Desert Crest Press

Evergreen plants are widely used in Peoria landscape design and here’s one many Arizona homeowners are sure to find attractive for both outdoor living spaces and curb appeal. Dietes bicolor gives you low maintenance and four full seasons of interest.

Originally from Africa, where it is called the wild yellow lily, it is known in the greater Phoenix – Scottsdale area as the Bicolor Iris, though some areas it thrives in around the U.S. it can be referred to as the Peacock Flower. This evergreen perennial forms well behaved clumps of lovely architectural blade leaves. When not in flower, Dietes bicolor looks for all the world like a great accent grass. From May through September though it will give you waves of light to medium yellow flowers that are both beautiful and delicate looking. You may also hear the plant called the Fortnight Lily, because during the blooming season the plant puts out a fresh crop of flowers every two weeks. This makes it a desirable accent in Peoria landscaping.

While the Bicolor Iris grows along stream banks in the wild, it is also quite drought tolerant. It is a favorite among Arizona tropical plants and attractive to butterflies. The best spots to grow this plant in your yard will have excellent drainage and be sheltered from that brutal afternoon sun. In many Arizona yards, this will be on the east side of the house or in a location that large trees cast shadow throughout the afternoon and evening hours. If your soil is clay in the place you select to plant Dietes Bicolor, plan on amending it well.

For most Arizona homeowners, low water usage is high on the list of needs. Though the Bicolor Iris will tolerate dry soil, you do need to plan on giving it a good drink twice a week. With drip irrigation at the root zone, it will take less water to keep your plant thriving than traditional hose in hand means. Unlike the demands of keeping lawn areas green, light watering a couple times a week on selected plants is by no means a waste of water. Especially when the majority of the other plants in your Peoria landscape design are more drought tolerant or xeriscaping champions.

Like many perennials, you can coax the Bicolored Iris into giving you many more blooms, by deadheading. This term means trimming off the spent flowers. With some perennials, you might only need to clip back to the next set of leaves. With strap leaf plants like iris and daylilies, deadheading is far less tedious. Simply follow the flower stem down inside the clump of leaves and cut it off. Not only will this make the plant much more attractive, it will also work harder at making flowers, rather than seeds. Its also best to fertilize most plants used in Peoria landscaping, most especially those that flower.

Image one courtesy of miheko, CC  2.0. Image two courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Its a rare person that isn’t drawn in by the beauty of the flowers on the Tropical Hibiscus, a.k.a Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. Luckily, unless we have a really severe cold spell where the temperatures remain too low for extended periods, you should have great luck growing these gorgeous, long blooming plants in your Phoenix landscaping. For those who would prefer not to risk the unpredictable nature of winter weather, they still make an excellent large container plant to add continual color and beauty to your courtyard or outdoor living spaces. This will allow you to move the plant inside should the weather grow too cold for their liking. However, many people have great success in growing them in their landscape beds.

Showy hibiscus comes in a wide array of bloom colors from white to yellow, orange, pink and red. – not to mention those varieties that have bi-colored flowers. There are also both single and double petaled flower forms available. A native of Asia, the plant has different names in different Chinese states and has been gracing gardens there since before the 12th century.

There is even a variegated foliage variety with mostly white leaves and rich red flowers that is most striking in a morning sun only situation. The flower color on any Tropical Hibiscus has a great deal to do with where it should be planted in any Phoenix landscape design. The darker colors fare well in most day sun, where those with lighter blooms do best without any afternoon sun. Obviously, like any sun-loving plant, the Hibiscus rosa-sinensis requires several hours of full sun a day to produce good blooming. Locating them accordingly will make it easier for you to enjoy abundant exquisite beauty and color throughout the warm months of the year.

Being a tropical plant, rather than a xeriscaping selection, whether you container grow them or put them in the ground, you will need to count on giving your Tropical Hibiscus sufficient water. A shrubby form, versus a tree shape will help them to conserve moisture and deal with the high temperatures and arid conditions of summer in your Phoenix landscaping better. If grown in a container, you should count on watering them without fail on at least a daily basis in summer, as well as putting them in a spot that they are protected from the hot afternoon sun, no matter what color the blooms are. Above the ground, the heat will affect them far faster than when in your planting bed soil.

