Shoe Shopping + Plant Stalking

Prada Marfa! I remember the first time I saw this art exhibit, and more than one person I know has visited or taken photos of themselves here. And now me! My photos are from 11/21 and 11/25/2012.

More on the art of the space, and some great visitor-contributed photos taken there - here. Keep in mind that this exhibit is some distance NW of Marfa, nowhere near the town - a 40 minute drive towards El Paso, though right on US-90 - you'll want to get the location online - here.

But I'm more into the plants and scenic vibe.

I bet this place will be hopping - only 2 days until "Black Friday"!

Or maybe not.

They do say everyone has a look-alike somewhere; this one even has a car like their double's. Hopefully, he is also like his double in not having a lady friend or spouse with Prada tastes, at least without her being in a higher income bracket. That could cut deeply into his roadtrip landscape architecture / horticulture / phytogeography study budget!

Unusual things do lurk out in far west Texas. And we aren't even talking about those famous Marfa Lights or Donald Judd art, at least not yet.

Chocolate Flower / Berlandiera lyrata with a few stray, late blooms, even in the open - near Valentine TX. When I used this plant at my old office near UNM in Abq, it once bloomed in early December, but that was a protected courtyard. 

Sideoats Grama / Bouteloua curtipendula - 5 feet from the Chocolate Flower above.

That's the Texas state grass, and it's also one of the most common grasses around my
house and foothills haunts. But since I live on the east side of the Rio Grande, many a
proud Texan may tell you, "that used to be Texas".

Either way, when I see such plants, I'm right at home. They are a different part of my
same ecological place; plants disobey political boundaries, especially when those
don't obey ecology.

In fact, I often must correct myself when I mention places in Trans Pecos Texas, since
I often write or describe the place name followed with "NM" instead of "TX". On the
other hand, when I think of places such as Clayton, Clovis, Roswell, Carlsbad or Hobbs,
and the most common dialects spoken there, they seem less in New Mexico. So, I often
slip and follow those with a "TX".

Our skies, land, and plants always return me to better, ecological boundaries and home.

Palm Yucca / Yucca faxoniana thrives in it's native Chihuahuan desert grassland. And countless, smaller Palmilla plants are all around, plus a smooth ground plane of grama grasses.

The former is common in nearby mountains and reported up to near Alamogordo NM, so either this trio was transplanted along the road drainage swale (passive water harvesting!) by TxDOT (which they do with various species native to a particular stretch of road elsewhere in the Lone Star State), or they are relics of more that once populated this area (before cows, known to knock down or eat younger, smaller and unfenced yuccas).

Either way, these roadside plants are far nicer in this desert grassland context, than they are when mis-planted in town, in an expanse of red lava rock or some other mulch material.

Want tree yuccas? Then use some suitable, xeric companions at their bases; this might include native grasses and other shrubs.