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Spotting “Fake” Fall Color: Dealing with Chlorosis in Your Desert Garden

As our desert gardens finally wake up and come to life during the cooler Fall months, you might start noticing a strange trend: plant leaves turning bright yellow while their veins stay a sharp, dark green.

Don’t mistake this for beautiful, healthy autumn foliage. This is actually a classic sign of chlorosis, a condition caused by a deficiency of iron or other vital trace minerals.

The Technical Twist

The iron is usually already sitting right there in your dirt. However, because our native desert soils are highly alkaline, that iron is chemically locked away, making it completely unavailable to your plant’s roots.

Fortunately, you can tackle this with both short-term and long-game strategies.

  • The Quick Fix: Apply chelated iron to the soil around the base of the affected plants. You can easily pick this up at your local nursery. It provides an immediate, accessible nutrient boost to green those leaves back up.
  • The Long-Game Solution: Work plenty of organic matter into your soil over time to help naturally lower and balance its pH. Adding agricultural sulfur will also safely reduce alkalinity and combat chlorosis long-term.

Vibrant Trees for Desert Foliage

On the other hand there are plants that deliver spectacular, natural autumn color without demanding a drop of extra iron. Instead of fighting our native alkaline soils, these landscape additions embrace the climate and naturally reward you with crisp, sweeping fall color shifts.

Chinese pistache tree hot gardens
Best trees to plant in hot dry gardens in a changing climate
  • Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis): Chinese Pistache is the ultimate go-to tree for reliable autumn fireworks in the Southwest. As temperatures dip, its clean green canopy turns dramatic shades of glowing orange, gold, and scarlet. The male Pistache tree is more likely to turn firey red. The female turns more golden, but has seeds that attract birds. (Note: this tree is not the one that produces pistachios!)
  • Desert Olive (Forestiera neomexicana): A native southwestern gem that forms a lovely vase-shaped structure. Its fine leaves shift to a bright, clean, monochromatic yellow in late autumn like an exclamation point in your garden. As winter arrives it reveals smooth pale-gray trunks that look stunning under evening spotlights. You can find this gorgeous, ornamental plant at Native Gardeners or Green Things. (It does not produce edible olives!)

Shrubs and Grasses that Bloom in Autumn

In the desert, autumn isn’t just about falling leaves—it’s a second spring. These durable plants put on their primary color show exactly when other gardens are winding down.

  • Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris): For a true autumn showstopper, this ornamental grass explodes in late fall with airy, cloud-like plumes of intense burgundy-pink. Planted in groups where the low autumn sun can backlit them, they bring immediate movement and warmth to a desert yard.

  • Black Dalea (Dalea frutescens): While trees handle the warm yellows and reds, this native shrub brings a stunning cool-toned contrast. As summer fades, it erupts into a dense blanket of rich violet-purple flowers that pollinators absolutely love.

  • Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii): True to its name, this incredibly tough, heat-loving perennial saves its heaviest, most brilliant flushes of crimson and deep cherry-red blooms for the autumn months, providing critical late-season fuel for migrating hummingbirds.

One more tip

Just keep an eye on your watering habits, too. While dry desert soils are the usual culprit, chlorosis can also kick in if your soil becomes water-logged from poor drainage. Watch your moisture levels, feed your soil, and keep your desert garden thriving this season!

You don’t need a pristine green thumb to become a Master Gardener

Many people think you already need to be an expert to join the Master Gardener program, but that is a major misconception. Whether your current garden is a sprawling oasis or just a few succulents in terra cotta pots on your patio, the program is designed to train you from scratch.

At its core, being a Master Gardener is about education and community. If you love gardening, want to learn from great teaching gardeners, and are willing to share your new gardening know-how with your neighbors, you are a perfect candidate.

Cultivating a Legacy: How the Program Began

The Master Gardener concept was born in 1973 in Tacoma, Washington State. Dr. David Gibby of the Washington State Cooperative Extension noticed a massive shift: homeowners were flooding local agricultural extension offices with urban horticulture questions.

Historically, Co-op Extension offices only served commercial farmers by giving them advice on how to make their farms more successful. Suddenly, they were being asked about which roses produced the longest-blooming flowers, how to get rid of tomato pests, and what to plant for a hedge in a specific neighborhood.

Instead of hiring more government staff, Gibby created a volunteer training program. These trained volunteers could then step up to answer community questions, plant demonstration gardens, and teach local classes to adults and, much later, to children in schools.

As the Master Gardener program spread nationally, the training changed to adapt to local conditions. Suggestions for the best pink rhododendrons may be great for Washington state, but best blooming cacti is a more pertinent topic for the Sonoran desert conditions of southern Arizona.  

Another major change: As time went on, local Master Gardener programs became part of state Universities, rather than the state agricultural Co-op Extension offices.