Deep root watering practices are best with Tropical Hibiscus. This trains them to put their roots deeply into the soil where moisture will stay far longer for their needs. Hibiscus rosa -sinensis in your Phoenix landscaping beds are best kept on a lawn watering schedule from spring through fall and on a citrus watering schedule during the winter.

Photo courtesy of likeaduck, CC Share-Alike 2.0

Popularity: 6% [?]

Here’s an awesome woody plant that is typically not used properly in Arizona landscape design and is beautiful when left in its natural form, but since it is slow growing the application is often totally incorrect. The purpose of shearing in your Phoenix or Scottsdale landscaping was never meant to be a method of beating a huge shrub into submission to fit your space. Many times what you see as manicured could be ten times more lovely with proper plant selection and planting placement. One such shrub is the Feijoa sellowiana, also known as Pineapple Guava.

The Feijoa is naturally a large evergreen shrub that can be trained into a small ornamental tree with both single or multiple stems. It also is an excellent candidate for espalier, making it a great selection for softening sunny courtyard walls or privacy walls around the backyard. This handsome plant has many attributes most homeowners look for in the Arizona landscaping, the fact that it is evergreen and low maintenance is just the beginning or it’s strong points.

Since it will one day reach maturity at 15 feet tall and 15 feet wide in anyone’s Scottsdale landscaping, this isn’t a shrub that should be placed close to the curb or used as a foundation hedge… thats where the shearing abuse comes into play. Its hard not to be attracted to this plant with the gorgeous flowers and handsome foliage. The suggested uses in Arizona landscape design for the Feijoa are as a hedge or patio tree. Hedge meaning a large element, as in someday it will be a privacy screen. For most homeowners in a development, someday is not fast enough, making this not the right choice for that application either.

The best way to enjoy the true natural beauty of the Pineapple Guava is in tree form or espaliered along a masonry wall. As a tree it adds a strong not to the landscape with a shape that is unique and very sculptural. The multi-stemmed form has gracefully twisting branches and trunks. Hiding beneath the thick foliage of the sheared hedge plantings one sees about town is attractive trunks that when exposed will peel and add an accent of cinnamon not found in most plants we use in our desert landscaping, much like you find with older specimens of Crape Myrtles. As a tree, it is just the right size for the front yard landscaping or to take a prominent location in your patio bed areas. Take care not to plant it too close to the pool or sidewalk though, as the fruit falls to the ground when ripe in autumn.

The Pineapple Guava fruit is indeed edible and very tasty, as are the lovely pink and red fragrant flowers that precede them. The Pineapple Guava fruit is great out of hand. I do not eat the skin though some people do. The Feijoa sellowiana flowers are also both edible and fragrant. The fruit sweet pineapple flavor is great for snacking and matures to 3 inches long and the green skin takes on a reddish hue when it ripens.

Even here in your Arizona climate, the highly versatile Feijoa prefers full to part sun. While it is drought tolerant, you will want to water it once a week. The soil is the one thing that is very particular with this handsome Scottsdale landscaping plant. In calciferic soils it will be prone to a health issue known a chlorisis, which is easily corrected with amendments. Its a great all around plant for many spots in the yard when situated properly to enjoy its true natural beauty and desirable for many reasons whether just to admire it or to enjoy the sweet fruit it will provide in October-November. Oh yes, and its bright, scented blooms attract hummingbirds too.

Popularity: 7% [?]

These tiny birds are fascinating and many are eager to attract them to their yard. You’ll need more than red-tinted sugar water in a hummingbird feeder though if you want to keep the hummingbirds around as they require a great deal of nutrition each day. This means planting a collection of plants whose flower’s nectar are high in sugar content. You see, it isn’t just any bloom that attracts hummers, they tend to be drawn to those with red, orange or yellow blooms with a scent. Once there is a plant that grabs their attention and supplies them with a good food source, they will find other flowers with good levels of sugar and make use of them too – if they are present in the area around your Arizona home.

In the region around Scottsdale, Phoenix and Glendale, one great addition to any butterfly or hummingbird garden is the Firecracker Bush. This selection also feeds other birds once the berries are mature that follow the flowers. Its an attractive plant for your Glendale landscaping and sizable enough to provide good mass and height to the design of such a planting.

