Congratulations, Caesalpinia pulcherrima!  This plant, commonly known as the red Mexican Bird of Paradise, has recently achieved "Highway Plant" status.

If you cannot push it in to that depth, you may need to increase the water your lawn is receiving.  One important note -- if, an hour after your lawn has been watered, it is still "squishy" you are irrigating way, way too much. (Note: since we wrote this, we are now recommending that you remove and replace your lawn altogether.)

Cool It.  Do not fertilize the plants in your desert garden during the hottest summer months.  Most of them are in a summer dormancy state and the last thing they want is to be awakened by a jolt of nitrogen.  You may want to lightly fertilize plants in pots because daily watering washes away all the nutrients in the pots.  Avoid planting anything but palms in hot months. It is better to wait until the average daily temperature reaches around 90 degrees F. before you begin Fall planting.

Fads and Fancies.  Over the decades garden styles and preferred plants have changed and continue to change.  Once-popular plants get torn out, new ones are planted.   We became very aware of this one Spring several years ago during a visit to Santa Barbara when we saw tall purple and blue spires of the Pride of Madeira (Echium fastuosum) blooming spectacularly in gardens which had been planted originally in the 1930s and 1940s.  This perennial resembles a 5 foot tall mountain lupine, loves sunshine and will survive winter temperatures of down to about 20 to 25 degrees F.  It definitely deserves a place in drought tolerant gardens.

Passion for Purple.  Judging from what is in garden centers and retail nurseries these days, a new plant passion has begun.  Purple, burgundy and chartreuse leaf plants seem to be the new garden stars -- perhaps in reaction to the gray-leaf Mediterranean plants that have been so popular for several years now.   In this garden purple-leaf Cannas have been added to a predominantly gray-green Mediterranean garden.