9 minute read
BACKYARD BLOOMS
TThe hardened clay soil of our dry desert might not look like fertile ground, but with a bit of careful tending, timing and persistence, a colorless and barren backyard can teem with colorful blooms — even year-round!
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The Valley gardening community is full of flower-growing enthusiasts who have found connections on social media — particularly Instagram — where they share photos of seedlings to bouquets as well as trade tips and even seeds.
MARY’S BACKYARD BLOOMS
Mary Shirley grew up in Tennessee, working in her grandparents’ “massive” garden. It shaped her as a gardener and as a person.
“I would spend my summers picking peas, collecting vegetables and watching my grandma can pizza sauce,” Shirley says. “I think it made me who I am. It gave me my strong work ethic.”
When she moved to Arizona nearly seven years ago, she wanted enough land for chickens and a garden of vegetables and flowers. But the flowers brought her so much joy that she soon found herself replacing the vegetable beds in favor of flowers.
Photos Courtesy of Mary's Backyard Blooms
“The flowers just bring pure magic to my desert backyard,” Shirley explains.
Some of her favorite surprises have been daffodils, dahlias and hollyhocks. A pack of hollyhock seeds she threw out on the desert soil has now come back year after year with mostly just rainwater.
One of her absolute favorite flowers to grow is roses. Specifically, David Austin roses, of which there are more than 200 varieties. These beauties are bred by an Englishman of the same name and in his nearly 60 years of work he has drawn a dedicated following. Some have so many-layered petals they appear to be peonies.
“[David Austin roses] take my breath away,” Shirley says. “Some even smell like citrus. They’re bred for their scent and dozens or hundreds of petals and they grow here so easily.”
Shirley says that the gardening community here in Arizona is like nothing she’s ever experienced; she’s found her fellow gardeners to be generous and inspiring. Sharing online has led to camaraderie and some great results in the garden. The benefits don’t stop at what can be arranged in a vase.
“The garden and growing things have given me such peace, hope and passion,” Shirley says. “I hope my flowers and posting will inspire those passions and hope in other people — even in difficult times. For me, personally, it has made such a difference in my life, my mental health, and my outlook on the world. It’s amazing what growing things can do for your soul.”
Instagram: @marysbackyardblooms
Photos Courtesy of The Potters Bench
THE POTTER’S BENCH
Stephanie Walker also finds gardening and being out in nature to be therapeutic.
“I feel we all need a little boost,” Walker says. “Growing up in Colorado, my parents always had a garden. I didn’t really like it at the time because it meant pulling weeds on Saturday morning, but I appreciated it. When my husband and I bought our first home 22 years ago, we had this little 8-by-10 garden bed that we started and that was really fun.”
That small garden bed has blossomed into an acre of land in Queen Creek, a master gardener designation from University of Arizona and a full-time business — The Potter’s Bench, a flower farm and garden consultancy that includes a website and blog, newsletter, workshops and a Community Supported Agriculture bouquet subscription service.
“People are just shocked to learn that we can grow these flowers here in Arizona,” Walker says. “It’s been fun to educate people and help them realize we tweak our growing season a little and can grow almost everything anyone else can grow. The bonus is we can really grow year-round. That’s one of the biggest plusses for vegetable gardens, especially. We can harvest from our vegetable gardens year-round if we choose to.”
Walker starts thousands of seedlings indoors and plants everything in full sun. Her summer crop bursts forth full of zinnias, cosmos, celosia, amaranth and lisianthus, planted in blocks of color. She is also a David Austin rose enthusiast and has at least 40 shrubs from the purveyor.
Sunflowers are planted successively — a tray of seedlings goes in the
Photos Courtesy of Cottage Garden
ground every week so they’re ready to sell throughout the season. The tall, large-headed sunflower stalks and blooms are strategically planted on the south and west sides of her vegetable garden, creating a natural shade screen.
