Strike 3

When we bought our LHC home, there was a tree living in a raised bed near the front entry, stood about 6' tall.  "What kind of tree was it?" you ask.  Not sure but quite likely a Ho-Humia Nondescriptus.  Borrrrring!  Certainly didn't merit a focal point position in front of the house.  Took one look at it and thought you're sooo outta here!  And so it came to pass.

Now then, what to replace it with?  An orange tree of course!  Citrus does well in Arizona if provided with adequate water and fertilizer, and I'm an excellent provider thereof if I do say so myself (especially fertilizer).  The orange tree flourished, beau coup oranges 3 years after planting.  But, nary a one fit to eat - all pulp, no juice. Turns out the variety I selected was racist, wouldn't consider cross-pollination in its wildest dreams.  So, it too bit the dust.

Okay, what next?  Hours of arduous research spent finding a plant of the right size and temperament resulted in the next selection, a pygmy date palm.  My neighbors have several, 5-6' tall, attractive (picture below), seemed like a no-brainer.  Bought one, stuck it in the ground, gave it lots of TLC.  To no avail: darn thing just sat there, never grew an inch.  Strike 3!  You're out!  Enough, already!  No more plants!*  How about colorful glazed pottery? 

I ripped out the palm and tossed it over the back fence to RIP with its predecessors.  Then I capped off the irrigation pipe to the planter and off we went in search of pottery.  We didn't find much, LHC not being the Mecca of fine yard art.  Trish was headed off to Santa Fe in a few weeks, and we knew she'd find a better selection there.  And indeed she did, bought a tall pot and a sphere.  We wanted a group of 3, found the third one at the local Lowe's.

So, here's the new look.  The gabion cube was a bonus.  When I ordered the parts for the mailbox, they screwed up, sent 6 extra 2X2 panels, so might as well put them to use.  I made the copper trellis several years ago, brought it from OR.  That thing on the far right in the picture below is a rain chain, much more attractive than a plain downspout.

*No more plants in just that one spot, still have 8 types of cacti and a century plant in other areas.