Common name:Mexican Redbud
Botanical name:Cercis canadensis v. mexicana

Small multi-stemmed tree grows slowly to 15' x 15'. Heart-shaped leaves are dark green glossy and leathery. Small purple-pink flowers appear before leaves spring. Brown seed pods that follow are not very attractive. Native to Mexico.

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:Autumn Sage Furman's Red
Botanical name:Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red'

Semievergreen sprawling shrub grows to 2' x 2'. Pale green leaves. Tubular flowers are red, pink or white and bloom in the spring and fall. Attracts hummingbirds. Needs good drainage. Prefers filtered shade in Phoenix. Native to Texas.

Common name:Yarrow, Milfoil 'Moonshine'
Botanical name:Achillea 'Moonshine'

Long, straight stems with pale yellow flowers are striking on the mats of green to grey-green leaves of this plant, which are flatter and less divided than those of the Achillea millefolium. This Yarrow propagates easily from rooted cuttings or divisions which should be performed in the early spring or fall. Following bloom, one should dead head the plant and divide the clumps when it appears crowded. Introduced by Alan Bloom in the 1950's.

Common name:Gaura
Botanical name:Gaura lindheimeri

Flowering perennial that quickly reaches 1' x 1-1/2'. This semievergreen plant has pink buds that open to showy white flowers spring to fall. The flowers resemble butterflies and it attracts butterflies. Accepts full sun to partial shade. Native to the southwest U.S. and Mexico.

Common name:Chinese Pistache
Botanical name:Pistacia chinensis

Deciduous tree with rounded crown 40' x 35'. Its leaves have 10-16 leaflets, and the striking fall coloring arrives in beautiful shades of reds and orange. Dense shade tree. Red fruit on female trees. Native to China and the Philippines.

Common name:Catmint
Botanical name:Nepeta X faassenii

Nepeta faassenii makes soft, gray green, undulating mounds that are 1.5' high when blooming. The small leaves are attractive to cats. This perennial has lavender blue flowers in late spring and early summer.