Photos by Richard Maack A night-blooming cereus cactus (Cereus peruvianus) is a stand-out against the entry patio’s purple wall.

New plants and savvy fixes transform a small nondescript patio into a colorful oasis

Landscape designer Marc Vargas is only half-kidding  as he tells client Gretchen Coco he’s ready to buy back her big cardon grande cactus.

The Arizona woman’s good-natured laughter signals “Not a chance.”

It was Vargas who planned the lush configuration of cacti and succulents for the entry patio at Gretchen and husband Mike’s Carefree home. Once unattractive and often too sunny for comfort, the snug spot now lives large with a cozy shade sail-covered dining area; the soft trickle of a water feature; and those spectacular-looking desert-friendly plants, many of them specimen varieties.

Save for an organ pipe cactus, the patio used to be dominated by juniper bushes. “It just looked so horrible,” Gretchen recalls. And, her husband interjects, “We used it, but we wouldn’t invite anyone there.” The two were able to put up with these conditions when they lived in their home part-time. But when they moved in full-time, things changed.

Improvements were tackled in phases, beginning in 2000. The result: The patio has become a place for daily respite, casual entertaining and the container gardening Gretchen enjoys; it also satisfies her ever-growing passion for cacti.

In the years since Vargas and the crew from Desert Foothills Landscape began their work, the original plants and those Gretchen still adds from time to time have thrived. Set in narrow planting beds against the patio’s walls—and interspersed with boulders and potted plants—are varieties ranging from Cardon, organ pipe, golden barrel and hedgehog cacti to numerous aloes and agaves. When in bloom, they add the color the couple desired.

Argentine giant cacti grow in a rocky bed between large boulders (foreground); they provide a hint of the desert oasis that lies beyond the entry gates. Lady Banks’ roses climb up the archway, and an agave stalk juts out over a rock.

The lush, naturalistic appearance of the many plant varieties in the Cocos’ garden spaces is what Vargas saw while growing up in Cuernavaca, Mexico. To achieve such a look, he says, it is important to consider several variables: how large the plant will be at maturity, or if it can be trimmed to maintain a desired size; the textures and shapes of the plants, whether they are round, spiky or vertical, for example; and the placement of plants in a way that creates a layered look, such as small plants in front, medium in the middle, and taller specimens in the back or in more open areas.

Also crucial when placing plants in close proximity are their individual needs for sun and shade, drainage and hardiness during temperature variations, he adds. “Cacti are low-maintenance plants and require very little water. Most agaves and aloes require a little bit more water, so they are placed near a plant that will require more, and they absorb some of the water from that irrigated plant.”

Choosing  just the right vegetation for the Coco garden resulted in “an explosion of color in the spring, but also color and visual interest all year round,” Vargas notes. “Something exciting happens in the garden every day.”

Gretchen could not agree more. “It’s so beautiful,” she remarks. “People do love to come here. It’s like a secret garden. Outside the gate, you have no idea what’s in here.”