“By the time it gets really hot in June, they’ve grown enough to shade my plants and I don’t have to rig up shade cloths,” she reveals.
thepottersbench.com Instagram: @the_potters_bench
COTTAGE GARDEN
Michelle Moghina’s earliest gardening memories were working in her family garden in Romania. The family escaped communism when she was nine years old after her father first swam the Danube into Serbia and settled first in New York City as a religious and political refugee. The family eventually moved to Michigan and her mother’s first requirement was to have a garden.
“I recall my mom bought a packet of zinnias and that’s the first thing she planted, along with a Rose of Sharon tree,” Moghina says. “I helped her plant and weed and water. When I was married 20 years later and moved to Arizona, it was a whole new ballgame; I had to re-learn a lot.”
She and her vegetable-gardening husband have made gardening a priority in every home they’ve owned and have transformed blank slate backyards into magical oases teeming with flowers that attract pollinators for the vegetables. With five children, they have quite a few helpers in the garden.
Moghina is known on social media for her charming cottage garden design. She works to mimic the look of plants that won’t grow well in Arizona by finding flowers similar in texture and color. For instance, most lavender doesn’t like our climate but Egyptian or fern leaf lavender does. David Austin roses figure prominently in her gorgeous garden, as do ranunculus, salvia, wallflowers, society garlic and various winter and spring bulbs.
During the blooming season, she brings bouquets to friends who might need a lift and sells bouquets — mostly to other Romanians in her community. It helps finance her seeds and supplies.
Added benefits to her verdant space include watching her children play, observing the comings and goings of bugs and insects and a little hummingbird who has made the Moghina garden its home since they moved in.
“She eats from my hand,” Moghina says. “She chases away the birds and bees and flies to me when I come into the garden. It’s worth all the work to be able to watch my kids enjoying the garden.”
Instagram: @azcottagegarden
EXTENDED VERSION
VISIT IMAGESARIZONA.COM TO READ AN EXTENDED VERSION OF THIS STORY, FEATURING MARY SHIRLEY, STEPHANIE WALKER AND MICHELLE MOGHINA’S TIPS FOR GROWING A GORGEOUS GARDEN IN ARIZONA.
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RECIPESpring Bouquet Focaccia
Serves: 12
Writer and Photographer Francine Coles thefancypantskitchen.com
As we welcome the start of spring, I love the idea of creating a piece of art out of your delicious bread. This spring bouquet focaccia is such an easy way to elevate a simple focaccia and make it worthy of any gathering of friends or family. It is perfect for Easter, graduation, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, showers or any other special occasion!
Ingredients:
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoon honey 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 2 boxes chives 1 bunch Italian parsley 1 pint cherry tomatoes
Directions:
In a medium bowl, add yeast, honey and one cup of lukewarm water then stir to combine. Set aside until foam forms on the surface of the liquid, about five minutes. Add 1/4 cup of oil followed by flour and salt. Using a fork, stir until a dough forms then turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until the dough is smooth and supple, about 10 minutes, then form into a ball.
Lightly grease a large bowl with one tablespoon of oil, then add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has just slightly more than doubled in size, about one hour.
Brush a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with two tablespoons of oil. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and, using your fingers, spread to the edges. Press all over to form dimples. Drizzle with two tablespoons of oil then cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rest until the dough puffs up slightly, about 30 minutes.
Set a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. While the oven preheats, decorate the dough with herbs and vegetables.
Arrange chives to resemble flower stems. Spread out parsley stems to look like leaves at the top of the chives. Cut cherry tomatoes in a zigzag fashion through the center, discarding seeds if possible. Cut some cherry tomatoes vertically in four segments without cutting through the base and fan open, arranging them to resemble flowers.
Drizzle decorated dough with the remaining two tablespoons of oil and sprinkle with flaky salt, to taste. Bake until the focaccia is golden at the edges and browned on the bottom, about 20 minutes.
Remove the focaccia from the oven and let cool slightly before using an offset spatula to slide it onto a cutting board. Top with basil and let cool completely, then cut into pieces and serve.