The scientific name for Firecracker Bush is Hamelia patens. It is a native of the tropic and subtropic regions of South America and Florida. The shrub is well adapted to the climate and conditions in Texas and Arizona.

Visual appeal is found in the natural shape and colorful components. The foliage when new is kissed with a reddish hue and the branches are also a pleasant red tone. The fiery red clusters of tubular blooms are borne on the ends of the stems from spring to fall, providing both lovely color for your Glendale landscaping and abundant nectar for your hummingbirds too.

Blooming is more abundant in full sun, but the high temperatures of a Phoenix-Scottsdale area summer makes it best to plant the Firecracker Bush in part shade. Here it will require less water to remain undistressed.

Other plants that will do well in our climate that complete Arizona hummingbird gardens are:

• Aloes
• Anise Hyssop (Agastache)
• Bee Balm (Monarda)
• Shrimp Plant (Chuperosa)
• Desert Honeysuckle (Anisacanthus thurberi)
• Mexican Flame Vine (Senecio confusus)
• Pentas
• Beardtongue (Penstemmon)
• Petunia
• Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)
• Sage varieties (Salvias)

Young plants do require some pruning regularly as they mature to achieve a nicely full and bushy look in your Scottsdale, Phoenix or Glendale landscaping. They grow very quickly, so don’t be worried about having an unimpressive looking shrub in your yard for several years. In colder areas of the country, Firecracker Bush is treated as an annual that can grow to 3 feet tall in just one season. Here in Arizona hummingbird gardens, this shrub will rapidly grow into the lovely plant you were expecting.

Popularity: 8% [?]

training the plant; maintaining plant health; improving the quality of flowers, fruit, foliage, or stems; and restricting growthHomeowners everywhere turn their attention to the yard when spring arrives. It seems to be an instinct humans have, the need to whip that Arizona landscaping into shape before summer arrives. For the shrubs and trees surrounding a house, it could be that your schedule and theirs won’t mesh well at all.

Not only can improper pruning ruin the future shape of your bushes and trees – pruning at the wrong time of year can cause severe damage, even death. Did you know that more landscaping plants die every year due to improper pruning and neglect than the number lost to pests and disease? Unlike someone’s hair, a bad cut will not always fill back in over time. The damage may not be apparent for several years. It can also swiftly weaken the immune system, bringing on attack by pests and disease. Well maintained plants for desert landscaping have a strong immune system and a natural shape that is easily depleted by the activities of humans.

Why we practice pruning.

If you’re assuming that clipping, trimming and thinning is just what you do to have landscaping that looks cared for and nicely groomed, you couldn’t be more wrong. There are only four reasons anyone should ever make cuts on shrubs and trees.

1. To train the plant
2. To maintain plant health
3. To  improve the quality of foliage, flowers, fruit or stems
4. To restrict plant growth

With proper planning in Arizona landscape design, heavy shearing to reduce the size of shrubs and trees isn’t necessary. The proper plant for the space should mature to the right proportions for beauty and safety. Unfortunately, this is more often not how the landscape was planted. For whatever reason, many Scottsdale and Phoenix area homes have a few to perhaps many shrubs that require constant attention to keep their height or width under control. While this may make it easier to back out of the driveway without colliding with a car already on the street or to enjoy the view out a window, harsh shearing lessens the length of any plant’s life.

In trees this practice is called ‘topping’. It is never okay to top a tree, though in cases like Crape Myrtles, this is done on an annual basis to produce bigger blooms. Not only can the tree not support the weight of these massive blooms on the young branches, but the excessive new shoots growth at the cut make for one ugly tree in the future. Left to Nature’s devices, these ornamental small trees have a very lovely shape and bloom quite nicely. Topping in other types of trees should never be done. A rule of thumb for the trees in your yard is that deciduous trees should be trimmed or thinned in winter and never by more than one third of the crown size. Evergreens should only be pruned after the new growth has hardened off in early summer.

