Palms

I liked this planting of palms on the steps of a courthouse in Vegas. The grove was unexpected and appreciated -- the steps would have been overexposed without them. I don't think the idea would work nearly as well with another kind of tree.

Vegas

I visited Las Vegas for the first time in 15 years, and it's really something. It was sometimes queesey going in this economy, but Vegas really succeeds at its own depraved game.

I was struck at the realism of the planting. Las Vegas seems ready to go to any length to realize the effects it seeks to convey; the imprudent expenditure of resources seems part of the ethos of the place. But they have conceeded to the Mojave. Everything is xeriscaped with drip irrigation systems. The exotics are saved for inside.

Everywhere I looked were responsible, interesting plantings. There was a nice pine I wasn't familiar with, the Eldarica Pine, from Afghanistan. And more palms that I remember.