Surviving Master Gardener Training

Master Gardener training is highly localized, intensive, and incredibly rewarding. I took the multi-month training program in Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada. Having previously gardened in the lush, coastal climate of Santa Barbara, California, transitioning to the Mojave Desert required learning a completely new set of rules.

In the desert, you learn to work with the environment rather than trying to make it conform to your dream garden. The training dives deep into:

  • Soil composition: Managing rock-hard caliche and alkaline desert soils.
  • Water management: Capturing rainfall and mastering drip irrigation as well as efficient xeriscaping.
  • Plant selection: Identifying native and desert-adapted species that thrive in intense heat with low rainfall.

If, for example, someone asks you about best way to maintain a Bird of Paradise (that red/yellow/orange flowering shrub above), you may need to ask some questions. Why? Because just one state to the West in California, there is another plant called Bird of Paradise which looks like a lily that belongs in the tropics and won’t survive in the desert. To give good advice you will have to know exactly which plant they are asking about.

Another plant with a different issue: The smaller purple shrub on the left in this image has multiple names (Texas sage, Texas ranger, Leucophyllum frutescens) and only blooms when the humidity gets high enough. As a Master Gardener you will have to break the news to them that watering it like crazy will NOT bring on the lovely purple flowers. They will have to wait until monsoon humidity arrives.

And these are just two of the many, many types of useful things you could learn in a local Master Gardener program.

After I finished the training and began fielding questions from people who were first-time desert gardeners I decided to share my knowledge beyond Nevada. A total tech novice I developed a successful website about gardening in a hot, dry desert climate to reach would-be desert gardeners around the planet. For that I thank the Clark County Master Gardeners.

How to Join Your Local Program

So, are you ready to master the green world of gardens and share your knowledge with your community? You can find a local program by visiting the American Horticultural Society or checking with your local state university.

To become a Master Gardener typically requires 40 to 70 hours of classroom instruction covering botany, soils, plant pathology, pest management, and sustainable gardening. The fees for the training vary from state to state.

Next comes 40 to 75 hours of community service working with senior Master Gardeners. You would be doing such things as answering questions from callers to the MG help desks, advising school gardens, leading basic gardening classes for adults or managing demonstration plots. Then you will be expected to do 20 to 30 annual volunteer hours to maintain. 

And I can tell you that when you join the program you will learn more than names of plants and best gardening practices, you will meet new friends among the Master Gardeners who will endure for a lifetime.

PotMen run wild in a drab desert garden

Of course you can do more serious things with terra cotta pots than create PotMen for sculpture in your desert garden which probably looks a bit dull at this time of year. You could create a water-wise plant watering system with terra cotta ollas. Or set up a mini-fountain to provide water for thirsty lizards and birds. Or simply position large painted terra cotta pots — either solid color or elaborately designed–here and there as color in your summer monochrome garden.

But I started with PotMen, at the top of this post, who are funny and silly and, have “heads” that give you a space to grow non-traditional desert plants, such as nasturtiums, ivy and petunias like those sprouting out of the PotMens’ heads. During peak summer heat and peak sunshine those plants would not survive 24 hours, as we all know. But in the shade and in a milder season, growing those colorful flowering plants is do-able. I plant nasturtiums in pots every Spring and they thrive for a while. Meanwhile the PotMen are fun in a garden year ’round. (FWIW, I first saw these characters in Europe, not the U.S. and only found one person online offering instructions on how to make them. They are strung together with cords and propped upright with narrow slats.)

Call ollas “ancient sustainable irrigation”

Terra cotta ollas were created first thousands of years ago in North Africa, or China, or maybe in Spain or somewhere else. While no one can say definitively where it started, we can make a very good guess about “who.” A woman, somewhere, saw water seeping through a clay pot she used to keep water in her home and realized that by sinking a clay pot filled with water into the ground in her garden/fields she could spend less time hand irrigating plants. She realized the water would slowly seep out into the soil and give plant roots the water they need consistently for good growth. All she had to do was refill the pot, now more commonly known as an olla (pronounced Oy ya), every three or four days. She probably also worked with her village potter to refine the design of her “plant-waterer.” They came up with a round clay pot with a narrow neck to help prevent evaporation and a cap on top–also to slow down evaporation. That design is still used today. Ollas can also be created with ordinary clay garden pots. See DIY instructions on You Tube.

Help a lizard with its drinking habit

When I first set up a plant saucer on my patio and filled it with water it was for the Mourning Doves that live in my neighborhood. And they came and drank and began hatching little doves in the shrubs in my backyard. Success!

