An Underwater Desert

My mother is a painter and a gardener, so it makes sense that her plantings have an artist's eye. I can't really do this year's doorway composition justice with my photos, but it is my favorite garden arrangement of the season, so I wanted to share it anyway.

Above, there is a wide, squat pot just southwest of center... It is stuffed with succulents my mom picked up in the spring. To me, they look like sea anemones that are cactuses. The mat underneath is golden moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea').

Below, the zinnias in the background are terracotta colored when they open, fading to sun-bleached sand when they are spent.

This astounding purple fellow has little cups that hold water.

Sometimes people ask if the saddle shoes were mine when I was small. They weren't. I was born to be woods-wild, so white would never do.

You can only see its leaves in the first picture, but this hot red hibiscus unfurls a flower or two each morning.