There is something magical about the Sonoran Desert. Despite the scrubby bushes and monotonous sand, there is a quality to the people, the land, and the architecture that I have always loved. (This nostalgia for my childhood is not to be confused with actually wanting to live there!)
Local artist Ted DeGrazia’s Gallery in the Sun retains the character that subdivisions and strip malls have swallowed up in Tucson. I love these colored flowers that can be found all over the compound. An artist on site told me they are made by cutting apart and painting old soda cans.
Repurposing existing materials into drought-proof, all-season flowers strikes me as quintessentially Tucsonan. (Fun fact: Freecycle, an incredible re-use community, was founded in Tucson.)