A month or so after I set up this mini-bubbler fountain one morning I noticed a little lizard skittering away into the leaf litter. Unlike the doves, the lizard can’t just fly over to the river for water so I continued with this mini-fountain — now more for the lizards than the doves. I have only seen one smaller lizard who could be a baby of the first one, however. In case you want to add this feature to your garden, there are small solar powered bubblers listed online for under $10.

Control the invaders before they take over

Plant aggressive growers—like certain desert mint varieties or invasive succulents—directly into a clay pot, then bury the entire pot into the ground up to its rim. The thick terra cotta walls contain the root system to stop underground runners from taking over your garden beds. Among the aggressors: ice plants (Carpobrotus edulis) and some Sedum. Sedum Angelina is an example: it is golden yellow during summer and golden orange in the fall. It is tempting because of the color, but highly invasive.)

Nope. Find another kind.

If you are thinking about planting the Mother of Thousands, in a pot with other succulents, it will overwhelm and essentially kill the well-behaved succulents. And, worse yet, little Mother of Thousands plants will sprout up all over the place even if the original plant is in a pot. So beware! More about succulents in an upcoming newsletter.

Gorgeous large pots look great by the front door but they are tempting to thieves

Whether a classic adobe or a contemporary Southwest style home, large pots look beautiful beside the doorway. Alas, thieves think so, too. If you want to do this anyway, be sure to affix the pots to the front landing with silicon adhesive and/or by running a cable from the inside of the pot, through a flat washer and then through the hole in the bottom and lock the cable to a railing. Or you may decide to use your beautiful big pots beside the patio behind your home and leave your front door plain. Keep the beauty of terra cotta pots to yourself, your family and your friends.

5 tips to keep your garden alive in scorching heat and drenching rain

Maybe you think “Yipee. Summer rains are here. My plants are going to get plenty of water and I can stop irrigating my garden now.” You may be surprised to learn that even a soaking monsoon downpour may not be enough to keep your plants thriving at this time of year. Because, as we all know, blistering heat comes every day, relentlessly dehydrating plants–even tough desert natives–and drawing moisture from the soil. Meanwhile monsoon rains come and go irregularly, so they are watering your plants irregularly.

So here are our suggestions to keep your garden in good health this summer, starting with watering.

1. Water Deeply

Shallow watering is one of the biggest mistakes in hot climates. It leads to weak roots that are close to the soil’s surface. That, in turn, means that the roots are being “cooked” even though they are below ground. They can’t survive the heat.

Instead, water deeply so moisture reaches at least 4 to 6 inches — 12 inches is even better–into the soil. Water early in the morning; before sunrise is best. Watering during the night can lead to plant damage from fungus, powdery mildew or other plant diseases, so avoid it.

If you have space, build shallow basins around trees and shrubs to capture rainfall and let it soak into the ground. More about that here.


2. Take the Screwdriver Test

A technique I learned during Master Gardener training was to plunge a screwdriver into the soil around plants. (Be careful and don’t damage the roots!) If the screwdriver goes 4 to 6 inches into the ground easily, your soil is probably moist enough to keep your plants alive.

You could also buy an inexpensive soil moisture test kit like this one. (I haven’t used it but it is a bestseller on Amazon.)

3. Use Organic Mulch to Keep Soil Cool and Moist

You may have mulched your flower beds and around shrubs and trees earlier this year, but mid-summer is a good time to add more because the earlier layer may be thinning out by now.

A good thick layer of mulch lowers the soil temperature by 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit and significantly reduces evaporation. So add enough now to have 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch such as wood chips, straw, or shredded leaves. Keep mulch away from plant stems to prevent rot.

Good organic mulch also slowly releases nutrients into the soil which is ideal for this time of year. Do not heavily fertilize plants during summer; they don’t want to grow — just survive. They hunker down and go into “plant hibernation.”

4. Improve Soil Drainage Before Heavy Rains

There is a reason why ‘Flash Flood’ notices show up on your phone: monsoon downpours are so intense that the rain just skids off the hardened surface of the earth then rolls and rushes downhill, tearing up plants, rocks, boulders, and carrying a lot of that debris with it.

While floods can be huge and frightening in the canyons and dry washes, smaller floods could occur in your back yard and create serious damage. A heavy rainstorm can sweep away flower beds, lift stepping stones, uplift your patio and even damage the foundation of your home.

So, during the next monsoon storm go outside and see where rainwater is pooling around your home and where it is rushing away. It is a good idea to be sure the water that runs off your roof or falls anywhere on your property is properly channeled away from your house.

OR…you can save water in cisterns or barrels to be used to water your plants between storms. Read this post for details about saving rainfall on your property.

tree sheltered by shade cloth

5. Provide Shade for Heat-Sensitive Plants and People

Even sun-loving plants can struggle in extreme desert heat which is why you should have tall trees in your yard. A leafy tree can reduce the temperature in your garden by 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another way to protect your plants is by using shade cloth over your raised bed vegetable garden and over your patio. To protect plants use a 30% to 50% shade cloth. To protect humans on a patio, a 70% to 90% shade cloth is better.

