Dasylirion quadrangulatum
This mounding grass-like shrub grows six to nine feet tall with an equal spread. It produces long, flat, narrow, leathery, green leaves that emerge from the center basal portion of this symmetrical growing plant. It does…
Yucca torreyi
This picturesque plant, which is one of the most common yuccas found in western Texas, reaches eighteen to twenty feet tall at maturity, eventually producing multiple trunks. It forms a symmetrical rosette with stiff; bl…
Pachycereus schottii f. monstrosus
The slow-growing, smooth-skinned, columnar cactus grows ten to twelve feet with tall stems that branch at the base to form a short trunk. It is a slow-growing cactus with smooth skin and no visible spines. The totem pole…
Acacia redolens
Native to Australia, trailing acacia is a low growing and wide spreading ground cover. It grows to about 1 foot tall and can spread to 12 feet across. The leathery leaves are actually the modified petiole of a “true” lea…
Osteospermum fruticosum
The colorful evergreen with its striking, daisy-like flowers is used to cover large, open areas, spreading by green stems that root into the ground to form a dense carpet of groundcover. The fast-growing plant reaches he…
Lantana montevidensis
Trailing Lantana is native to South America. Lavender to white colored flowers accent the trailing growth habit of this ground cover. Trailing lantana is immune to desert heat, tolerates almost any soil condition, and is…
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘prostratus’
One of the best and toughest ground cover plants for arid regions, Trailing Rosemary does well in nutrient-poor and shallow soils. This plant tolerates great heat and blazing sun as well as cold. Dark green leaves grow t…
Nolina matapensis
This lush-looking, tree-like specimen grows from nine to fifteen feet tall and about six feet wide. It produces a trunk with a large head of unarmed, three- to four-foot long, flat, strap-like, glossy green leaves that h…
Agave geminiflora
This agave has dense, symmetrical foliage that grows in a rosette producing about a hundred or more erect, narrow, dark green leaves. The slender foliage grows to two to three feet tall with sharp edges and smooth margin…
Myrtus communis
This twisted, irregular evergreen grows to heights of nine to twelve feet with dark green, glossy leaves that have a slight sharp point on the tip and are clustered around the branches. The foliage produces an aromatic s…
Aloe vanbalenii
This low-growing aloe forms many tight, dense rosettes reaching two feet tall and three to four feet wide. It develops many offsets with long, twisting, coppery-brown foliage in sunny exposed areas, and greener when grow…
Agave americana var. marginata
The plant forms a large rosette of twisted silvery-green leaves and strips of bright yellow along its leaf margins, giving it the appearance of a striped ribbon. Its sword-like leaves stand upright to about four to six f…
Agave murpheyi ‘Variegata’
This dramatic, versatile, slow grower reaches three feet tall and two to three feet wide with light gray to bluish-green foliage that has yellow stripes along the margins. It also has sharp, serrated, brownish-gray teeth…
Prosopis velutina
Native to Southern Arizona, the velvet mesquite is a low branching, open tree with dark, almost black, shaggy bark. It grows wild along the washes, sometimes forming woods in the foothills surrounding Tucson. The velvet…
Agave weberi
This bold agave grows moderately to five to six feet tall with an equal spread, offering grayish-green to shiny, bluish-green, long, fleshy leaves and a sharp spine. The foliage is five to seven inches wide, with fine te…
Acacia pendula
The graceful medium-sized evergreen grows twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide with pendulous, weeping branches and multiple trunks. It has striking shiny, silvery, grayish-blue foliage that is long and thin, along wit…
Agave ovatifolia
The striking agave is admired for its light blue to powdery, whitish-blue and slightly cupped foliage. It grows three to five feet tall and three to six feet wide, forming a dense rosette of short, wide distinctive leave…
Agave americana var. medio-picta f. alba
This striking agave with its creamy, whitish-yellow, central leaf color and bluish-gray margins grows three to four feet tall. It has short, thick leaves that arch downward to a sharp tip. The leaves have indentations al…
Acacia salicina
Willow acacia is an Australian tree that provides refreshing shade in low desert regions of Southern Arizona. It has narrow leaves and a weeping appearance, making it ideal for use in space restricted areas such as parki…
Buddleia marrubiifolia
Known for its ability to attract butterflies, the Woolly Butterfly Bush<em>(Buddleia marrubiifolia)</em> grows well in southern and central Arizona. Native to the Chihuahuan desert, it is very tolerant of heat, intense s…
