If we are landscaping our properties, why not provide an extra resource, and plant things we can eat?  Most edible landscapes in the desert bloom just like other landscapes.  Birds, animals and beneficial insects are drawn to the edibles as well.   

 Here are a couple of pictures taken from the same angle, before and after.  In the before picture, you can see there are no trees, shrub or grasses growing.  The soil is extremely poor and cannot sustain any life.  The same picture taken about one year later shows how you can transform the landscape into a water-harvesting structure, using terraces while building soil and creating a suitable habitat to support life.  This is an edible landscape, too--not just for the animals and birds, but for people as well.  There are fruit and nut trees, edible shrubs and perennials (ie. rasberries, strawberries, currants), with grapes and kiwis planted at the base of the arbor.