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Old 09-18-2012, 01:40 PM
 
73 posts, read 151,512 times
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Hi all!

We've had some landscaping done to our yard (basic desert landscaping with a few trees), but I've decided that I want a few more plants. We want to be water conscious and not do battle with the desert, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of plants (preferably flowering) that will do well without irrigation lines and only being hand-watered once every week or so. I've heard that bouganvilla, ocotillo, and sago palms would do well, but does anyone have any additional suggestions? I have 2 small dogs, so anything that could be poisonous is out.

Thanks in advance!
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Old 09-18-2012, 02:41 PM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix, AZ USA
17,914 posts, read 43,184,047 times
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Bouganvillea is beautiful but very prickly and not frost tolerant. Cassia, sage, nandina (also known as heavenly bamboo) and Mexican bird of paradise are other options. Lantana, especially the gold version, is pretty ground cover. It CAN freeze, but it's easy to cover and keep safe. The nandina's color is more evident in the late fall and winter, if it's out in the open, as the foliage turns red, in part. Nice for the holidays. Plumbago is pretty too, but burns in the summer and can freeze in the winter too.
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Old 09-18-2012, 03:06 PM
 
Location: SW OK (AZ Native)
24,167 posts, read 13,014,616 times
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A plant that worked well for me in Tucson was the emu bush, a drought-tolerant flowering plant. Also purple trailing lantana which thrives here in SW OKlahoma as well, and Texas Ranger, aka Texas Sage, aka barometer bush. There used to be only one cultivar of the latter, but they've got bunches of sizes and colors these days.

I brought a desert willow from a grower in Tucson to here about 6 years ago and it looked like the tree in Charlie Brown's Christmas special for about 4 years. Last spring I transplanted it to better soil and it quadrupled in one year. Now it's doubled again to nearly 10 feet and is covered with orchid-like flowers since May. They grow wild between here and Lubbock, and of course in the AZ deserts.

Last edited by SluggoF16; 09-18-2012 at 03:20 PM..
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Old 09-18-2012, 03:22 PM
 
Location: Southeast Valley
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One of my favorite is the Texas Sage Bush. See images here: texas sage bush - Bing Images
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Old 09-18-2012, 04:27 PM
 
Location: Tucson for awhile longer
8,869 posts, read 16,238,010 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by observer53 View Post
Plumbago is pretty too, but burns in the summer and can freeze in the winter too.
I have had plumbago in a large pot on my Tucson patio for three years now. It blooms beautifully but I'd hardly call it drought tolerant. I have to put two gallons of water a day on mine or the leaves immediately get brown and crispy (I water all my unirrigated pots after the sun is down). I fertilize in summer with bloom booster according to package directions and it flowers all year. When it gets cold in late fall, I pull the pot up against the house and cover the plant with a sheet if the temps are predicted to be below freezing. In the spring I pull the pot back into the sun, cut it back to less than a foot high, water and fertilize. It grows all new green and begins to flower in late spring.

Plumbago is a plant that deer don't like so I don't know how it is for pets. A potted plant I have that flowers beautifully with less water than the plumbago is the hibiscus. I got a new variety this year at Home Depot called "Spin the Bottle." It has saucer-sized blooms that are coral turning to gold in the center. So gorgeous my neighbor came and took photos.

I have many of the other drought-tolerant plants mentioned (Texas Ranger, nandina, Mexican bird of paradise, three colors of lantana, and emu bushes), but they are all irrigated. Not a ton, but they do get some water every day at 3 a.m. in the summer and less water at 7 a.m. in winter.

OP, if you're ever down Tucson way, the greenhouse at Tohono Chul Park (near Ina and Oracle Roads) sells great drought-tolerant plants year around, many native and others from Australia and South Africa, suited to Arizona. Their annual fall plant sale in in mid-October:

Tohono Chul Park | Plant Sale |
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Old 09-18-2012, 06:18 PM
 
Location: SW OK (AZ Native)
24,167 posts, read 13,014,616 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl View Post
OP, if you're ever down Tucson way, the greenhouse at Tohono Chul Park (near Ina and Oracle Roads) sells great drought-tolerant plants year around, many native and others from Australia and South Africa, suited to Arizona. Their annual fall plant sale in in mid-October:

Tohono Chul Park | Plant Sale |
I hope this isn't unapproved advertising, but a great place in Tucson to get desert plants (such as the above-mentioned desert willow) is Mesquite Valley Growers on East Speedway at Pantano. And Tohono Chul as well as the Sonora Desert Museum have excellent docent assistance regarding plants for the desert. I suspect that the Botanical Gardens in PHX have a similar program.
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Old 09-18-2012, 07:08 PM
 
Location: Arizona
3,610 posts, read 1,197,913 times
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hummingbird bush (Anisacanthus quadrifidus) is another good one.
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Old 09-18-2012, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,541 posts, read 61,208,520 times
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OP this site will give you all the answers to your questions abought drought tolerant plants for this area and the watering and maintenance for them.
Arizona Municipal Water Users Association

This site will help too: http://www.azwater.gov/azdwr/WaterMa...ePlantList.htm
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Old 09-18-2012, 08:46 PM
 
Location: Buckeye
550 posts, read 1,116,574 times
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The only plants not on irrigation at my place are cactus. And those, we water once a week during the hot summer months. Some one mentioned Ocotillo. I banned mine to a corner in my backyard because he barely was green when in the front without an irrigation line. We put him on a dripper in that corner and he is doing better now. All the plants that have been mentioned need irrigation during the hot summer months or they will go dormant of die. Your best bet if you don't want to do irrigation is CACTUS.
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Old 09-19-2012, 01:47 PM
 
188 posts, read 513,891 times
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Star Jasmine... blooms nearly 8 months out of the year if on the north or east face of a building. You can use the flowers to make jasmine rice (and other assorted dishes). Hummingbirds love them. They resist the heat and arid conditions. Feed them water and they will grow incredibly fast but they do just fine without much water as well. I have planted six of them on the outside of my condo (facing east) so they get morning sun for about four hours a day. I hooked them up to a drip system just to avoid any catastrophes from really dry spells. They have quadrupled in size since I planted them in May.
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