If your plants wilt during the day then recover in the evening, focus on cooling strategies—not extra watering.

Keeping your garden alive in extreme heat is all about strategy. By combining deep watering techniques, mulching, shade protection, and smart monsoon irrigation practices, you can protect your plants during the toughest part of the year.

Remember: summer is about survival—but with the right care, your garden will be ready to thrive when cooler temperatures–below 90 degrees Fahrenheit–return in the Fall.

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How to Help Hummingbirds Thrive in Your Garden

Hummingbirds, like the Costa’s hummingbird, above, are always welcomed in my desert garden. They dart from flower to flower, flashing brilliant, iridescent colors as they go—tiny, tireless pollinators that bring constant motion and life to the landscape.

Moving northward, but still here

Lately, however, their presence seems less frequent. Some experts suggest that shifting climate patterns are influencing birds’ home ranges as well as migration, with many species gradually moving north as temperatures rise. Still, hummingbirds have by no means disappeared from the Sonoran Desert. That realization inspired me to make my garden more supportive of their needs by incorporating drought-tolerant, nectar-rich plants that thrive in our arid climate.
If you’d like to attract hummingbirds to your own desert garden, consider adding the following plants.

• Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)
A fast-growing, heat-loving shrub with bold, colorful flowers.

Mexican Bird of Paradise drought tolerant plant


• Hummingbird Trumpet (Epilobium canum)
A classic choice, prized for its brilliant red blooms and strong appeal to hummingbirds.


• Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
A small, graceful tree with trumpet-shaped, orchid-like blooms that appear from late spring through fall—an extended feeding season for hummingbirds.

Desert Willow Chilopsis linearis


• Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)
One of the earliest bloomers, producing vivid red tubular flowers in spring when food sources can be scarce.


• Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii)
A hardy, low-maintenance shrub that offers nectar-rich blooms from late spring well into fall. It looks somewhat similar to the Penstemon, above, but with a longer blooming period, it can feed hummingbirds through summer heat.


• Baja Fairy Duster (Calliandra californica)
Known for its soft, brush-like red flowers that hummingbirds find irresistible, they are cousins to the sturdy, and much taller, red bottle brush.

Baja Fairy duster bloom


• Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)
A striking desert plant with tall canes topped by clusters of bright red flowers in a very short-blooming season in spring. No photo necessary: it looks like a bunch of dry sticks pointing skyward most of the year.

• Desert Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera)
A dependable shrub, below, with vibrant orange tubular blooms that hummingbirds frequent.

• Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) A rugged desert native with soft orange blooms and excellent drought tolerance.


By choosing plants that bloom at different times of the year, you can provide a continuous source of nectar and create a welcoming habitat for hummingbirds throughout the seasons. Even in the desert, a thoughtfully planted garden can become a reliable refuge for these amazing birds.

If you live in Southern California, take a look at this post I wrote a while ago about hummingbirds in a somewhat different climate. There I mentioned citrus outside my kitchen window. Here, in the Sonoran desert, I look out the kitchen window to a Mexican Yellow Oleander (Cascabela thevetia, formerly Thevetia peruviana.) which the hummingbirds love, but every part of this plant in poisonous for humans. A previous resident planted it not realizing how dangerous it is. Even cutting it back and/or removing it has risks! (The lemon tree I saw from my window in California was a much much better choice!)

As the heat comes upon us, make sure your plants get watered regularly, but do NOT feed them to try to make them bloom or grow. Just a little bit of food to keep them alive until the weather cools. They are now going into summer hibernation and will wake up in the Fall.

And, finally, if you decide to install a hummingbird feeder, be aware that you should clean it EVERY DAY! Hummingbirds clustering at feeders spread diseases.

From Down Under to the High Desert: Australian Plants for Your Hot Garden

While winter still grips the northern latitudes, the “Land Down Under” is basking in the peak of summer heat. It’s the perfect time to look to Australia—the native home of the acacia, eucalyptus, and kangaroo paw—for inspiration. These plants are the ultimate survivors for hot, dry desert climates, offering a “plant and ignore” lifestyle that every busy gardener loves.

If you’re planning your springtime planting, consider adding these low-maintenance, drought-tolerant beauties to your landscape.

1. Acacias: The Soil-Building Beauty

The Acacia family is a desert gardener’s dream: they love the sun, require very little water, and—as a hidden bonus—actually fix nitrogen in the soil, improving its quality for neighboring plants.

acacia in bloom

Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha): Australia’s national flower and the inspiration for the country’s green and gold colors.

