Southern Arizona blooms with lush garden tours

Eastern spirituality meets Sonoran Desert and Spanish decor in one of the stops along the Tucson Botanical Gardens annual home and garden tour April 11.

This is one of the more unique homes the tour has seen, according to a news release about the event.

An east-side couple has blended feng shui, meditation, Spanish art, cultured gardens and the wild Sonoran Desert to create a serene landscape for humans and wildlife.

The Harold Bell Wright Estates property is one of five gardens on the tour.

Taiwan-born Yuya Huang already owned the 1963 Territorial burnt-adobe home when he and Colombia native Maribel Valdes married in 2012. The landscape out back consisted of a brick patio.

Basically, this was all desert, says Valdes, pointing to the backyard of the 3.9-acre property.

Valdes, who lived in Miami, Florida, before moving to Tucson, was eager to learn about desert gardening and transform the property.

She first consulted with an expert in feng shui (wind water in Chinese), an ancient method of positioning architectural elements and incorporating natural features to affect the flow of life energy known as chi.

Then the couple set out to redo the landscape using their own design.

Feng shui. To affect chi flow, they installed three water features throughout the landscape, strategically laid rocks for gardens and walking paths and added a courtyard fireplace.

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Southern Arizona blooms with lush garden tours