Blooms Continue....

Brittlebush and Penstemon grow where they want to in my garden. For several years, I had only one Brittlebush shrub, but last year, several more came up, and this year, there are about ten growing in one area. They look good in spring and sometimes in fall. The rest of the year, well, it's hard to look at them. They dry out in the center, and become woody. They do last several years if left alone, so I just turn my head when I walk by them except in spring.

The few Bush Morning Glory shrubs left in my garden are now in full bloom. They are quite a standout among all the yellow each spring. When I established my garden in May of 2005, I had 18 Bush Morning Glory shrubs, and each summer, I lose a few more. They are not long-lived perennials, and I although I love them, I haven't replaced the ones lost. I like to try new plants when I have an open emitter, but I'm going to go back to Bush Morning Glory now that I'm down to only six.



Although this Lilac Vine flowers for a only short time in early spring, its green leaves break up the expanse of the unpainted walls of my garden the rest of the year. Although I said in my last post that I don't want to spend any more money on this property, the unpainted concrete block is not attractive. I would like to have it painted a Sangria color. Or maybe a shade of orange. Or, maybe a deep sapphire. Folks from other regions may think this would be madness, but it's fairly common here in the desert to have brightly hued garden walls, usually in colors that have a Mexican flavor.  The walls quickly fade in the bright sun, so the shades become more subtle within a year or so. On second thought, maybe I'll just stare at the gray walls. The initial cost is quite high, and then there's the ongoing maintenence. Fading is ok for a few years, but after awhile, they just look tired. Another concern is resale. Repainting undesirable block walls is usually not high on the list of remodel jobs for new homeowners!

What I Do With Gourd Seeds

Many gardeners tend to choose hobbies that are plant related, such as flower arranging, seed exchanges, attending garden shows and tours, and of course, garden blogging. I’m no exception. One on-again, off-again hobby I have is plant related in a sense. I do gourd crafting, but not often any more. This past month I've had to dust off my gourd crafting tools for a special project.

I'm currently working on a gourd slated for a benefit auction, and I’m running out of time. The benefit gourd will have a pine needle weave around the rim, and I need a refresher course on the weaving stitch because it’s been so long since I’ve worked on a gourd.

One of my favorite techniques involves using beads and gourd seeds as embellishments in the weaving. Adding these is time consuming, so the current gourd project will not include these elements. It will have just a row or two of pine needle weaving, along with a wood-burned design, chosen by the benefit host.

The gourd in these photos is one I made a couple of years ago, right after a technique class when all the instructions were fresh in my mind. Of all the gourds I designed, I like this one the best, mostly because of the seeds.

Euphorbia rigida

Euphorbia rigida, commonly called Blue Euphorbia, Gopher Plant, or Silver Spurge, makes a great late winter to early spring showing, and then the stems dry up and need to be pruned. It’s sort of a one-hit wonder—beautiful for a couple of months and then really bad looking. Even so, I think it is worth having in the garden. The blue-green leaves and chartreuse flowers make it a striking accent plant.

The E. rigida in my garden became another casualty of our extreme 2007 summer heat. Even with its preference for full sun, the plant just couldn't take the prolonged hot spell. Since it is supposed to self-seed, I have been hoping to see some new little plants, but so far, nothing. I think it’s too late to expect some new plants, at least for this season.

Our local nurseries only carry the E. rigida when it is in bloom, so it is available only a short time, usually in early February. It’s very hard to find because it sells out so fast. Although it is a perennial shrub, many folks use it as late winter color, and then they discard it to make way for other annuals. Since it looks so bad the rest of the year, the nurseries can’t even give it away after the blooms fade.

Red Yucca Adds Texture to Arizona Landscapes

Hesperaloe parviflora

When walking through my garden, I never seem to notice the Hesperaloe parviflora, (not parvifolia, as some think,) probably because it is so ubiquitous here in Arizona. The shrub has narrow, stiff leaves that have white, hairy fibers on the margins. A few times a year, it sends up tall spikes that carry salmon pink, tube-shaped flowers that eventually form walnut-sized seedpods. The numerous black seeds, packed tightly into the four quarters of the pod, look remarkably like Pringles®. Hummingbirds and butterflies love this shrub when it’s flowering, so that makes up for its nondescript appearance when the flower stalks are gone.

