Archive for “desert plants” Tag

Goodyear – Desert Blooms for All Seasons

January 9, 2024

Discover the variety of water efficient plants that provide color to your yard year-round. Register here

Avondale – Selecting Native Plants for Multiple Benefits

Discover beautiful Sonoran Desert plants that can serve many purposes in your yard. Register here

Plant of the Month: How Do Those Desert Plants Survive?

August 7, 2023

HOW PLANTS COPE WITH THE DESERT CLIMATE Desert plants tend to look very different from plants native to other regions. They are often swollen, spiny, and have tiny leaves that are rarely bright green. Their strange appearance is a result of their remarkable adaptations to the challenges of the desert climate. Aridity is the sole factor that defines a desert …

Prepare for Monsoon Season with These 5 Landscape Tips

June 12, 2023

Here in Arizona, the monsoon season officially runs from June 15 to September 30,  but summer storms often don’t move in until July. When it does hit, it’s time to lower the shade umbrellas and batten down the hatches. Powerful storms can roll in bringing downpours, wind, hail, dust, microbursts, haboobs … you get the idea. While we love them–but …

Plant of the Month: San Marcos Hibiscus

May 21, 2023

Description of San Marcos Hibiscus, Gossypium harknessii: This rounded shrub blooms from October to May in mild-winter areas, but where it freezes back, flowering can be expected from June to October. Each 2-inch-wide flower has five yellow petals with a maroon spot at the base. The fruit is a rounded capsule, about ½ inch long. The heart-shaped leaves are entire (meaning …

Five Favorite Blogs of 2022

January 6, 2023

Happy 2023! We’ve rounded up our very best blogs of 2022 to help you start the year with a water-saving splash. #1 Xeriscape Gardens – Great Outdoor Escapes   Your local xeriscape garden not only serves as a helpful resource on water-wise landscaping but also offers a beautiful place to spend quality time in nature! We’ve pulled together a list …

PLANT OF THE MONTH – CORDIA

September 8, 2022

Lovely, white blossoms of not one, but two different types of cordia, add welcome beauty to the arid landscape throughout the warm season, including summer. Cordias are large shrubs that are underused in the garden and deserve more attention due to their ability to thrive in full sun and shrug off the summer heat. Their evergreen foliage looks great all …

Plant of the Month: Ironwood — The Desert’s Oldest Nurse

May 12, 2022

Feeling melancholy as you sweep up the spent yellow petals of your Palo Verdes? I understand why: when the “month of monochrome yellow” is behind us, the baking summer is upon us, and most plants (and people!) sober up to prepare. Don’t despair yet, though—late spring wildflowers still surround Saguaros wreathed like brides with white blooms. And, now is the …

Plant of the Month: Globe Mallow

March 15, 2022

Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), both drought tolerant and beautiful, brings a unique “cottage-garden” feel to the desert plant palette along with some surprises. In spring a flush of colorful flowers are produced that will cause people to stop in their tracks. After that, globe mallow will bloom off and on throughout the summer and fall. This shrubby, perennial is native …

Our 5 Best Landscape Water-Saving Tips for Fall

September 21, 2021

Did you know that up to 70 percent of water is used outdoors? Hard to believe, but it’s true. That’s why focusing on your landscape is one of the best and easiest ways to save water and reduce your water bill. In the southwest, as the searing temps of summer start to subside, fall is a particularly good time to …

Plant of the Month: 5 Plants That Can Take the Southwest Heat

June 16, 2021

It’s no surprise that the biggest challenge to growing plants in our region is the intense heat and dryness of summer, which is a stressful environment for plants. Thankfully, there are several plants that thrive in a hot, dry climate. Here are a few of Southwest Gardening’s Noelle Johnson’s favorite plants that can take the Southwest heat.   1. Bush Lantana (Lantana …

Plant of the Month: Justicia

February 8, 2021

A different kind of flower this Valentine’s season. With long, colorful, tubular flowers, justicias are a hummingbird’s delight. Flower colors range from yellow to deep red. Justicias’ green foliage contrasts well with gray desert plants. Native to tropical and subtropical regions, they can be used in many types of landscapes. These semi-evergreen shrubs bloom throughout the year, inviting hummingbirds into …