Gardening in Scottsdale

Flowers that grow in Arizona

Pictured above: Salmon colored Zinnias.  
These Zinnias are probably the plant that I'm most excited about.  I grew them from seed, and as it turns out they are actually pretty easy to grow and just gorgeous.  I had this idea that I wanted to start a flower garden and keep cut flowers in the house most of the time.  I've had some trial and error when it comes to starting seeds.  I've learned that for me, starting a seed indoors is nearly impossible.  Seeds like natural sunlight, and more of it than I would have imagined.  Even outdoors on the porch if the spot never got hit with direct light, the seeds struggled to grow.  

Zinnias somehow do an amazing job in full sun during the summer months even with the extreme heat we get.  I grew these in South Scottsdale.  They did absolutely love the Monsoon rains we got this year but were also doing well in the extreme hot temperatures we got in July this year.  Full sun, no shade and these babies are still going strong!

The more you pick these beauties, the more they grow.  They only last about a week or so indoors, and have little smell.  

Pictured above: Elephant's food.  This might be the easiest plant to grow outdoors here in the Valley. They are gorgeous and green, and if you simply water them when you think about it they'll do great.  You can even cut a piece off, stick it in dirt and it will grow!  The plant on the right are pieces I cut off from the plant on the left and they've grown bigger in just a few months and I did nothing special.  I always recommend this plant to anyone who thinks they just can't have any outdoor plants, they are SO easy.  They do need the sun, so I don't recommend them as an indoor houseplant, however that being said, just because I can't make them work indoors, doesn't mean its not possible.

Pictured Left: Bougainvillea
This is a love it or hate it plant.
Me personally, I fall into the love it camp.
When I bought my house there had been unknowingly to me a bougainvillea plant cut all the way down to the ground.  I never watered it, it just started growing and today is a large healthy flowering plant.  I occasionally hit it with the hose and that's all the water it takes and it thrives in full sun.

Reasons that some people don't like it:
​It does drop a lot of flowers, it has thorns which makes it difficult to cut back, and it does need trimming because it grows pretty quickly.

Pictured Left: My planting calendar.
I couldn't find something that I liked online, so I created my own.  & I've got a blank version attached below that you are welcome to download, and fill in your own planting calendar.

planting_calendar.pdf
File Size:	947 kb
File Type:	pdf

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