A close-up of an Asiatic lily.

Also intermingled in the oasis beds are herbs, which Christenson likes close at hand to harvest for cooking. French tarragon, garlic chives, Mexican oregano and variegated thyme are some of her favorites. The oasis zone showcases unusual specimens as well, including the quirky stems of Harry Lauder’s walking stick (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’).

Recognizing the importance of vertical space in the landscape, Christenson used trellised vines to create more shade in the oasis zone. ‘Cecile Brunner’ and Lady Bank’s rose, ‘Goldflame’ honeysuckle and trumpet vine adorn trellises with their foliage and flowers. Her husband designed and fabricated metal gridlike trellises that are strong enough to hold the vines’ weight as they grow. The project unleashed his artistic streak, and he continues to create metalwork for the landscape as well as to paint murals on garden walls. “Dick supports my addiction,” jokes Cheryl.

In the transition zone, she sowed seeds or transplanted 1-gallon pots of wildflowers and perennials such as desert marigold, Jupiter’s beard, Mexican hat, and great plains verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida) and sandpaper verbena (V. rigida). Two more favorites are chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata), with yellow daisylike blooms exuding a light chocolate aroma, and germander sage (Salvia chamaedryoides) with blue flowers.

Other low-water-use plants in the transition zone include Arizona rosewood, desert honeysuckle, four o’clock, Mt. Lemmon marigold, Muhlenbergia ‘Regal Mist’, red yucca, sacred datura, spineless prickly pear, Texas mountain laurel, Texas ranger, trailing rosemary and yellow bird of paradise. In the arid zone, she has been adding firecracker, Palmer and rocky mountain penstemons, as well as hardy agaves and the intensely fragrant Salvia clevelandii.

Near the south patio, native mesquite trees are backlit by the sun. Pink Asiatic lilies appear in full bloom.

COLOR AND SCENT
Throughout the planning process, Christenson narrowed her plant selections to those that would provide color as well as fragrance, whenever possible. “Butterflies like purples, pinks and yellows, so I included flowering plants in those shades, such as angelita daisy, Caryopteris clandonensis and daylily,” she points out. Aptly named butterfly bushes (Buddleia sp.) can’t be beat for attracting butterflies, she adds. Wooly butterfly bush (B. marrubifolia) sometimes objects to the high-desert’s cold temperatures; Christenson placed hers in a warm southern exposure, and it has thrived.

“There’s an old gardening adage regarding plant growth that says a plant sleeps the first year, creeps the second year, and leaps the third year,” Christenson relates. The couple’s landscape growth seems to confirm that. Entering their fourth year, plants are filling in, and many are self-sowing around the transition and arid zones.

Some highly fragrant plants, such as citrus, jasmine and scented geranium, do not withstand cold. So she grows them in containers to bring indoors during winter. Her husband designed and built a greenhouse tucked against the home’s eastern wall. However, the structure was soon overflowing with plants.

The solution was to enclose a southern-facing patio to create a warm and sunny Arizona room and fill it with the larger cold-tender specimens, including bougainvillea and ferns. The greenhouse remains for smaller pots of cacti and succulents, geraniums and cuttings.

The abundance of color in her landscape demonstrates that high-desert gardening challenges have not deterred Christenson from doing what she loves. There are always new things to learn, setbacks to overcome, and successes, seeds and cuttings to share with others, she has discovered. “Nothing is written in stone when it comes to gardening,” Christenson states. “Just don’t give up.”