H. parviflora (Red Yucca) is not a yucca at all, but closely related to the yucca genus (not the aloe genus, as some think). Red Yucca is native to the Chihuahuan desert (not the Sonoran desert as some think) and it grows in USDA zones 5-10. This slow-growing shrub can take temperatures from freezing lows to the harshest summers, but it won’t take heavy, constantly wet soil.


The flowers are long lived. Most folks cut the stalk back as it begins to dry, but the stalk with just the seedpods adds interest and texture to the garden. I love to see this shrub planted in large groupings of five to seven, especially when the grouping includes a few of the newer, H. parviflora ‘Yellow’ cultivar. The grouped shrubs send up hundreds of flower stalks that last for months, brightening even the most barren landscape.

Ruellia brittoniana ~ Desert Petunia

The Ruellia brittoniana, commonly called the Desert Petunia, is not related to the garden petunia we are all familiar with. The R. brittoniana originated in Mexico, and it is sometimes called the Mexican Petunia. This tough perennial can be invasive as it easily spreads by seed and rhizomes. Since I wanted to have a stand of it in one area of my garden, I’ve appreciated its ability to self-sew. Invasiveness is not so much a problem in our Arizona soils as in other areas where it grows (USDA Zones 9-10) since our desert soils are much lower in organic matter.

The R. brittoniana comes in several colors, including purple, blue, pale pink and white. I’ve had the pale pink variety, but much prefer the lilac blue of the plants I currently have. It flowers from spring until the first frost. In a warm year, I have flowers year-round. If we do have frost, the plant looks bad, so I cut it back to six inches and it comes back better than ever.

There is also a dwarf variety of the R. brittoniana with blue-purple flowers called ‘Katie’. The dwarf variety also comes with the same range of colors as the regular Ruellia. I also have ‘Katie’ in my garden. Both types are easy care and both are drought-resistant. The dwarf variety does not spread as easily as the taller R. brittoniana, so it is popular in smaller gardens. The dwarf variety makes a great container plant. It grows to about one foot tall and two feet wide and deadheading is not necessary.

One Striking Flower

Gazania rigens 'Daybreak Red Stripe'

Sometimes the most common perennials have the most striking flowers. An example is the Gazania rigens, or Treasure Flower. It is used in the Phoenix area as an annual in resort hotel flowerbeds and in housing development common areas, and the Daybreak Red Stripe is the most popular cultivar. It is also sold as Tiger Gazania.

The dozen or so Gazania plants I had in my garden, having finished their natural lifespan, died out this past spring, so I will reseed their beds this coming winter. The Gazania plants are the first flowers I get in very early spring, and I especially love the Red Stripe.

Gazanias, which strongly resemble daisies, do not work as cut flowers as daisies do because their stems are too short. In addition, the flowers close at sunset, and never even open on cloudy days, so they just won’t do in the house. What a shame.

Meet Little John, From Down Under

Callistemon viminalis 'Little John'

Australian plants do well in Arizona, as the climate there is similar to ours. Most desert gardens have at least three or four different varieties of "Aussie" natives. In my garden, I have several types of Emu Bush, Willow Acacia trees, and some Dwarf Bottlebrush shrubs, (Callistemon viminalis 'Little John').

The Dwarf Bottlebrush is a low mounding shrub that grows very slowly and will eventually reach about three feet tall with a five-foot spread. Since I don't want my shrubs to be sprawling, I prune them minimally in late autumn. They have attractive foliage and a bottlebrush-like red flower that blooms in early spring, then periodically through summer. Hummingbirds love them, but are sometimes hesitant to swoop in so low, so will choose other flowering plants before this one.

There are a couple of problems with the Dwarf Bottlebrush. It seems to collect more dust than other plants in my garden, so it always looks dusty. I think that's because the leaves are somewhat hairy. Although it does well here, it prefers a more humid environment where it can really thrive. It is also somewhat frost sensitive. Every year, I have to trim back a few frost-damaged tips, but even the hard freeze we had this past winter didn't severely affect it.

This little shrub is like a miniature version of the Bottle Brush Tree--same flower, same foliage, and same frost sensitivity. Like the Bottle Brush Tree, the pollen is an allergen, so sensitive folks may want to skip this shrub, as well as the tree.