Other acacias that thrive in our Southwestern gardens:

  • Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana): A fast-growing multi-trunk tree that brings a burst of fragrant, bright yellow blooms in mid-winter—a cheerful “genetic memory” of the Australian summer.
  • Prostrate Acacia (Acacia redolens): Need to cover a slope? This shrubby groundcover spreads up to 12 feet wide, thrives in poor soil, and features puffy, ball-like yellow flowers.

2. Eucalyptus: The “Dr. Seuss” Shade Tree

If you want shade and you want it now, Eucalyptus trees are your best bet. Famous for their whimsical, Dr. Seuss-like shapes, these rapid growers need almost no fertilizer—though an occasional dose of chelated iron can keep them looking vibrant.

  • Cider Gum (Eucalyptus gunnii): A hardy giant that can soar to 70 feet, showing off silvery-blue leaves and beautiful tan-and-green peeling bark.

    Other Eucalyptus that thrive in our climate:
  • Coral Gum (Eucalyptus torquata): Reaching 35 feet, this variety features light green leaves and exotic flowers that look like tiny Oriental lanterns.
  • Silver Dollar Tree (Eucalyptus cinerea): A floral arrangement favorite. Keep it trimmed back to maintain the iconic round, silver leaves; otherwise, they eventually turn long and green as the tree matures.

3. Natural Companions & Color Accents

kangaroo paw

Looking for the perfect partner for your Eucalyptus? Try the Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos). These perennials look like unassuming tufts of grass until they shoot up 2-foot spikes topped with fuzzy, tubular flowers.

  • The “Bush Gem” Series: Hybrids like  ‘Bush Gold’ and ‘Bush Ranger’ are the sturdiest options, resistant to pests and a magnet for hummingbirds.

4. Echoes of the East Coast

If you miss the white birches of the Eastern U.S., the Australian Paperbark Tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia) is a stunning desert substitute. It features weeping branches and thick, light brown bark that peels away in papery layers.

  • Pro Tip: Use the peeled bark to line your wire hanging flower baskets—it’s both functional and beautiful!

5. The Bottle Brush Debate

Not all “indestructible” plants are created equal. While the Red Bottle Brush (Callistemon citrinus) is a common sight along California freeways, we prefer its more sophisticated cousin: Perth Pink.

Callistemon Perth Pink bottlebrush
  • Perth Pink Bottlebrush: While the standard red can look a bit “utility,” the Perth Pink variety offers hot pink blooms that are absolute showstoppers. It thrives in xeriscape gardens and, while sometimes harder to find, is well worth the search.

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Hot Days, White Nights: How to Design a Moon Garden

When the desert mercury climbs, our relationship with our gardens shifts. We retreat indoors during the sizzling daylight hours, only to emerge when the air finally begins to cool after dusk. This shift is the perfect reason to design a Night Garden—a landscape specifically engineered to shimmer in moonlight.

A Quick Reality Check: While we’re dreaming of moonlit blossoms, remember the Hot Gardens golden rule: Plant in the Fall or early Spring. Once the temperature rises, new plants struggle to survive.

Here is your guide to the best white-blossomed, silver-leaved, and scent-heavy plants for a desert sanctuary. And as a bonus, learn which wildlife visitors your garden may have at night.

The Luminous Anchors: Trees & Shrubs

  • White Roses: Opt for white or pale yellow varieties. They offer a shimmering beauty and a classic fragrance that hangs perfectly in the balmy night air.
white rose
  • White Oleander (Nerium oleander): A rugged, water-wise alternative to roses. Beyond its months-long bloom cycle, it is fire-retardant—a vital feature if you live in high-risk wildfire zones. (Pro-tip: Always maintain a 100-foot defensible perimeter of cleared brush around your home)
  • Texas Olive (Cordia boissieri): Not a true olive, but a tough native shrub that starts its show in late Spring and often provides a “bonus” bloom in Autumn.
White Crape Myrtle

White Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): A sturdy native that requires almost no water once established—perfect for the “lazy” summer gardener.

White Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), left: In our alkaline desert soils, these are slow growers (topping out at 15–20 feet). Help them thrive by adding plenty of organic mulch to provide the acidity they crave.

Night-Scented Sensations

  • Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa): Don’t confuse this with the invasive pink variety. This native white version blooms specifically at night and smells incredible. It grows in a mounded shape.
  • Moonflower (Ipomoea alba): A nocturnal cousin to the Morning Glory. Its massive white flowers unfurl at sunset like nature’s own lightbulbs. (Be careful that you do not buy Jimson Weed also known as Datura. It has large flowers that look like morning glory, but is poisonous and not suitable for gardens.)
  • White Jasmine & Hall’s Honeysuckle: These climbers are fragrance powerhouses. Honeysuckle pulls double duty, attracting bees by day and perfuming your patio by night.
  • Nicotiana alata: The wild species is the most fragrant, but the ‘Domino’ variety is much better at standing up to our intense desert heat.

