When its too windy for hot air balloons to fly....

you get your fingers dirty and build a miniature Arizona garden!

Friday we were visiting our friends in Lake Havasu City to attend a Hot Air Balloon Festival.  It was too windy for the balloons to fly!  So we needed to find something else to do. Cindy asked me where I had purchased my cactus and succulent plants in Az.  When I told her at Home Depot she brightened up and said "We have one of those here, let's go. I want you to help me build a cactus garden to take home to MN!"  So, off we went to Home Depot!  A few hours later:

Sun City West AZ Garden Club Plant Sale

Yep, of course, Garden Clubs are all over this country!

They all seem to have plant sales as fundraisers!   

Awesome plants and awesome low prices!  These appear to be plants they have propagated themselves for their sales!   I'll have to come back at sale time!

I just had to stroll down this walk and check out that greenhouse!

Denny's golf shoes....

I wonder how long before he finds them?

I copied this idea from Beth Solie's garden, which was on a garden tour last year!  She used MN hardy succulents, I've used desert succulents for these.   Love them!

So, what do you do when it rains in AZ?

Go plant shopping, of course!

So Harriet and Jan and I did just that!  Below are my purchases, except for Denny's two Amarylis.   The Asian theme fairy garden came back to Az with me, but is all plants purchased here last Jan.!  But I have a new plant to add to it!

Today I get some potting soil for a fun pair of planters!

Most of them are all preplanted containers which were so nice and so affordable, I just couldn't resist.  I'll enjoy them here and take them home with me in April to enjoy longer!

Roses in January

Yes, AZ is perfect for growing roses! 

This is blooming in our mini garden yard in the Senior Living Mobile Home Community this winter.  Arriving in time for New Year's Eve, this was a sunny welcome indeed!

So glad there is at least one rose bush for me to enjoy.  Later I'll be sharing with you the rest of the plants in our mini garden yard.  

A promise of what is ahead this winter!

Santa Hats!

Adorable?   Creative!   Makes one smile!

Denny saw this holiday decorated cactus the other day and couldn't resist taking a picture!  Glad he did.  

Interesting how fast the holiday decorations come down in AZ!  Seems like NY Day everyone was outside undecorating! Maybe its cuz its not so cold outside?

New record set!

Well,  I made it 17 hours in Mesa, AZ before I purchased a plant!  According to my husband, this is a new record, it usually takes a few days!

I was stocking up on groceries at Cosco for our winter season abode and here was this wonderful display of succulent planters!  I recalled with a smile that I had just the place for it in a seating area on the porch!  So, it noticed my smile and hopped right in the cart!  Of course, I just had to take it home then!  Happy New Year to me!

It  will come back home to MN with me and I'll enjoy it inside until warmer weather arrives in May and then it will reside outdoors until Oct.  Maybe it will enjoy cabin life this summer?  

 

A New Year celebration planter