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Please, No Plastic Pink Flamingos
Thank goodness for our hot, dry climate. Plastic objects like Pink Flamingos fade and rot quickly so they have a relatively short life cycle.  Tucson gardeners have found many substitutes, along with more traditional garden objects to display in their front and back yards.

While out and about for a bicycle ride the Tucson gardener happened to notice one neighborhood which seemed to have many homes with decorative objects planted in their front yards. There's no telling what sort of things decorated the residents' back yards.

Objects ranged from cement constructed figurines whether duck, rooster, burro or bird bath. There were wagons, rusted wheelbarrows and ore carts. An occasional waterless fountain was spotted, too.

Not far from the neighborhood at a busy intersection on the northwest side of the street a vendor sold all sorts of metal garden art.  Javelinas, rabbits, quail, blue wire saguaros, roadrunners, and the ever popular coyotes.  Across the street another vendor sold bleached out cow skulls.

All of these things, when placed in the garden can add to the interest and appeal of the desert garden.

A personal favorite I'm sure every passerby in the neighborhood enjoyed was a near life size metal sculpted buffalo. Unfortunately, before the yard art's picture could be captured on film for posterity it disappeared. Sold by the artist or stolen? One can imagine the buffalo and many others like it planted on a grassy hill near Sonoita where they could go from simple yard art to possible masterpiece.

The desert gardens of Tucson have their own unique southwest flavor and there's room for the clay pottery of Mexico, fountains, concrete tables, benches, arbors, trellis, and yes, if they make the trip from Florida, or escape from the Reid Park Zoo, maybe even a pink Flamingo or two.  More appropriate to the desert garden might be a replica of the migratory sandhill crane that visits the Willcox Playa every year.

Decorative and functional mailboxes add a whole new dimension to the landscape. In some neighborhoods where the lonely mailbox stands near the road it must be exceptionally strong so it's able to withstand unwarranted attacks - firecrackers, baseball bats, even hit and run using cars and trucks. But then that's another story. (1998)

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