When in doubt – don’t prune or shear. If you’re unsure of how or when to do any trimming for the best results, it would be wise to call in the experts. Scottsdale and Phoenix landscapers that have been in business for a decade or more will have the experience to know when its the right time to prune any tree or shrub that thrives in our climate and how to properly make the cuts for vigor and beauty to be maintained.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Plants that work well and are easily maintained in your Phoenix, Scottsdale and Glendale landscaping, are many times desert native plants. This is because they are acclimated to our climate and our soil, and since they survive in the wide open desert, these plants will usually be great for xeriscaping landscaping. However, they will most likely need some regular light watering, if you are going to have Arizona landscaping quality plants.

One such plant is Arizona Yellow Bells or Tecoma stans which will bring brilliant colored blooms to your yard from late March through November. This makes them an excellent selection for interesting Scottsdale, Glendale and Phoenix landscape design where large shrubs are needed to form privacy borders and screening.

It is best to use some consideration in the placement of Yellow Bells in your xeriscaping landscaping. Although when the planting any Arizona landscaping is new, those small plants with the fabulous yellow trumpet blooms all over them will one day reach up to 15 or even 20 feet tall. The Tecoma stans is often sheared into submission after several years in any Scottsdale, Glendale or Phoenix landscape design.

The good news is that there is a much shorter variety of Yellow Bells available that is more suitable to today’s smaller residential properties. If you want the large, vase shaped form, by all means, go for it. It is quite a sight covered with clusters of trumpet shaped flowers that are individually up to 2 inches across. But, choose an appropriate spot in your xeriscape plan to allow it to grow into itself with all the natural beauty these desert native plants possess.

For those who prefer the smaller version, you’ll want to make sure that Tecoma stans var. angustata is what you’re getting ready to have planted in your Arizona landscaping. This one only grows to 4-10 feet tall with a spread of 3-8 foot across. Why such a wide variation in the mature size? Depending on the winter low temperatures, Arizona Yellow Bells can experience tip damage at 28 degrees, or die back to the ground if we experience 20 degree cold spells.

Its a great choice for adding tropical flair to xeriscaping landscaping with those big flower that hummingbirds adore and if you select the var. angustata type, the narrow leaves are bright green with a heavy sheen – far more showy the the large leaf, full sized version in our smaller yards today. These flowers are followed by long, narrow seedpods.

The larger version of Arizona Yellow Bells is a native of Mexico and Central America and the smaller shrub sized variety is a native of Texas and New Mexico. This is part of what makes them easy keepers in your xeriscaping landscaping. Their natural habitat is alkaline desert soil, however, do be sure to water the root zone lightly every week or deep root drip irrigation very well every other week.

These relatives of the Jacaranda Tree and Trumpet Vine will need good drainage and full sun to light shade in your Glendale, Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design. Full sun is best for more abundant blooming, but requires more frequent moisture restoration to keep them at their very best vigor and beauty in your Arizona landscaping.

Images courtesy of Eustaquio Santimano (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Popularity: 14% [?]

For most homeowners around Scottsdale and Phoenix, landscaping that meets their needs must be colorful, striking, drought tolerant and low maintenance. The plants we use in desert xeriscape design must also be able to withstand the heat of summer sun without a lot of fuss. Not only is the graceful Red Yucca popular with people – hummingbirds love it too. is clean, doesn’t shed, is drought tolerant, interesting and colorful, easy to maintain, extremely cold hardy, takes full sun and reflected heat with ease, attracts Hummingbirds and has a graceful, arching form.

Hesperaloe parviflora as it is formally known, is a wonderfully interesting succulent  that adds great architectural quality to anyone’s xeriscaping landscaping in Phoenix or Scottsdale. Due to its massive appeal though, many times it is used in far too large of an area. To get the biggest impact from Red Yucca, it is best to use it as an accent plant. You’ll get far more impact from your Arizona landscaping with this plant as a highlight, rather than a major player.

A member of the Agave family (hesper-aloe), Red Yucca is a hummingbird magnet when at full bloom. Since most of us are as fascinated with these tiny nectar lovers as they are with red blooms, this is just one more benefit of having this drought tolerant plant in a spot where you can enjoy it all. Additionally, due to the non-messy nature of not dropping a lot of plant debris, these are great accent plants anywhere – even for pool landscaping.

