Common name:Mexican or Texas Needle Grass
Botanical name:Nassella tenuissima
The Mexican Fan Grass is a beautiful, fine, airy grass that is emerald green in color. It has many soft yellow-beige flower stalks in the spring. This grass grows 1' x 2' and is drought tolerant.
Common name:Donkey Tail Euphorbia
Botanical name:Euphorbia myrsinites
This hardy perennial grows 4-6" and has blue glaucous leaves that are stiff and round, set closely to the stem. Flattish clusters of chartreuse to yellow flowers bloom between late winter and early spring.
Common name:Brittlebush
Botanical name:Encelia farinosa
Silvery gray mounding shrub grows to 3' x 4'. Yellow daisylike flowers appear winter to spring. Short lived individual plants but will reseed easily. Good for naturalistic landscapes. Rapid growth following rain. Overgrown and fragile if overwatered. Seeds attract birds. Native to Sonoran & Mojave deserts.
Common name:Yellow Bird Of Paradise
Botanical name:Caesalpinia gilliesii
Shrub grows to 6' x 5'. Has exotic yellow flowers with showy red stamens that appear from spring until fall. Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. More open and woodier than Caesalpinia pulcherrima.
Common name:Azure or Russian Sage
Botanical name:Perovskia X atriplicifolia
This broad perennial will grow 3'-6' tall and has small, gray green leaves with blue violet flowers that bloom in the summer.
Common name:Desert Spoon
Botanical name:Dasylirion wheeleri
Evergreen with open rosette form grows at a moderate rate to 4' x 4'. Saw toothed gray-green leaves have interesting twisting affect. Flowes are cream and appear on tall stalks late spring to summer. Distinct accent plant. Accepts full sun and is very frost tolerant. Native to southern Arizona and the Chihuahuan Desert.
Designer: Sallie Homan | Ridge Road Garden 5 |
Photographer: GardenSoft |
Maintain a two to four inch layer of mulch on the soil surface to reduce weeds, infiltrate rain water, and reduce compaction.
Water-wise plants can be beautiful as well as practical.
Ask at your local nursery for the types of plants that have minimal watering needs.
Attract, or buy beneficial insects such as ladybugs and lacewings to control pest outbreaks in your garden.