Pittosporum tobira: A sweet-smelling flowering shrub also called by the name mock orange. As a tree form it reaches 15 to 20 feet in height. It also comes with variegated leaves to add to nighttime luster.

Texture & Reflection: Silver Foliage

  • Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina): The soft, fuzzy, silver-grey leaves act like a mirror for moonlight, creating a velvet-like carpet on the garden floor.
  • Variegated Turf Lily (Liriope muscari ‘Silvery Sunproof’): A durable groundcover with striped leaves that catch the light, finished with delicate summer blooms.
Variegated lirope turf lily

The Secret Sauce: White & Pale Yellow

When wandering your local nursery, keep one rule in mind: If it’s white or pale yellow, it belongs. These shades reflect the shortest wavelengths of light, meaning they will “glow” long after the sun sets, while reds and purples disappear into the shadows.

The “Night Shift” Pollinators

While you’re enjoying the cooler air, your garden is hard at work. By planting white, fragrant, and night-blooming species, you are creating a vital pit stop for the desert’s nocturnal ecosystem.

  • Sphinx Moths: Often mistaken for hummingbirds due to their size and hovering ability, these moths are the primary fans of Moonflowers and Evening Primrose. Their long proboscises are perfectly evolved to reach deep into tubular white blooms.
  • Nectar-Eating Bats: In the Southwest, lesser long-nosed bats and Mexican long-tongued bats are crucial pollinators. They are drawn to the pale, sturdy flowers of the Texas Olive and native cacti.
  • Nocturnal Bees & Beetles: Many smaller desert residents rely on the highly visible “landing pads” of White Yarrow and Dwarf Cup Flower to find food in the dark.

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Fragrant and showy African plants for your hot, dry garden

November means fewer hot days in the Northern Hemisphere but in the Southern one, it’s Spring and plants are beginning to rise up toward the sun and bloom. Happily, many, particularly from South Africa, are suitable for our hot dry gardens.

One of the most fragrant South African flowers I know and love is the Freesia, a member of the Iris family. It blooms in Springtime and then the leaves die back to the ground. While often Freesia plants are grown in pots where they may flower year after year, in most of the desert Southwest the Freesia bulbs (also called corms) are planted in the ground. If you are brave try simply leaving them in the ground. Some people prefer to dig the bulbs up and replant. Properly cared for they will bloom again for 7 to 9 years. The hybrids come in many colors, but the white and yellow blooms seem to be the most fragrant. And–maybe best of all– they are very easy to grow: just stick the bulbs in a hole 2 inches deep, cover it and then water lightly. Come Spring warmth they bloom.

Another choice is the freesia-like Tritonia, originally found in Mozambique but now common in the Cape region of South Africa. It looks similar and is very tough. Many are very fragrant, especially after dark, but two, Tritonia Pink and Tritonia Cream are fragrance free.

Iris in a desert garden is unexpected

For a more showy plant in a garden border, choose Iris, a native of Egypt in northern Africa. Its flashy blue and purple and yellow flowers are surprising in any garden and moreso in a desert environment. In hot, dry climates they grow beautifully from rhizomes, a flat, lumpy and thick root-like structure. (Not a round bulb like the Freesia has.)

I recently planned to add Iris to my garden because, not only are the flowers a visual delight, Iris leaves remain upright after blooming and add structure to a garden border. But when I saw the price for one rhizome cutting I was surprised. Ok, they were rhizome cuttings from rare/unusual Iris, but–wow, they were much more than I anticipated. So I would advise you, if you already have Iris, split your own rhizomes, and replant so you have twice as many in late Spring. You might want to offer to swap rhizome cuttings with a gardening friend or neighbor to get different colors.

How to split Iris rhizomes

After you dig up the Iris rhizome, cut the leaves back to about 5 or 6 inches then divide the rhizome by pulling it apart at the joints. If it doesn’t break easily cut it into large pieces using a sharp, knife sterilized by dipping it in bleach and water.

Okay, now here is where planting Iris is different from most plantings. Do not use compost. Do not heap mulch around the plant. Do not plant it deep. Iris like it plain and simple. Just dig a shallow hole about ten inches wide by three or four inches deep and place the rhizome with a few leaves still attached on a low mound of desert soil in the hole. Then fill the hole with the TOP of the Iris rhizome still visible. Pro Tip: If the rhizome is soft and squishy, throw it out.

South Africa is the home of gladiolus

Yes. Those big, showy “glads” in American gardens come from the original ancestor in South Africa. And here are even more plants from there suitable for desert Southwest gardens.

Gladiolus dalenii


Gladiolus These Gladiolus (Gladiolus dalenii) are a delicate version of the large, sturdy upright “glads” of summer. Our European-style upright ones are hybrids based on these South African natives. These bloom in Spring.

