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You can imagine the gigantic smile on my face when I come across websites like The Green Samaritan, a site inspired by the “Good Samaritan,” but with a green twist. I like it. And I love the fact that they feature our water-saving tip widget from the Water – Use It Wisely campaign prominently on their homepage.

The campaign’s easy-to-use sustainability message found in the widget fits perfectly with Green Sam’s mission of, “Being kind to your environment through refined, renewed and resourceful living.” It’s extremely gratifying when a simple project you spearhead helps others.

Click here to experience the interactive home water audit.

Feel free to add our water-saving tip widget to your site. And while you’re at WaterUseItWisely.com, check out our new interactive home water audit and share it with your peeps. That’s what it’s there for.

Thank you Green Samaritan for helping us to further ignite the growth our water conservation movement.

This post originally appeared in Park Howell’s “Sustainable Storytelling” blog. Park&Co is the sustainable marketing firm that created the Water – Use It Wisely campaign

The weather outside is far from frightful – in fact, it’s downright delightful.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own “Winter Wonderland” in the Arizona desert.  The winter months provide a perfect opportunity to experiment with container gardening, which can add some amazingly colorful – and even flavorful – variety to your landscape and garden.  Landscaping with containers is also a great option for winter visitors who may be looking for ways to quickly and inexpensively add some Arizona beauty to their patios and entryways.

Many types of low-water use plants lend themselves to container planting, especially cacti and succulents.  There are a number of possibilities that look great during the winter months. For container gardening success, check out the following ideas:

Plant Selection

• Consider cacti, agaves, and a great selection of other succulents such as aloes, which will provide spikes of winter blooms that attract hummingbirds.
• Desert annuals and perennials will provide lots of showy color.  Try early blooming Mexican poppy and penstemons, or long blooming angelita daisy, blackfoot daisy, and moss verbena.  Combine flower types and colors for added visual interest.  Mix and match colors to find the combination that’s most pleasing to you.
• Small, colorful shrubs are good performers. Look for plumbago, bush morning glory, purple hop bush, and dwarf bottlebrush.
• Herbs also do well in containers and provide the benefit of fragrance and for spicing up your cooking. Tough performers include trailing rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, and lemon grass. Many will cascade nicely over hanging baskets.
• Don’t hesitate to combine plants together in pots. Just don’t mix cacti and succulents with plants that will need more water.

Choosing the Right Pot

• Plants don’t like to be crowded, so buy the bigger pot, as opposed to the smaller one. Plant roots will stay cooler during warmer months and will also dry out less quickly.
• No matter what pot you choose, allow for drainage.  Arizona’s water is highly
• alkaline and the salts can harm plant roots.  Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the pot; place screens over the holes so you’re draining water, not    soil; and, place pots on pot feet, bricks or iron stands, rather than saucers.
• Clay pots are most popular, but they don’t always hold up well to the moisture.  To preserve them, line the inside with plastic before putting in soil and plants.  Punch a hole through the plastic in the bottom of the pot to allow water to drain. Inserting a plastic pot inside a clay planter is also an option.
• Pots made of light-weight Styrofoam-type materials are great for making it easier to move plants to a protected location on colder nights.  They also allow you to move your plants in and out of the shade as the seasons change.

Maximize Your Soil

• A good quality soil mix is probably the most important ingredient to successful container gardening.  Choose a cactus/succulent mix for those varieties. For everything else use a lightweight packaged potting soil or a blend of 1/3 potting soil, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 pre-moistened peat moss.
• Use a timed-release fertilizer.  Typically, a three- or four-month release fertilizer is sufficient for container gardening.

Water Appropriately

• Container plants have restricted root systems and less soil compared to plants established in the ground, so will typically need more frequent watering than your landscape plants.
• Be sure to water thoroughly each time, then allow the soil to dry moderately in between.
• Keep in mind that weather and plant growth over time will change water needs.

Visit www.wateruseitwisely.com for more tips on plant selection, outdoor water use, and landscaping.  If you have an idea you’d like to share about container gardening, please write us in the comments box below.  We’d love to hear from you.

Mediation, an artist designed outdoor classroom, received a Crescordia Award at the Valley Forward Association’s 28th Annual Environmental Excellence Award Ceremony on September 6th.  The Crescordia is the highest award given by Valley Forward for public art.

Mediation was designed by colab Studio of Tempe.  The outdoor classroom is part of the Glendale Xeriscape Demonstration Garden.  The project was a partnership with the city’s Water Conservation Office and Public Arts.  The Demonstration Garden features over 400 species of low-water-use plants.  Children and adults visit the garden and the outdoor classroom to learn about the beauty and importance of the Sonoran desert.  The outdoor classroom was recognized for its modern and functional architecture intertwined with the existing natural landscape.

Partnership Will Promote Simple Ways to Save Water, Energy

The City of Mesa Utilities Department has agreed to participate in a federal Environmental Protection Agency program that promotes water-efficient products. The program, WaterSense, aims to provide a national brand, designating water-efficient products that are about 20 percent more efficient than average products.

“Through this partnership with WaterSense, the City of Mesa solidifies its commitment to protecting water resources through efficient use,” said Utilities Conservation Specialist Janet Bunchman. “By promoting water-saving products to over 460,000 customers, we hope it will help consumers conserve water and reduce costs on their utility bill.”

The EPA program is designed to decrease indoor and outdoor water use through high efficiency products and simple water saving practices. The program helps customers identify water efficient products in the marketplace that have been independently certified for efficiency and performance and promotes water saving techniques that reduce stress on water systems and the environment.

The program is similar to the agency’s Energy Star program, which provides a brand logo for energy-efficient appliances. Certified products may bear the WaterSense label, which makes it easy for consumers to identify and select a variety of quality, high efficiency products and services for their homes and lawns.

“Here in Arizona, it is important to save water because it is such a precious resource,” Bunchman said. “A great deal of energy is expended heating and cooling water. By saving water we are saving energy too.”

For more information on WaterSense, including a full list of labeled water-efficient products and irrigation certification programs, visit epa.gov/watersense or cityofmesa.org/utilities.