Marfa Garden: A Field Guide to Plants of the Chihuahuan Desert

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Marfa Garden is a celebration of more than 110 flowering plants of the Chihuahuan Desert. Marfa, the internationally acclaimed arts and cultural mecca in Far West Texas, sits squarely in the desertNorth Americas second largest, spanning northern Mexico, West Texas, and parts of New Mexico and Arizonaand a surprising showcase for colorful plant diversity.

More than 360 stunning color images are presented in a style reminiscent of naturalist Karl Blossfeldts Art Forms in Nature, with an array of vines, grasses, trees, herbs, shrubs, cacti, and succulents ranging from the little known to the popular to the iconic. Designed as a companion to the lavishly illustrated coffee table book of the same title, this compact field guides photographs show plants in year-round cycles, with buds, complex foliage, unfolding blooms, seed pods, and winter texture and color. Also included are introductory essays, a discussion of each plants common and scientific names, historical information, garden use, and USDA classification, as well as abundant space for gardening notes. A visual appendix of botanical and gardening information consists of illustrations relating close-up botanical details.

Everyday gardeners, naturalists, landscape designers, architects, and anyone interested in dry gardens or the Southwest will find great value and even joy in this essential field guide.

Reviews

The books overriding purpose is to encourage us to rethink our ideas about the desert land of West Texas... Marfa Gardens intent is to get the regions visitors and residents to look away, for a moment, from the stunning vistas and pay attention to what is happening on the ground. The photos more than make the case, highlighting not just the prickly cacti and agave that one might expect, but a host of plants that sport colorful flowers and berries. Texas Monthly Jim Martinezs garden in the desert of Marfa thrives by being useful to the natural area surrounding it. Texas Standard A visual celebration of flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Big Bend Sentinel

Author Bio

Jim Martinezhas been creating water-wise and environmentally friendly landscapes for more than thirty years. He is a landscape designer specializing in native and xeric plants of Texas and the Southwest and the principal of Jim Martinez and Associates. He is also a member of the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute and the Big Bend branch of the Native Plant Society of Texas. He lives in Marfa, Texas.