With a holiday this week, I took my little family and went and visited the Conservation Garden Park at Jordan Valley. (That’s the name. A little long). I’ve been here before, but they’ve expanded recently and I hadn’t yet seen the expansion. They are sponsored by the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, similar to the Central Utah Gardens. They are one of the first garden of that kind, and are the biggest and probably best too. They also have a great website with a good plant list, and detailed information about the gardens.

The focus is on water conservation and water-wise landscaping and they really do a good job. They have a “neighborhood” of demonstration residential landscapes, and a whole new section of educational exhibits. If you are a homeowner and need ideas, or get a good idea of what water-wise landscaping really is (and it isn’t rocks) go here. I saw some new plants and got some new ideas. The style, especially the new part, is a new formal type that I found very interesting. Different in a good way.

Just a couple more things–the succulents were amazing. Really beautiful, mostly grown in containers. I also found the use of glass mulch unique and pretty. I would’t do it in any large scale situation, but here it is reminiscent of a fountain without the water. It’s not a perfect garden, the most prevalent flaw is plants in the wrong aspect (purple coral bells in full sun, buffalo grass in shade). Definitely worth a visit.