Garden landscapes have a design flavor or theme. The design flavor or style is all yours and should be something you love. While some people crave chocolate and don't care for vanilla, others think vanilla is the only flavor for them. Garden design is reminiscent of the same thing. You would think that living in the low desert limits you to just a yard stuffed with a saguaro cactus and rock pit, forever limiting you to vanilla ice-cream. This myth I believe was generated by the old western movies, depicting Arizona as a barren, wasteland. Residents' of Arizona know the desert's little secret of the limitless flavors available. Would you believe you can have not only a saguaro cactus, but a wide variety of succulents, herbs, and plant material in your personal oasis? Knowing this secret gives low desert dwellers an ample array of choices in landscape flavors. Often, having a broad range of choices doesn't always help new gardeners but scares them into constructing the gravel pasture. Don't be frightened because you can confidently decide what garden flavor you are, creating a lush desert oasis in your yard. Discovering your garden theme or flavor can actually be the most fun of the process.

Let's begin with a scavenger hunt. See I told you this would be fun. Go on a scavenger hunt for styles, and designs. Delve into colors, furniture, and anything you like in home and garden magazines. While many magazines and books out in the market spotlight the northwest climates, they still contain fantastic pictures and design techniques you can browse through. I encourage you to create a "scrapbook" of pictures of the designs and gardens you are fond of. Tear pictures out from your magazines or photocopy pictures from books and magazines you can borrow from the library. Peruse around town and take pictures of landscapes you find irresistible as well as take pictures of gardens and designs while you are on vacation. Keep them organized by slipping them into clear plastic covers enclosed by a binder. Make sure to include numerous pages in your binder. Take your time compiling your portfolio and you will be very pleased with end result. Remember the more time you take the more

choices you are going to have when you go to make your final decision, as well as examples to pull elements from. I suggest that you have at least 20 diverse references that you like. You will discover through this process that you will start to gravitate toward a particular style. Take advantage of the big bucks other people spent and enjoy the illustrations and photos designed persistently by professionals.

Once you have a reference binder of visual aids of what good designs consists of, it's time to weed out the ones that aren't your favorite. Narrow down to three examples from your reference binder and more then likely you will discover a theme. At this point you are going to get a candid idea about what shape your garden and landscape are going to take. Those of you that have been able to confine to one design are ready to move into taking advantage of local garden resources and constructing the bones of your design. For those of you who ended up with 2 completely different styles or even three, DON'T PANIC! Also, what if you have a spouse or family member, who has a completely different style than you? Rather than having two favorite styles or flavors being a detriment, I have found that I can often combine styles giving me my own unique style or flavor. I state this because I happen to be one of those people, who like an array of styles. I love deep, dark wood furniture and antiques; traditional, but my heart pitter patters over vivid colors; certainly non-traditional. These similar desires often ensue in designing my garden and landscape. I think tropical gardens are give gardens a small bit of a far-away feel with papaya and banana trees, but I have a soft spot for cottage gardens with roses, and sunflowers, taking me back to my childhood. As long as you use good basic design principles, you can combine styles effectively. For instance, have you ever heard of French Country or French Contemporary in home decorating? While these styles are predominately French, one encompasses country overtones; feeling light and simple, while the French Contemporary has contemporary overtones that are sleeker, and more defined. These decorating flairs were combined by a designer or even a creative homeowner somewhere along the way and are now popular, distinctive styles. Garden landscape designs are also capable of combination and can award you with an artistic backdrop for your home. The main factor is deciding on one style to be the main choice to be complemented by your other design flavors.

Once you have decided what your flavor or flavors are, you are on your way to a functional garden design that will be aesthetically pleasing to you and your neighbors. Then, it's time to look at the next step, learning what resources are available to assist you in flavoring your landscape and make it not only innovative but a functional outdoor space. After all who wants to buy a cute outfit that won't fit?