Perched high above St. George is a beautiful desert garden.
I don't miss the houses we have lived in but I do miss my gardens.
So when there is a garden to go to that is where I want to be.
This desert landscape has over 170 different desert plants. Look how perfectly marked they are.
The garden showcases the beauty of water smart landscapes giving information on designing, installing and maintaining a desert landscape.
The garden covers nearly 5 acres.
The project is a collaboration of Washington County Water Conservancy District, the City of St. George and the Virgin River Program.
Many of the plants were familiar to me like this firecracker penstemon.
Many I have had in one of my gardens like this Perky Sue.
The pretty Pink Gaura was bobbing in the breeze.
The blossoms on the Flowering Locust brought back memories.
I had an Idaho Flowering Locust in my front yard in Wheatland, CA that started out looking like this young sapling.
Columbine sweet columbine.
I have always had columbines in my gardens.
Such a pretty plant that seems to agree to grow almost everywhere.
Lovely lovely lavender.
It even has a slot canyon. This day it was hung with Easter Eggs that danced and glittered in the sun.
The park includes a man-made stream with water pumped from the Virgin River. The information signs say the stream contains 6 local fish species. Try as hard as we could we didn't see any.
Pretty Orange Globe Mallow that we see growing along the roadside everywhere in the southwest.
Ice Plant was covering the ground in many places.
Who says hot pink and orange don't go together?
Rock Roses have the happiest faces.
The Texas Mountain Laurel was just beginning to bloom.
The Claret Cup Cactus blooms were definitely the stars of the show.
The blooms give way to juicy edible fruits that wildlife love.
We spent several hours in this little 5 acre spot and much of it was on this relaxing swinging bench or under a deeper shade cover.
Perfect time for our visit. It seemed everything was in bloom.
Almost every plant was labeled but not this one that caught our eye because it was so unusual. (Where is granddaughter Bailey Harper when we need her? She knows every plant out there.) Those horizontal pink growths are its flowers and this is about as open as they get. I had to do a little research and found that it is a Silver Torch Cactus. It is native to high mountain regions of Bolivia and Argentina.
Appropriate for this Easter week-end. Cinnamon Bunny Ears Cactus.
The garden opened to the public in 2015.
All this and it is free. I would have happily paid an entry fee for such an enjoyable afternoon.