A Place All Our Own: Lives Entwined in a Desert Garden

by Mary F. Irish

For twenty years Mary Irish, along with her husband Gary, tended a garden in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the years they transformed it into a lively and lovely spot that reflected both its place in the world—hot, dry, and often hostile to gardeners who don’t understand its ways—and the particular passions of its two creators. Of course, not everything went as planned, and the garden talked back as much as it obeyed. But for these two gardeners, the unexpected outcome is one of gardening’s great pleasures.  Mary Irish is a delightful writer. With grace, wit, and obvious affection, she tells the story of how she and Gary transformed a barren half-acre plot around their house in the center of Greater Phoenix into a haven: for its creators and their friends, for the birds and insects and other critters that have discovered it, and for the plants that have made it their home. Although it describes the experience of gardening in one of the most extreme climates in the inhabited world,  A Place All Our Own  will interest anyone who gardens—and everyone who enjoys a well-told, true-life nature tale.

Genres: Gardening

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 5 out of 5]

In death and destruction do we learn best.

Gardening in the desert is an exercise that requires patience and a love of nature. If one makes a slight mistake, it means death for the poor plant. The summer sun is unrelenting, there is little escape. However, the summer ends sooner than one thinks and the rest of the year is mild and almost benevolent. Desert winds and monsoonal rain can also wreak havoc, but they don't last long enough for too much injury to occur. The soil is sandy and alkaline, which is the easiest soil one can work with and quite a relief from fickle clay.

Just as it is said that adversity builds character, tough conditions build bark and a sturdy trunk in a tree.



The Palo Verde tree is a stunner, a living superhero of deep green trunks and blueish green branches. It is unique to the desert as it loves the climate and the soil and, apparently, the myriad numbers of hummingbirds who use it to rest and establish territory. When I moved into my desert abode, no trees were there, which meant I would need some future shade. A Palo Verde specimen was needed, an announcement of intention as the author writes, a tree that would define the relationship I would have with my garden. I now have a floral cafeteria of different plants, albeit one that will still require years of growth before it all comes together.

While this book is about Mary Irish's Arizona garden, it also applies to the low desert in California. This isn't written as a how-to guide, more of a long thoughtful treatise on acceptance and forgiveness. This means anyone can read it and apply the same sense to their own world of nature. Whether she's discussing the grey fox who would use her yard to vomit (Just goes to show that romance is misplaced where nature is concerned)...or the cats who refuse to have anything to do with the garden's upkeep (Royalty never does)...or the many desert insects ( who manage the realm in such a quiet, unseen manner)...this book is dear to my heart. There is a philosophy here.

This is, however, one of the greatest delights of a garden; the nearly hypnotic ability it has to make you slow down, consider things about life more carefully, wrangle over difficulties with care and imagination rather than anger and ferocity.

Book Season = Spring (nature's whims and dictates)

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography with lots of gardening detail. Will be much loved by gardeners, especially desert gardeners. Mary Irish writes well with humour and passion and an eye on the elemental things like weather, which anyone who gardens will relate to.