Plant Guide

Yucca elata

This historic yucca grows six to twenty feet tall or more with an erect, upright trunk and spreads eight feet wide. Its showy, white, bell-shaped flowers are the state flower of New Mexico. The plant was named for the su…

Aloe lineata

This compact, tropical, medium-sized aloe grows two to six feet tall and two to three feet wide, forming many clusters as it matures. It produces small rosettes of yellowish, dark green to lime green, smooth foliage with…

Quercus virginiana

This majestic evergreen grows forty to fifty feet tall and almost as wide with a broad, rounded canopy, horizontal branches, and thick, leathery, green leaves. During cold winters, the tree defoliates and new green leave…

Yucca aloifolia

Spanish Bayonet is a large, sprawling yucca. In Southern Arizona, it reaches an average height of about 10 feet tall and clumps to about 10 feet wide. Growth is slow. Stiff, dense leaves are medium green with sharp point…

Yucca gloriosa

The fast-growing, tropical-looking yucca grows ten feet tall and eight feet wide and can form single or multiple trunks. It has sword-like foliage that originates from the center of the plant. The leaves are bluish-green…

Agave bracteosa

This low-growing agave with an irregular appearance reaches heights of about two feet tall and wide. It has an interesting clumping rosette of spineless, bright-green, candelabra-like leaves. The foliage emerges from the…

Agave americana var. striata

This is one of the rarest and most beautiful of all the agaves. It foliage is blue-gray with creamy white markings and multiple, white stripes that run throughout the length of the leaves. The plant grows six to eight fe…

Aloe dorotheae

This low-growing aloe with stiff, shiny leaves grows two to three feet tall and twenty inches wide, producing many offsets. It forms a clump of rosettes or spirals on very short stems that stay low to the ground. Its lea…

Acacia farnesiana

Sweet acacia is a small to medium-sized tree that grows to 20 ft. tall and develops a 20 foot canopy. Fragrant, golden yellow, puffball-like flowers appear from October to March. Flowers are followed by short, dark brown…

Ipomoea batatas

Sweet potato vine is fast-growing reaching heights of six to twelve inches with a spread of one to three feet. It has dark green or deep purple, heart-shape, lobed leaves. The variety ‘Blackie’ has the darker purple foli…

Viola odorata

The fast-growing, long-lived evergreen reaches four inches tall with aromatic, violet flowers and small, heart-shaped foliage that is slightly serrated and dark green in color. It grows in a rosette with creeping runners…

Ebenopsis ebano

Texas ebony tree grows quite well in Southern Arizona. Native to the Chihuahuan desert, this highly decorative tree is remarkably drought tolerant. Under ideal conditions, it grows to 30 feet tall with an equal spread. M…

Calia secundiflora (formerly Sophora secundiflora)

The Texas Mountain Laurel <em>(Calia secundiflora)</em> is well-known for its pendulous clusters of purple, fragrant flowers that look as good as they smell. This popular plant is often used as a flowering, evergreen shr…

Cordia boissieri

Texas olive is an evergreen to semi-deciduous tree reaching fifteen to twenty feet tall and about twenty-five feet wide. It has multiple trunks with a dark gray bark and deep green, oval leaves that are large and leather…

Leucophyllum frutescens

Its durability, easy care, and beautiful blooms have made Texas sage one of the most popular shrubs in Southern Arizona. These tough, desert-adapted plants provide the backbone for many desert gardens. Mostly evergreen,…

Yucca thompsoniana

This amazing, slow-growing plant resembles Yucca rostrata but is somewhat smaller, reaching six to twelve feet tall and six feet wide. It has symmetrical, columnar rosettes of stiff, thin leaves and its foliage is greeni…

Agave lophantha

This agave produces single or clumping rosettes reaching two feet high and four feet wide. It is admired for its numerous, dark rich-green to pale green, glossy leaves that have a whitish-yellow strip that runs along the…

Agave filifera subsp. schidigera

This agave is admired for its decorative, dark-green to bronzy-green, sword-like, narrow foliage. The plant grows quickly to two feet tall and two to three feet wide. The foliage has white markings and fibers along the e…

Asclepias linaria

This erect, shrubby perennial grows three feet tall and wide with needle-like, grayish-green foliage that is covered in fine hairs. From March through October, it produces showy, white flower clusters with pinkish-burgun…

Leucophyllum candidum

This stunning, irregular-shaped shrub grows five feet high and four to five feet wide with small, hairy, silvery white foliage. The stems are twiggy when young and become woodier with age. Small clusters of bluish-violet…