Flower Fun in Utah & Nevada With The Golfing Gardener
These days I have two obsessions - golf and gardening. I am happiest when I can combine both, like I did recently on my golf trip to Utah and Nevada. I quickly became fascinated by desert flowers when on the first hole of the Sand Hollow golf course I saw a bush next to the tee box with striking yellow flowers with long deep red stamens. Soon I was as focused on the many different flowers incorporated into the golf course design, as I was on the undulations of the greens. Perhaps that is why I didn’t play well and only won one SNIP over 3 days. Link: Golf Games Explained
What I loved about desert flowers is how delicate many of them are. It was a bit bizarre to see these small colourful flowers thriving in the dry, desolate ground full of rocks. It was a miracle anything could grow there, let alone flower.
Bird of Paradise Shrub
Turns out the exotic flower on the first hole was a “Bird of Paradise Shrub” native to South America and has been introduced to the US mostly in the southwest. Strangely it is part of the bean family. It is drought resistant which makes it ideal for the hot southwest climate. Unfortunately, it is hardy only to Zone 7, maybe 6 in some places, so won’t work in my Calgary garden next year.
Here is a fun photo exhibition some of the other fun flowers I enjoyed while golfing in Utah and Nevada.
Last Word
Some say, “golf is good walk spoiled,” but I disagree. I say, “golf is just a long walk in a garden.”
FYI: "Golf is a good walk spoiled," is often attributed to Mark Twain, but that can’t be true as it was first used in 1948 and Twain died in 1910. Source CBC News “10 popular quotes and who really said them.”
I am thinking next summer I might try to create a small desert garden either at my house or down the street at the Grand Trunk Garden.
If you want to read more about the golfing gardener here as some fun links:
Garden Flaneuring: Try it you might like it!