We’ve been hard at work this week, mostly in the front courtyard — the space we now call the Hygge Garden. And we finally have progress. We’ve gone from an empty courtyard to a space with real, visible life.
There have already been successes and failures, but the biggest surprise has been the plants that are neither.
What do I mean? I posted a picture on Instagram of new leaves forming on one of my English roses — Princess Alexandra of Kent (Alex, for short). Here she is now, fully decked out in foliage and covered in multiple buds.
I can’t wait to see her flowers: dark pink, ruffled, classic English roses. How many leaves are on the other four English roses I planted? Zero. That’s right. None at all.
I was tempted to assume they were dead. As success rates go, 20% is…not great. But gardening in Phoenix is making me far more tolerant of failure, which anyone who knows me will tell you is a good thing. The canes are still green in places, and my research says English roses can take up to three years to establish here. Some spend their entire first year building roots with no visible growth at all.
So I’m left wondering what’s happening below the surface. I hope I’ll have five healthy rose bushes next year. But truth be told, I’m pretty happy with this one overachiever.
New Trees for Shade and Structure
The biggest additions this week are our new trees. We added two twenty‑five‑gallon potted olive trees (Olea europaea ‘Wilsonii’, fruitless). We have two in the back already, and they’ve handled the Phoenix heat and light without batting an eye.
I know I need to create shade, but I don’t want a hard structure that closes off the sky. So I’m opting for shade from trees. It will take time for them to grow, but I’m not in a hurry.
I’ll show you the other trees another day. For now, here are our lovely new babies in the early morning light.
“There exists a light in spring.”
-Emily Dickinson
We also added two potted pygmy date palms and an orange tree. If the orange struggles, it will end up in the Lemon Grove (which would then need a new name). But I would love to smell orange blossoms while I sit out front, so we’re giving it a chance in the Hygge Garden.
Spring Color: Zinnias, Petunias, and Calibrachoa
Most of our color right now is coming from heat‑tolerant annuals like zinnias, petunias, and calibrachoa. Humphrey helped us shop for these.
They’re fighting to get a foothold, and I expect the summer heat will eventually take them out, but for now we have flowers. And as a happy surprise, we also have hummingbirds hovering outside our office window. It must be the purple calibrachoa — they seem to love it.
Small Beginnings, Real Progress
These are our beginnings this year. They’re not huge, but they’re ours, and we’re happy. The Hygge Garden already feels softer and more welcoming.
There’s more work ahead, and next week I’ll show you how we plan to bring more vertical elements into the garden — structure, height, and a little more of that English‑meets‑Phoenix feeling I’m chasing.
Once more unto the breach,
🌿 Ruby
P.S. from Humphrey
“With all this gardening, they still found time to take me to the groomer. I’ve been wronged.”