News for the ‘Gardening’ Category
The Desert Ironwood
The Desert Ironwood, or Arizona Ironwood, only grows in the valleys and washes of the Sonoran Desert. Found mostly in sandy washes where there is water available, this slow growing tree is drought deciduous, and loses all its leaves during dry spells.
Ironwoods are very important to the desert community, since it is a nurse plant to many others in the area, including the Saguaro, Organ Pipe, and Barrel Cactus, as well as other plants that require shelter when they’re young. It belongs to the same family as the pea, and the flowers and leaves are similar to the sweet pea. Native peoples have long used these pretty little flowers as medicine, treating poor digestion and other stomach ailments.
The beans of the Ironwood are eaten by many of the animals that live here and when they’re toasted, they are said to taste like roasted peanuts.
The ironwood tree is the largest tree in the Sonoran desert, sometimes growing up to 30 feet tall. It has been known to live to be 1500 years old, and since it is very slow growing, it’s often seen with plants that started out beneath it growing up through its branches.
This tree is famous the world over for its dark, dense wood, one of the hardest and heaviest known. The wood is so valuable that a large quantity is cut illegally every year from public lands. Legend says that carvings made from the beautiful wood bring good fortune and luck to the owners, but it seems that it’s not good luck for the Ironwood, since the quantity of trees remaining is getting smaller every year. They make a great landscape plant, so be sure and add them to your yard!
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Edited: January 30th, 2009
Choosing Low-water Plants - Xeriscape
In most parts of Arizona water is a precious commodity, making xeriscaping or xerigardening an essential part of successful gardening in Arizona. Here are a few ideas that can get you started on that low-water garden.
Indigenous or native plants will likely need less supplemental moisture most years than non-native species. The native species have evolved under the local conditions and usually have well developed mechanisms for surviving extremes in the weather. In addition to being well adapted, native plants can be some of the most beautiful highlights of your garden.
This doesn’t mean you’re limited to native plants or your typical low-water plants such as cacti, succulents or narrow leafed evergreens. There are plants found growing in coastal or mountainous regions that have developed mechanisms for dealing with extremely sandy, excessively well-drained soils, or rocky cold soils in which moisture is limited for months at a time.
There are also many herbs that adapt well to our arid conditions and are beautiful as accents or centerpieces of your garden.
Some plants adapted to sunny, dry conditions are: Yucca gloriosa, Broom, Yarrow, Nasturtium, California Poppy, Blanket flower, Sedum, Gold Dust (Alyssum), Moss Rose (Portulaca), Juniper, Artemisia, Lavender, Sage, Iris, Thyme, Crocus, and Evening Primrose.
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Edited: January 13th, 2009