Quoting myself. “Yes, you can have a lush looking yard and use little water in the desert Southwest. Sounds impossible – but it is not. All that is needed is a careful selection of plants that are already adapted to live here” and paperflower is one such plant. Cover image […]
Time for some colorful heartease. Never heard of heartease? You may know it by it’s more modern names – violet or pansy. Why Heartease Now? February is upon us and Phil the groundhog has warned of 6 more weeks of winter.* February can be a dreary month, often […]
The bunnies hop right on past the desert hopbush, also called desert hops, and occasionally called sand cherry. Other common names include arilla (Spanish); and in Seri, casol caacol. I would love to know the O’odham name if someone reading this knows it. The botanical name is Dodonaea viscosa and […]
Butterflies can add a beautiful grace note to our yards, and it is easy to attract them! Would you like to be able to watch flocks of butterflies flutter by? Now is the time to plant your butterfly garden in the Southwest USA. Butterflies, moths, and skippers are 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 […]
Lawns are an easy way to cover the soil in the yard and are a common landscaping solution “back East.” But lawns are not a natural part of the arid Southwest landscape, and thus require extensive work to maintain. As discussed in Lawns in the Southwest, the Seven Principles Xeriscape […]
“What are those weird lumps on my creosote bush? Should I cut them off?” A Question Asked Via Substack This wonderful question came in from a subscriber to my Substack newsletter. I love Substack because people can ask such anonymous questions and not feel embarrassed, quite unlike other social media. […]
C is for Castor! Castor for Color. Castor because the Critters don’t eat it! Colorful Castor is a large, showy plant for warm season color anywhere in the Southwest. Thus “Si!” is for castor as well! What is Castor? Castor (Ricinus communis) comes to us from eastern Africa […]
Aloysia are attractive to me because they are edible (appetizing!). They are attractive to pollinators as well. But best of all – they are not attractive to javelina and rabbits! This is part of my continuing series of articles that could be titled “Plant Your Yard for Pollinators and People,” […]
Desert broom (Baccharis sarothroides) is both cursed and blessed by homeowners. Let me clear up some of the misconceptions and share why you might want to welcome this plant to your landscape. Overview of Desert Broom Desert broom is in the Compositae (Asteraceae) which is the same family as sunflowers. […]
