Plant Guide

Ficus pumila

The self-climbing evergreen has unique, attractive foliage and can quickly scramble up the side of a wall with its lacy stems and leaves, climbing to twenty feet or more. The creeping fig has small, heart-shaped, juvenil…

Bignonia capreolata

This fast-growing, evergreen climber reaches ten to thirty feet or more with dark green foliage and long, slender tendrils. This vine produces showy clusters of long, orangey-red, trumpet-shaped blossoms throughout sprin…

Euphorbia milii

The bushy, spiny succulent develops shoots that can reach up to three to four feet in height, with a two-foot spread. It has half-inch thorns that adorn its branches and stems. The tough, leathery foliage grows on slende…

Chrysactinia mexicana

Native to western Texas and Mexico, Damianita is a star performer in the arid Southwest. The bright green, needlelike leaves create a nice contrast to the flowers that bloom much of the year. This plant has a long bloom…

Aloe dawei

This evergreen jewel has clumping, upright clusters of elongated succulent stems and green, fleshy leaves with dark serrated teeth along the edges. It grows two to three feet tall and eighteen inches to three feet wide f…

Agave deserti

This clumping plant was an important food source for Native Americans, and grows two feet tall and four to six feet wide. It forms numerous rosettes of grayish-blue to green, thick, sword-like leaves. Fibers from the lea…

Olneya tesota

Desert ironwood is a member of the pea family and its leaves and flowers resemble the sweet pea. This single- or multi-trunk tree reaches heights of twenty-five feet with a nearly equal spread, and is slow-growing. Ironw…

Baileya multiradiata

Desert marigold grows twelve inches tall and wide with fuzzy greenish-gray leaves and a compact, mounded shape. While a short-lived plant, it beautifies the landscape by producing bright yellow, daisy-like blossoms that…

Parkinsonia x

This semi-deciduous, “thorn-less” tree has characteristics of the foothills, blue, and Mexican palo verde. It is quite similar to the other Parkinsonia species, growing rapidly to heights of twenty to twenty-five feet wi…

Dasylirion wheeleri

This long-lived accent plant grows slowly to form a dense rosette of silver-blue foliage, to 4 feet tall and wide. Desert Spoon develops a stout, short trunk with leathery leaves that have teeth along the margins. The sp…

Chilopsis linearis

Desert willow trees come in many varieties. Native to southwest U.S. and northern Mexico, this small, deciduous tree has narrow, bright green leaves and colorful, trumpet shaped flowers. During the cold season, desert wi…

Jacobaea maritima

The shrubby perennial grows one to two feet tall and wide in a mounding form. It is known for its silvery-blue, velvety-textured foliage that is intricate and lacey. The stems are covered with long, white, matted hairs.…

Agave isthmensis

This miniature, compact plant grows one foot tall and wide. It has powder blue leaves with prominent dark red teeth and a red, terminal spine. The leaves are narrow at the base and wider at the tips. At maturity, it deve…

Yucca brevifolia subsp. jaegeriana

This dramatic evergreen has a smaller, stouter trunk than Yucca brevifolia, growing six to twelve feet tall with a denser, more compact branching pattern. It produces multiple stems that start branching two to three feet…

Echinopsis hybrid

This fast-growing group of cacti varies in size, from small, low-growing globular plants to large, branching, columnar specimens. Some of the hybrids within the species have thin, trailing stems and produce many offsets,…

Portulacaria afra

The attractive, evergreen succulent can grow to eight feet or more, in its natural enviornment. It has small, circular, fleshy, bright green foliage on reddish-brown stems. The leaves of these plants are edible and have…

Eremophila maculata

Emu Bush <em>(Eremophila maculata)</em> is a medium-sized shrub with small, round green leaves and a dense, symmetrical growth habit. Native to Australia, this tough, evergreen shrub is becoming popular here in the deser…

Opuntia englemannii

Englemann’s Prickly Pear is native to the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. The sage green pads of this cactus blend well in desert landscapes and provide a great backdrop for the colorful fruit that adorns the pads in the…

Hedera helix

English ivy is a hardy evergreen with dark green, glossy, lobed leaves growing six to eight feet when used as a groundcover. It climbs to fifty feet when used as a vine. The plant climbs and creeps by aboveground roots t…

Austrocylindropuntia subulata

The branching, tree-like specimen grows to thirteen feet tall and about ten feet wide, with cylindrical deep green leaves. New growth does not have many spines, but as the plant matures yellowish-red spines develop on it…