Arizona native cotton is a lovely shrub to small tree – and a relative of cultivated cotton. It has been brought into the native plant trade in parts of the Southwest as a low water plant. Cover image: Native cotton in bloom. Note the tiny pink spots on the petals. […]
Time for another delightful herb to grow in the Southwest – thyme. It’s pretty, relatively low water, good for pollinators, and useful in the kitchen. What’s not to love?! There are many other herbs I have discussed on this site, indeed, “Herbs” ia one category you can search on this […]
Passion vine, passionflower vine, passion plant. There are many names for this vine with striking flowers and tasty fruits. Passion Vine Called variously passion flower, passion fruit and just plain passion vine, the genus Passiflora has over 500 species, most with edible fruit. As with virtually all cultivated garden plants, […]
Borage is a beautiful flowering plant that likes the cooler months of Southwest winter – at least in the Low, Middle, and High Desert. On those Cool Plateau and Mountain elevations, sorry it’s too cold – but! But – this is a good cool season flower you can plant in […]
Anise in one of a number of herbs that grow well in the cool season or “winter” garden in much of the Southwest. Upper elevations like Reno, Santa Fe, and Flagstaff are the exception – sorry but you can’t grow them now, but the rest of us – in the […]
Oregano is a wonderful herb, with many uses, and it is easy to grow in our landscapes here in the Southwest. Why Grow Oregano? Oregano makes a pleasing landscape plant. It grows as a clumping groundcover in low upright clumps. The leaves are a dusky lime green, so not the […]
The weather is warming and the vegetable gardening questions are mounting – time for the warm-season vegetables! And the good news is that there is soooo much to plant now in the Southwest! Alphabet of Vegetables that Love the Heat So many choices, so little time and space! You could […]
Basil is easy to grow for some folks – yet hard for others. The root of the problem is that much gardening knowledge is centered on 1- the past and 2 – growing in the eastern part of the USA, or in central Europe. We have all seen in recent […]
Poppies sure pop out in spring! Depending on where you live in the Southwest there can be spectacular displays of blooms! Want some of this beauty in your yard? The time to start is months before the flowers appear. Basically you have to plant in fall for spring display. I […]
Much in the news about bees as pollinators. And while we all enjoy the fruits of bees labor, not many of us want a swarm of them settling in the backyard. Especially not the Africanized “killer” bees that are a fact of life in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, […]