You may be much better off planting bulbs native to South Africa, such as the or the Watsonia borbonica, also called the Pink Watsonia or the Bugle Lily. It, too, resembles miniature gladiolus.

I wish I could tell you to plant Agapanthus, yet another South African native, but, sadly, they do not survive in desert heat.

In the next newsletter look for information about the plants from another Southern Hemisphere locale, Australia. Some of their natives thrive in our hot dry gardens.

Read our 8 most popular newsletters

  1. Cover up that naked wall
  2. Australian Plants for a Desert Garden
  3. Potmen for a fun DIY addition to your garden
  4. Best and beautiful native shrubs for extreme heat
  5. Five fragrant plants for your garden
  6. Four desert trees good for soil, 4 toxic ones
  7. Plants that bloom even in mid-summer scorching heat
  8. Where to get free or cheap trees for your Western garden

5 tips for winterizing your desert garden

In winter there is much more variation in temperatures in the areas called “deserts” in the Southwest–the areas where annual rainfall is low. Winter in Phoenix gives gardeners a break from those 110F daytime highs of summer. The average daytime high in Phoenix in winter is 68F and in Palm Springs it’s 72F. The average daytime winter high in Las Vegas is 58F and in El Paso it’s 59F. That sounds like good news for desert gardens — right?

But that’s only part of the story. Then there are the winter nighttime lows. If you live in central Phoenix or Palm Springs your garden will not be frost-bitten in winters. You can safely garden without worry, 12 months of the year. (Phoenix suburbs and other towns in the desert southwest at higher elevations may end up with overnight freezing temperatures, so watch your local weather report.)

Gardeners in Las Vegas, however, will have about 24 days of overnight winter frost. And dry El Paso? Wow–gardens there are enduring overnight frost as many as 75 times a year. So here are some tips about winterizing those gardens.

Tip 1: Protect against frost

Cover tender plants with frost cloths, burlap, or old sheets. Avoid plastic, which traps moisture and causes damage. Anchor coverings to the ground to trap soil warmth. Prioritize protection for citrus trees, succulents, and young ornamentals.

Tip 2: Know your plants’ limits

Not all desert plants are equally hardy. Many cacti, including the very popular Barrell Cactus, will tolerate a light frost, but suffer under prolonged hours of freezing temperatures. Prickly pear and saguaro are hardy, if they are not water-logged from too much irrigation.

Succulents, like aloe, are tougher, while others, like echeveria, are delicate. And it almost goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: non-native plants, including shrubs and trees, are especially vulnerable and can be damaged by night freezes. For example, my favorite palm tree, the Queen Palm, (Syagrus romanzoffiana) hates cold weather so I was unable to plant it safely in Las Vegas. It would have not survived the first cold winter there.

If you have plants in containers that are sensitive to freezing temperatures, bring them indoors or tuck into a sheltered patio.

Tip 3: Adjust your watering schedule

Cooler temperatures and fewer hours of sunlight mean slower evaporation so reduce watering frequency and duration to prevent root rot. Dormant plants need little to no water, while winter vegetables and annuals still require light irrigation. Pro Tip: Water before a freeze—moist soil holds heat better than dry soil.

Tip 4: Plant cool-season veggies and flowers

poppies rancho santa ana garden

Desert winters are perfect for growing leafy greens, carrots, peas, potatoes, and broccoli–particularly in raised beds. If your heart is set on flowers you can get seasonal color in winter with nasturtiums, lupines, poppies and snapdragons. They are best planted in a sheltered area. And companion planting helps maximize space and protect soil during cooler months. (More about companion planting in a future post, including wisdom from indigenous people.)

Tip 5: Mulch and enrich the soil

This is desert gardening 101: mulch, mulch and mulch some more. Moderately coarse organic mulch is the best because it performs two tasks: 1) heaped around plants it is a physical barrier insulating against summer heat, winter frost and evaporation and 2) as it decomposes gradually over time organic mulch helps balance the soil’s pH and provides nutrients to your plants.

We do not recommend using rock mulch close to plants. Rock mulch can heat up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit in direct summer sun and that will kill the plant.

And, finally, while you are working in your garden, check the drainage. Winter rains, like our summer monsoons, can clog natural flowing water paths and the water can pool and damage roots.

Happy gardening!