The red to pink colored blooms sit atop long, graceful stems than can be up to 8 feet tall. They are borne in elongated clusters of trumpet shaped florets that are 1.5 to 2 inches long. Once the blooms of Red Yuccas are spent, they go into the next phase of adding interest to xeriscaping landscaping in Phoenix and Scottsdale with interesting seed pods that add texture to your plantings.

You’ll get the best performance from the Red Yucca in a full sun location in your Arizona landscape design. While they will tolerant a shadier spot, you won’t get the full impact of those beautiful blooms as they will be far less abundant. When first newly installed, the plants will require good moisture practices, but once established in your soil they need very little water to thrive. Over watering will make the plant look shaggy, so be sure to watch how much moisture you give them during the adjustment stage in your yard.

This is a very low maintenance plant that is well suited to our desert climate. Before winter you will want to clip out all of the old flowering stems, but that is pretty much all the tasks it will require of you. It isn’t picky about soil types beyond wanting good drainage, so if your spot in that Scottsdale or Phoenix landscape design you want to plant them in is clay, do be sure to amend the area well for best results.

While winters here are mild, we occasionally get cold spells that can cause problems with some plants we use for landscaping in Phoenix and Scottsdale. Red Yuccas are nicely cold tolerant even should temperatures drop into the teens.

The plant itself requires little to no maintenance except for the need to remove spent flower stalks at the end of the growing season so it is perfect for those looking for ease of maintenance. Red Yucca has a long growing season from late spring to late fall. The plant is very tolerant of the low winter temperatures typical of the desert and is cold hardy to the low teens and below. These plants can also take inadequate soil conditions. As long as the soil adequately drains Red Yucca will be tolerant of most soil conditions. All in all, its just right for Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona landscaping.

Closeup image of flowers courtesy of John Novak.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Courtyard walls and privacy walls are great to gain seclusion while enjoying Arizona outdoor living rooms. Yet an unbroken expanse of masonry can leave you feeling like you are relaxing inside a box. One of the first things anyone seeks is to soften or break up the blank spans with hardy shrubs and trees or cacti. In a small enclosed area though, your courtyard landscaping in Paradise Valley will leave you with more limits in plant choices. Flowering vines are the perfect solution to conserving space while adding welcome greenery and blooms.

Passionflower vines are an excellent choice for vertical landscaping in Paradise Valley where your masonry walls have sun exposure most of the day. While this family of hardy plants has 500 different members, the best on to grow in your Desert Hills landscaping is the selection known as Passiflora foetida v. longipedunculata or Baja Passion Flower.

You will see some stunning bloom colors on other varieties of the Passiflora vine, some of them in hues and arrangements that surpass realistic appearance. Unfortunately, they will not tolerate the climate here in the greater Phoenix area. The Baja cultivar will do very well here and is hardy to 20 degrees, so you won’t have to worry that a winter cold snap will damage or kill off your courtyard wall’s landscaping.

This passionflower vine is right at home in our arid soil, and has very low moisture requirements to thrive and become an important focal point plant in your Paradise Valley landscaping. The blooms are soft and very delicate looking in white to pale cream touched with a lovely pink for added depth and interest. They are smaller than some of the really vibrant passionflower blooms, but will be borne in nice abundance once the vine is established and begins filling out well.

An interesting shape somewhat like ivy is found in the foliage, so it is handsome even when not in flower. Blooming on the Baja Passionflower vine takes place from August to November gives you a long spell of lovely color from a low maintenance, low litter plant. It is semi-evergreen and will only defoliate when temperatures dip below freezing.

Don’t confuse this selection with the variety that we get Passion Fruit from. It does bear fruit but is best left for the birds to enjoy. Butterflies love this great Arizona landscaping vine, so you’ll have extra color while it is in bloom. Additionally, any insect that should attempt to attack this plant will soon be squelched naturally. Passiflora is a bug predator like a fly trap plant, and no insect that aims to do it harm is allowed to escape.

All in all, an enjoyable addition to your courtyard landscaping and even patio landscaping in Paradise Valley or any other area around greater Phoenix. It makes a lovely statement on darker colors of stonework, adobe or brick walls with its gray green foliage and white flowers.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Landscaping in Arizona can be quite a challenge. Yet, if you know which plants are easy to deal with, give you months of color and sweeten the air around your Phoenix, Glendale or Cave Creek home… it gets a great deal easier to be happy with your plant selection. Sky Flower or Duranta erecta is one of those fabulous looking plants that you’ll enjoy in your Arizona landscaping for months on end. The color isn’t just present from the flowers. Duranta gives you twice the treat as far as visual excitement goes.

