scientific and common names, distribution, cultural needs, drought tolerance, and ornamental characteristics. Written in a clear, reader-friendly style and profusely illustrated with sparkling color photographs, this invaluable volume makes Irish's expertise available to every gardener.

Perennials for the Southwest: Plants That Flourish in Arid Gardens

Timber Press

Like gardeners everywhere, gardeners in the Southwest want home landscapes that include lush, thriving trees and shrubs. But contending with difficult soils, three-digit summer temperatures, and minimal rainfall can pose a daunting challenge. To add to the dilemma, many plants that prosper in other parts of the country can't be grown in the Southwest without resorting to wasteful artificial irrigation. The solution to this conundrum is choosing plants that are adapted to the rigors of the southwestern climate. In Trees and Shrubs for the Southwest, readers will find profiles of more than 200 of the most attractive, easy-to-grow, and climate appropriate trees and shrubs. Mary Irish also provides expert information about how to use trees and shrubs in the garden, how to plant and care for them, and how to combat common pests and diseases. This comprehensive title also includes clear and concise instructions on common tasks such as planting, staking, and pruning. From feathery-leaved acacias to bright-flowered desert willows, tough-as-nails mesquites to silvery Texas rangers, homeowners who want to create an attractive, sustainable landscape will find no better resource.

Trees and Shrubs for the Southwest: Woody Plants for Arid Gardens

Do I prune my hydrangea in the fall or do I wait until early spring? When is it safe to put out tomatoes? Can I divide iris now? 
If you have ever asked yourself questions like these, "Month-by-Month Gardening in?The Desert Southwest "is for you. Gardening is a journey, not a destination. The day-by-day gardening experiences - planting a few onion sets in the first warm afternoon of spring? the surprises - a purple crocus before the snow has even gone ? the satisfaction - fresh green beans on the dinner table, or tomatoes, bright and red, safely in quart jars ? these are the things that keep the gardener coming back year after year. 
"Month-by-Month Gardening in?The Desert Southwest "is packed with information that explains what needs to be done and when it needs to be done in the southwestern garden. Topics include: The most effective planting techniques. How and when to prune. The best season for fertilizing your lawn. The differences between bare-root, container, and balled-and-burlapped plants. Eleven plant categories, including Annuals, Bulbs, Herbs, Vegetables, Houseplants, Lawns, Perennials, Roses, Shrubs, and Trees. Twelve monthly calendars for each plant category - 132 calendars in all! - that make is easy to find the proper gardening advice. 
Whatever your gardening interests or the time of year, you can take the guesswork and mystery out of gardening. You will become a more satisfied gardener ? and your garden will show it!

Month-By-Month Gardening in the Desert Southwest

Cool Springs Pr

Desert gardening presents its own unique set of challenges and knowing what maintenance tasks to perform throughout each month of the year is key to success. This quintessential guide walks you thorough a list of gardening to-dos, telling you exactly what dryland gardens need to look their best, no matter the season. With valuable care tips throughout the book, Arizona gardeners are handed the answers to the region's most common question. From pruning shrubs and trees to caring for cacti, succulents, and other desert perennials, this month-by-month guide to water-wise landscaping is the perfect handbook for desert homeowners. Easy to use, filled with colorful, descriptive photographs, and written by desert gardening expert Mary Irish, Month-By-Month Gardening in the Deserts of Arizona is like having a professional landscape advisor in the garden with you all year long. The Month-By-Month Gardening series is the perfect companion to take the guesswork out of gardening. With this book, you'll know what to do each month to have gardening success all year in the xeric landscapes of Arizona and other Southwestern states. Written just for gardeners where you live, you can be confident that the information is right for you. Other Month-By-Month Gardening books in this series include: Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Deep South, New England, Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, Florida, and others.

Month-By-Month Gardening in the Deserts of Arizona: What to Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year

Cool Springs Press

The Month-By-Month series is the perfect companion to take the guesswork out of gardening. With this book, you'll know what to do each month to have gardening success all year. Written by authors in your state, the information is tailored to the issues that affect your garden the most. When is the best time to plant trees and shrubs? Should I fertilize my lawn now? Is it time to prune my roses? What should I be doing in my garden this month? You'll find the answers to these questions and much more inside. This easy-to-use book highlights each of the ten major plant categories using a monthly format. It guides you through each month of the year, telling you exactly what your garden needs. It is like having an expert in the garden with you all year long. Valuable hints are located throughout the book, and beautiful photographs will inspire you. Written just for gardeners where you live, you can be confident that the information is right for you-and your garden will show it.

Month by Month Gardening in the Deserts of Nevada

Renowned Southwest gardening experts Mary Irish and Judith Phillips share their firsthand experiences with gardening in Arizona and New Mexico. The southwestern United States is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes and formations in the entire country. Alongside its famed attractions - the Grand Canyon, Rio Grande Gorge, and Havasu Falls among them - the region caters to a vast array of unique plant life, specially adapted to thrive in warm, dry climates as well as at high elevations. In Arizona &amp; New Mexico Getting Started Garden Guide, authors and local gardening legends Mary Irish and Judith Phillips feature region-specific advice on planting, growing, and caring for more than 150 of the best-performing and most desirable plants across Arizona and New Mexico. Flowers and grasses, desert perennials and trees, shrubs and vines . . . this plant-by-plant guide includes useful information for the novice and the experienced gardener alike, paying special attention to low-water-use species that enjoy the specific climates of these two states. From the spectacular blooms of the claret-cup hedgehog to the puffballs of the Baja fairy duster, each plant is featured with full-color photography, detailed planting and care instructions, and recommendations for plants that can peacefully coexist with them. With an intuitive layout, pronunciation guides, a custom icon key for readily accessible plant facts, and color-coded USDA zone maps, Arizona &amp; New Mexico Getting Started Garden Guide is the simplest, most foolproof plant manual for gardening everywhere from Carlsbad to Kingman.

Arizona & New Mexico Getting Started Garden Guide: Grow the Best Flowers, Shrubs, Trees, Vines & Groundcovers (Garden Guides)

Phillips, Judith

Gardening is now the favorite outdoor leisure activity in America. Homeowners realize the health benefits available from gardening and the potential increase in their home's property value. Regional gardening titles offer the most useful advice because they provide credible information on the plants that perform best in specific states. Gardeners want information they can trust and use successfully in their own gardens. The Arizona Gardener's Guide is a full-color plant selection resource guide written especially for Arizona gardeners. It includes the top 175 landscape plants as recommended by one of Arizona's most respected horticultural experts.

Arizona Gardener's Guide (Gardener's Guides)

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