Keep promise write memoir ebook and paperback

Read our 8 most popular newsletters

  1. Cover up that naked wall
  2. Australian Plants for a Desert Garden
  3. Potmen for a fun DIY addition to your garden
  4. Best and beautiful native shrubs for extreme heat
  5. Five fragrant plants for your garden
  6. Four desert trees good for soil, 4 toxic ones
  7. Plants that bloom even in mid-summer scorching heat
  8. Where to get free or cheap trees for your Western garden

What to do when its too hot to garden

Today’s forecast in Tucson is for a high temperature of 111 degrees Fahrenheit. Too hot to do more than water the plants in pots and sweep up leaves from yesterday’s winds. It’s like this almost everywhere in the Southwest. Even southeastern California is scorching. (The exceptions are the sky islands of Arizona and Nevada. More about them later.)

So what’s a gardener to do? For me the solution is clear: visit the shadiest public garden nearby preferably in the morning and preferably with a gardening friend.

Seeing the wide range of heat-tolerant plants thriving in the public garden is the summertime equivalent of perusing seed catalogs in winter. You and your friend can look. You can even take notes if you see something very special. But you cannot really do anything about planting in your hot, dry garden until the weather cools months from now. Then after the plant-viewing is done, stop at the cafe in the public garden for a light lunch in the shade. Perfect!

Escape to a public garden

So, here are a few public gardens I’ve visited during the sizzling hot summer months over the past 20+ years I’ve been writing Hot Gardens. Often, I confess, my goal in recent years is to go for a shady walk in an appealing urban space and have a fun lunch with friends. Plants are just an extra.

(For a list of all the gardens I’ve written about on Hot Gardens, go here.)

I’ll start with the obvious: Tucson Botanical Gardens. It was founded in 1964 in the back yard of a horticulturist, Harrison Yocum, so the trees in parts of this garden are 60 years old and the walk ways are shady. Two new additions to this garden are an expanded cactus and succulent garden and a whimsical installation of model trains and model historic buildings in what was once an ignored corner of the garden. Both USA Today and TripAdvisor recommend this public garden. I do, too.

Saguaros at Tucson Botanical Garden
Shady pathway Tucson Botanical Garden

The San Antonio Botanical Garden is 38 acres of surprises. Rather than focus on drought-tolerant plants, the goal of this public garden is to showcase the wide variety of plants and eco-systems in Texas. Among the things you will see is the dramatic Lucile Halsell Conservatory complex with its towering glass buildings. There are also old residences surrounded by historic plantings. And contemporary displays of plants. And a bird-watching station. And a culinary garden. And…, well, it’s Texas so there is more, much more.

Plan your visit to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens at night! From June through September there are ‘Flashlight Nights’ that let you see the gardens after sundown. Each of these nights has special events and snacks for desserts, too. The exhibitions of plants and the indigenous people of the Southwest are favorites of mine. The trails through the Gardens aren’t consistently shady so nighttime visits are best. Check the website for dates and times.

patio space with desert plants at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden

When I lived in Los Angeles, my go-to public garden was not the large L.A. Arboretum, but the much smaller and shadier Descanso Gardens, tucked back in the hills above Glendale. Originally it was a commercial garden with camellias and roses grown for sale. Now camellias and roses make up only two parts of Descanso Gardens. There is also a Japanese Garden with a tea house, a lilac garden with blooms in Spring, a small drought-tolerant garden, an Oak woodland with soft-underfoot trails, a little train for children to ride, and an art exhibition near the original home on the property plus a cafe for lunch under the pergolas near the entrance. (And the glorious poppy, below, is just for a beauty of it.)

poppies at Descanso Gardens

Historically, plants have not always been the primary focus of gardens. The ancient gardens of the Roman, Persian and Chinese empires always placed the enclosing architecture, the water features and the buildings as the most important elements of that protected, outdoor space we call a garden. Plants were more like ornaments in those gardens. The Getty Villa in Malibu and the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Gardens are both examples of the ‘architecture-first’ gardens. And both these gardens are also noted for their art collections. So if you go to California this summer, visit either or both of these for a more-than-gardens experience. I recommend lunch at the Getty Villa overlooking the Roman garden, below, and Pacific Ocean. The food is good; the view is better. And it’s always cool!

outer peristile at Getty Villa in Malibu
garden fountain at Getty Villa

Now about Sky Islands

Sky Island is the common designation for locations over 5,000 feet in elevation in mountains that rise up steeply out of hot deserts. Up there it’s cool — 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the land down at the foot of the mountains. Both Mt. Lemmon near Tucson and Mt. Charleston near Las Vegas are sky islands. Hiking and camping are comfortable experiences during summer months when you are that high up. And you can simply ignore your garden for a while. Stay cool!

Read our 8 most popular newsletters

  1. Cover up that naked wall
  2. Australian Plants for a Desert Garden
  3. Potmen for a fun DIY addition to your garden
  4. Best and beautiful native shrubs for extreme heat
  5. Five fragrant plants for your garden
  6. Four desert trees good for soil, 4 toxic ones
  7. Plants that bloom even in mid-summer scorching heat
  8. Where to get free or cheap trees for your Western garden