S O N O R A N   O R I G I N A L S

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A Few of My Favorite (Native Plant) Things!

by Donna DiFrancesco,
Master Gardener, MWater Conservation Specialist, City of Mesa

(Sing to the tune of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music)
Striking white bark that peels off the branches,
Large fragrant flowers that do evening dances,
Paperlike pods look like butterfly wings...
These are some of my favorite (native plant) things.


OK, OK.. so the original is better, and I should keep my day job. But, when asked to write an article about native plants, there were so many that came to mind, these four are among my favorites, and I don't think I would plan a landscape without them:

Palo Blanco, Acacia willardiana, 20' tall by 10' wide, full sun.


Photo: Donna DiFrancesco

This graceful and wispy tree is native to western Sonora in Mexico. Perhaps it is because I was born and raised in New Hampshire surrounded by birch trees that I like the characteristic peeling white bark - one of the major features of this tree. Mary Irish describes it perfectly in her book, Gardening in the Desert: A Guide to Plant Selection & Care... "The bark is charming: it is white (hence, the name), and great sheets of it peel off regularly, like the pages of an ancestral scroll, revealing the secrets of the bark beneath." Wow, can anyone beat that description? The soft foliage is made up of tiny leaflets attached to a long, slender petiole, and creamy-white, 1-2" flower catkins grace the branch tips in late spring. The weeping branches are also a favorite perch for hummingbirds. This tree is perfect for the limited space we often find in our desert landscapes. It works well in side yards, or even massed together (3-5 trees) to produce a small grove for a larger area. This is one of those native plants that generally appears very unimpressive in the nursery container; someone said to me once, "it's just a stick." I think you'll be pleased if you give this 'white stick' a try.

Desert Milkweed, Asclepias subulata, 3' tall by 3' wide, full sun.


Photo: Donna DiFrancesco

This nearly leafless, succulent milkweed is one of the toughest plants you can have in your landscape. Native to southeastern California and southwestern Arizona, it can be used as an accent or sculptural component. Desert Milkweed is the plant that I like to call an insect condominium--but wait, wait, wait--before you let that deter you from trying it, let me explain. First, you'll see a lot of milkweed bugs around. They are the showy red and black, half-inch long plant bugs, essentially harmless to the milkweed and they don't bother much else. For a short period of time in the early spring you'll notice a halo of yellow-orange around the tips of the stems. A closer look will reveal that these are aphids. But they're OK and seem to do little harm to the plant. In fact, leave the aphids alone, and soon beneficial insects will move into your garden to clean house (look for ladybugs, lacewings and itsy-bitsy parasitic wasps). So now you have a breeding ground for the good bugs, and they can assist with other pest problems in your landscape. From about April through most of summer, the tops of the plant are covered with creamy-white baseball-sized flower clusters. The flower nectar is the absolute, most favorite food of the adult tarantula hawk wasp. I know, I hear you saying "whoa--Donna, you're suggesting that I use a plant that will attract a wasp to my yard?" Oh, but this is the most beautiful wasp you will ever see, two-inches long, with a metallic blue-black, robust body. And I promise, tarantula hawk wasps are not aggressive, unless you provoke them. They slowly fly from flower to flower, and will work a cluster intently for minutes at a time; they are so focused on the nectar that they don't even notice anything else around them. The way they work the flowers is a lot like hummingbirds, and watching them can be as much fun. Like most milkweeds, this plant (flowers and foliage) also attracts the monarch butterfly, and even more commonly in the low desert, the look-alike viceroy butterfly. Make sure you plant in well-drained soil and don't overwater.

Yellow Orchid Vine, Callaeum macropterum (may by sold as Mascagnia macroptera), 15' tall by 15' wide, full sun.


Photo: Steve Priebe

This interesting vine is native to Mexico. In my experience it requires a little patience when getting it established, but the payoff is worthwhile. It is a twining, woody, evergreen vine that is covered with clusters of small, yellow, orchid-like flowers in the spring. Though the bloom period doesn't last for a long time, the seedpod that follows adds even more interest to the plant. It is a showy, lime-green papery pod about 2-3 inches in diameter. Because of the look and shape of the pods, it is sometimes called Mexican butterfly vine. Keep in mind that it also grows well as a sprawling shrub or groundcover. Once the pod dries up, it will turn tan in color and is great to use for decorating. This plant can be a little difficult to find, so ask around or look for it at botanical garden plant sales.

Tufted Evening Primrose, Oenothera caespitosa, 1' tall by 2' wide, full sun to part shade.


Photo: Steve Priebe

The first time I used tufted evening primrose in a landscape, they all died within a few months. I was pleasantly surprised a few months later when emerging seedlings replaced the original plants. Don't worry, this primrose does not have the vigor and invasive character of the pink Mexican evening primrose. It's much better behaved in the landscape, and oh, what beautiful flowers. This native to the western U.S. and Mexico is a low mounding, spreading clump of soft, narrow lance-shaped leaves. In spring and early summer, lightly fragrant, white 3-4" flowers open in early evening. In fact, go outside around sunset and you can watch them open up. What's even more fun is watching the beautiful hawk moths that like to fly in and sip the nectar from the flower, while they help with pollination. By midmorning the following day, the petals turn pink and will eventually droop. The elongated seed capsule eventually turns woody, it splits open at one end and peels back, and ends up shaped much like... well, like an octopus.

There are many other plants I'd love to talk about, but my space is limited. The Valley city water conservation offices recently updated their plants booklet, Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert. One of the new features of the booklet is to provide the 'native to' information about each plant, so you can tell which are native to the Sonoran Desert or at least to the deserts of the southwest. To get a free copy of the booklet contact your local water conservation office - for contact information visit http://www.amwua.org/xscp-brochure-plantsforarizona.htm.


Maricopa County Master Gardener Volunteer Information
Last Updated November 2, 2004
Author: Lucy K. Bradley, Extension Agent Urban Horticulture, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County
© 1997 The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension in Maricopa County
Comments to Maricopa-hort@ag.arizona.edu 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85040,
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