Channel Your Inner Cowgirl/boy
Kick up a Southwestern dining area on your front porch with simple elements. Lay down a colorful rug, then build upward with a rustic table and chairs, sculptural low-maintenance plants, and some fun desert-inspired details.
Decorate Like the Desert
Add Southwestern style with plants that include sturdy structural beauties such as standard dracaena (which does a great imitation of a Joshua tree). Tree varieties of houseplants (such as dracaena or yucca) are ideal for creating a privacy screen on a porch or terrace.Here’s a space-saving tip: Tree versions of large houseplants excel in small spots; their slender bases and big tops fit nearly any small space.
Get ideas for other houseplant trees.
Pack a Box of Succulents
Succulents are the textural stars of a Southwestern-style porch. These luscious lovelies come in a wide range of shapes and colors. They’re easy to mix and match in containers. Start with a shallow box or bowl and fill with a well-draining soil (a mix of sand and small pebbles helps encourage drainage). Pack plants in together tightly and enjoy a tabletop desertscape.
Choose Bold Bloomers
Desert rose (Adenium obesum) offers trumpet-shape blossoms in red, pink, purple, and white. The succulent-like plant looks like a bonsai because it has a large swollen trunk (that holds water for dry times). These beauties thrive in hot, humid weather and love full sunlight.
Corral a Container
Like succulents, snake plant (aka Dracaena) is a low-water beauty that looks great alone or corralled together with several friends. These easy-care plants come in a variety of heights and forms -- from short varieties to long spears reaching 5 feet tall. Try variegated yellow-and-green versions for an extra pop of color.
Outfit a Small Space
Even small spaces can shine with spare Southwestern style. Choose vertically inclined varieties such as dracaena standards and tall snake plants and euphorbias on postage-stamp-size porches. Using small furniture makes space feel larger. A lineup of barrel cactus in terra cotta pots adds a modern touch.
Get Prickly
The round shape and criss-crossed spines of barrel cactus make it a fearsome beauty. Don’t bump against them! For all their prickly demeanor, these easy-care plants can go without water for months, so they are ideal options for travelers, weekend gardeners, and those who just forget to water (no judging!).
Serve up a Cactus Garden
Beautiful and carefree, a tabletop cactus garden is the perfect accessory for a desert-inspired porch. You can buy them readymade or design your own using succulents, cactus, and pebble mulch.