While your Phoenix area home is in an arid, desert climate, you can without a huge amount of added work enjoy more tropical climate plants. Sky Flower delivers the beauty of blooms in a variety of color that is enhanced by it’s trait of producing brightly hued berries at the same time. In the area around Phoenix, Cave Creek and Glendale, Arizona – landscape design needs all the help from blooms and the subsequent fruit you can add without increasing your maintenance quotient. Duranta erecta does all of that and more, provided you supply the large shrub or ornamental tree with sufficient moisture.

While it is wise, both environmentally and in maintaining a budget, to focus on drought tolerant plants in your Arizona landscape design – one can include a few really beautiful plants just for the color they impart without losing focus. Landscaping in Arizona is best done with drip irrigation, even if your yard is completely devoted to xeriscaping plants suited for curb appeal.

The cool thing about Arizona drip irrigation as opposed to the traditional overhead automatic sprinkler system is that it puts the moisture where your Arizona landscaping plants need it most – at the root. Additionally, you can maintain both xeriscaping plants and tropical plants in the same yard without it becoming too much water for cacti and not enough for more moisture loving plants like Sky Flower.

You will find a variety of types and cultivars of fast growing Duranta available on the market around Cave Creek, Phoenix or Glendale, Arizona. Landscape design choices will ultimately depend on your unique property as far as curb appeal and outdoor living areas are concerned. You’ll find that there are a range of Sky Flower plant sizes that mature to between 6-feet tall and 12-feet tall. There are also available some lovely selections of these delicately scented Duranta plants that are trained into a tree-form, and those that have green, gold or variegated foliage.

It really all depends on what you need in each portion of your xeriscaping or landscape design in Arizona, as to what cultivar of Duranta you elect to plant around your home. Blooms color can range from pale pink to lavender, violet and purple. The ensuing berries can be gold, orange or even deeper in hue but are always an excellent foil to the color of the flowers.

To reduce the amount of work you’ll have to put into keeping your new Duranta looking great around your Cave Creek or Glendale home is simple, with a call to Desert Crest. Adding  Arizona drip irrigation system to your Phoenix area landcape can bring you the wonder of scented blooms and the beauty of color in ways that no died in the wool xeriscaping landscape design ever could. Sometimes a little investment is worth it’s weight in gold.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Adding a magnificent sweep of color is always welcome in anyones yard, and in Arizona landscaping you can count on the Zephtranthes to burst into bloom September-October. Also known as the Rain Lily, this tough perennial is a native of the plains in South America and Mexico. As it’s hardiness zones are 7-10, adding this lovely late season bloomer to your landscaping in Cave Creek or Glendale, Arizona is best done where it will have part shade.

You can choose from a selection of colors when adding the Rain Lily to your xeriscaping design – white, pale yellow and this vibrant pink. While the most common name for this easy to grow perennial flower refers to it as a lily, it is actually a member of the Amarylis family named after the west wind. Beneath a wide spreading tree is the perfect spot to add these plants to your outdoor living rooms or for curb appeal.

They do tolerate arid soil quite well, but if you are going to have that glorious sweep of blooms, you’ll want the plants to spread into a well filled clump or ground cover. In your Arizona landscaping, when the long dry periods of summer arrive, it is best to give the Rain Lily some water once or twice a week. They do thrive in the wild over summer dryness, but there is a huge difference between wild flowers on the plains and your manicured landscape design in Cave Creek or Phoenix.

Aptly named for their habit of bursting into bloom after an early fall rain, the Rain Lily performs with show stopping flair with the periods of drying out and watering we practice in our Arizona landscaping. Be sure to pick a spot where the soil drains well or amend your clay soil thoroughly when planting this great perennial in your xeriscaping. Not taking care on giving them the right soil conditions will mean you won’t be enjoying the beauty of bloom.  Your newly installed plants will be small, give them some time as the flower show is well worth your patience.

Popularity: 36% [?]