Desert Bloom

Mesquite and Other Desert Trees

The best desert trees for a Las Vegas yard, from mesquite to fern of the desert.

How to water a desert garden in Las Vegas summers

What the lantana is trying to tell you

Growing flowers in Las Vegas: A desert gardener's guide to year-round color

Las Vegas gardener Norm Schilling shares the easiest flowers to grow in the desert — from self-seeding wildflowers to fragrant citrus, aloes, and native blooms.

Tree pruning in the desert: Norm Schilling's guide to wind-ready trees

Las Vegas arborist Norm Schilling explains how to prune trees for desert wind, why most people remove too much, and how to spot a bad tree trimmer before it's too late.

The beauty and importance of adding cacti, and succulents to your garden

Norm Schilling, an experienced gardener, discusses the beauty and benefits of incorporating cacti and succulents into gardens.

Adding color and texture to your winter landscapes

Planting oaks for durability, air quality and cooling urban areas

Norm Schilling discusses the importance of trees for air quality and cooling urban areas due to climate change.

Sage thrives in the desert

Sage is a lot more than the spice you occasionally sprinkle over all kinds of food. As Norm Schilling tells us, sages of all kinds are around us, and they love the desert

Growing and caring for bougainvillea in Southern Nevada

Norm Schilling shares his expertise on growing and caring for bougainvillea in Southern Nevada.

Desert plants (you can buy!) that will thrive in triple-digit temps

Beautiful plants that can withstand the desert heat

Intro to gardening: Picking your plant in Nevada

MyPlate Garden

When I was revamping my PowerPoint presentation for MASTER GARDENER training the other day, I came across a slide that I’d entitled “What can you grow in a garden?”.

Gazanias

Some flowers actually seem to enjoy our summer heat. We hear about one.

Native Plants

How about choosing desert native plants for the home landscape?I know, I said, “desert natives” and some people groan, thinking I’m going to talk about spiky, poky, unfri

Some Gardens Have A Mind Of Their Own

Most of us don’t have big acreage for our gardens. That’s why we try to pack so much into them. Sometimes, though, we do get carried away, putting the least amount of spa

Winter Pruning

In the dead of winter, so many trees look skeletal – bare branches with dead leaves on the ground surrounding them. Even here in the desert southwest, you can see leafles

Hot Season Crops

Much as I love life here in Southern Nevada, our springtime is remarkably short. You scarcely have time to get your vegetable seeds into the ground before temperatures po

Weeds

For a while, I’ve been thinking about doing a Desert Bloom segment on weeds, just weeds in general, but there’s so much to talk about with these plants that I figured it

Turf Alternatives

Non-functional turf grass isn’t legal in lots of locations anymore, thank goodness. Green is nice, but does a green lawn in front of a bank or a lawyer’s office inspire m