 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. In Palm Desert, Sharon O'Donnell grows subtropical and xeric plants in western and eastern gardening styles. Sharon, this is a fantastic xeriscape you have here. Well, thank you, Curtis. We love it. Was it always like this? No, it wasn't. This doesn't look anything like it looked like three years ago. It used to be mainly grass and pyrocantha, and then we took all the grass out. We kept some of the mainstays, the Bogan Villa, the producing olives. And some communities owe ban the olive because it's an allergy problem. Well, in the desert here, it's a very common landscaping plant because it's so durable, it's drought resistant. And part of the reason that we took the grass out of our yard is because we live in the desert. Water is an issue, and very, very water-wise. And besides, we didn't want to mow grass anymore. Your front entrance landscape is very inviting. It welcomes people to your house. To us, it's a work of art, and it was certainly a labor of love that we continue to put energy in all the time. If the front looks like this, what's the back like? Well, why don't you come with me? Let me show you some more. We have potocarpus here, and that has an oriental look to it. And the reason that we did that is because we're starting to make a transition now into our pride and joy, which is our zen garden. What inspired your zen garden? Well, my husband is a Boston native, and at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, they have a fabulous Japanese garden. So when we moved to the West Coast, he said, I have to have a zen garden. So this is his creation. And if you can look here, you see that the garden is surrounded by calm beauty, and we have elements of nature. We have the river rock here creates the movement of water. We have an animal here. This rock here was placed strategically because it looks like the head of a desert tortoise, and the planter becomes the tortoise's shell. And that's part of the reason that we've chosen the jasmine is because it's very full, it's green, and it's very fragrant, which is something you really want to have in your gardens next to color is fragrance. This is an island that represents just solitude, and when Richard comes to sit in the garden, that's exactly what he's looking for. He sees all the elements of nature here, the sun. At night time, you can see the moon, and it ties in with the other oriental structure that he's put at the end of the pool, and it also ties in the mountains and the skies. It all brings it together here. So we've done a careful selection of plants that look oriental, but yet again are going to survive in the desert heat. That's important to choose those plants, which will grow here. Absolutely, and we've had some trial and error here in this garden, but one thing, again, I have to go back to the shade of these palm trees. Leaving the skirts on has created the shade that allows us to have plants here that wouldn't make it during the summertime. We've got a lot of heat that comes from this wall here, so the shade absolutely helps it. We've got color, we have texture, we have rocks, grasses, and it all works together. It's a spectacular garden, and very restful, very peaceful. And very unusual. You won't find these often in the desert, and it was a challenge to get that effect, and I think we've successfully accomplished that. And this garden is also fairly water-conservative. Oh, absolutely it is. Everything here is on drip irrigation. The preceding was a production of New Mexico State University. The views and opinions in this program are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the NMSU Board of Regents.