SHRUBS

Salvia greggii

Autumn Sage is native to Western Texas and parts of New Mexico and Southern Arizona. It is a small, evergreen shrub that grows to about 3 feet tall and wide. Its small, dark green leaves have a slightly sticky coating. S…

Calliandra californica

Baja Fairy Duster is a medium sized shrub that grows to 5 feet high and 5 feet wide. Medium green, twice divided leaves are one inch long and give this native of Baja California its tropical appearance. Scarlet red to re…

Acanthus Mollis

The lush, herbaceous evergreen grows six feet tall and three feet wide with deep green, deeply lobed, shiny leaves, a clumping growth form, and underground rhizomes that spread as the plant matures. Stunning flower spike…

Lantana camara

The lantana is a prolific bloomer growing two to four feet tall and wide with sprawling branches that produce dramatic color during the warm season. The foliage is green, rough, and sometimes has prickly stems and leaves…

Salvia clevelandii

Native to California, the chaparral sage performs extremely well in both low and middle deserts of Arizona. Chaparral sage grows in excess of 5 feet tall by 6 feet wide. The soft gray-green foliage of chaparral sage is e…

Justicia californica

Native to the Sonoran Desert, “chuparosa” is a shrub that normally grows to about 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Under ideal contitions, it can grow to 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Leaves are semi-succulent and measure abo…

Russelia equisetiformis

The coral fountain is a flowering perennial plant with long, slender, arching, fountain-like branches that form a dense mound to four feet tall and six feet wide. Its weeping branches produce dark green, scale-like leave…

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…

Hamelia patens

The multi-trunk evergreen matures quickly up to six feet tall and wide with bright green foliage that has a pointed tip and grows in clusters along the branches. During the warmer weather, the leaves are covered in fine…

Asparagus densiflorus

This low-growing evergreen has feathery, upright, bright green, needle-like stems and trailing branches. It is not a true fern but has fern-like foliage and a dense growth habit, growing two to three feet tall and three…

Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’

Green Cloud™ is a trademarked variety of <em>Leucophyllum frutescens</em>with larger leaves and darker flower color than its close relatives. It has an upright, spreading form that can reach 8 feet tall by 8 feet across.…

Cassia nemophila (Senna artemisioides filifolia)

Green Feathery cassia is an evergreen shrub that grows four to six feet tall and wide. The shape is rounded and dense. It has leaves that are narrowly pinnate, forming feathery sprays of silvery foliage. Its showy yellow…

Dodonaea viscosa

Hop Bush (also known as Hopseed Bush) is a drought-tolerant shrub with an upright, branching form. It reaches a height of 12 feet with a 10 foot spread. Its willow-like leaves are 4 inches long. The foliage is a bronzy-g…

Phlomis fruticosa

Jerusalem sage is a fast-growing, warm-season plant that reaches three to four feet tall with an equal spread. The semi-woody evergreen plant has fuzzy, grayish-green, textured leaves and bright yellow, wooly blossoms in…

Caesalpinia mexicana

Mexican Bird of Paradise is native to Northern Mexico. Its lush, ferny compound leaves provide a dark green backdrop for the bright yellow flower spikes that appear on the branch tips during the warm season. These flower…

Salvia leucantha

The colorful herbaceous plant grows in a mounded shape to four feet tall and wide with willowy, slender, arching stems that have soft, grayish-green to silvery, wrinkled-looking foliage. In late summer through the first…

Justicia spicigera

Mexican Honeysuckle is a small shrub that isn’t fussy, blooms most of the year, and is attractive to hummingbirds. With yellow-green leaves and bright orange flowers, Mexican honeysuckle grows 2 to 4 feet tall and spread…

Tagetes lemmonii

Mount Lemmon Marigold is native to Southern Arizona. It makes a great desert xeriscape perennial shrub. Mount Lemmon Marigold was originally collected in Southeastern Arizona in the late 1800s by the Lemmons, a husband a…

Tecoma Hybrid ‘Orange Jubilee’

Orange Jubilee is an upright shrub that can grow up to 12 feet tall and 8 feet across if not frozen back for a couple of winters. The rich green, lush looking foliage gives this hybrid shrub a subtropical appearance. The…

Plumbago auriculata

The evergreen is admired for its brilliant sky blue flowers with a loose, sprawling growth habit and grows four to six feet tall and four to ten feet wide. It has arching branches, long, skinny stems, and thin, green fol…

Punica granatum

Pomegranate is a fast-growing, deciduous plant noted for its berrylike fruit that grows six to fifteen feet tall with a multiple or single trunk. ‘Nana’ is the dwarf variety and it reaches just one to three feet. The spe…

Caesalpinia pulcherrima

The Red Bird of Paradise <em>(Caesalpinia pulcherrima)</em> has long been a favorite summer blooming plant in Tucson, Arizona. It celebrates the warm season with a dazzling display of orange-red flowers. This shrub grows…

Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosemary is a hardy evergreen with needle-like, deep green, fragrant foliage that grows three to five feet high and three to eight feet wide. It is popularized as a landscape plant and offers edible leaves that when drie…

Duranta erecta

Sky flower is a showy evergreen that grows eighteen feet tall and wide, if it doesn’t freeze back. It is a multi-trunk plant with arching branches that droop and trail in a downward appearance. Some species have spines o…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

Tecoma stans

The lush, broadleaf evergreen grows quickly to four to five feet with a three to four-foot spread, but gets much taller in warmer, tropical areas. The variety ‘Gold Star’ blooms the earliest of all Tecoma species and con…

Caesalpinia gilliesii

Yellow bird of paradise is an upright, fast growing shrub originating from Argentina and Uruguay. Clusters of bright yellow flowers with long red stamens are produced in the summer. Its natural growth habit is irregular…