Palo Verde

Common names: Yellow or Little Leaf Palo Verde, and another variety called Blue Palo Verde, the name means green stick in Spanish.Scientific Name: Parkinsonia (formerly Cercidium) microphyllum and Parkinonia (Cercidium) floridum (respectively) Geographic range:native to southeastern California, southern Arizona, and northwestern Mexico.Habit: Generally found in desert washes, they grow from 20-40 feet tall. The blue palo verde has a taller habit, requires more water, but also has more spectacular blossoms.

The tree can photosynthesize through its green bark, which is important since it drops its leaves during the warm season in response to fall cooling. It is a staple in the Sonoran desert, where it provides cover for sanguaro cactus, which greatly outlives it.

Desert Willow

Common English Names: Desert Willow, Flowering Willow, Willowleaf Catalpa, Desert Catalpa, Bow Willow

Common Spanish Names: Mimbre, Flor de Mimbre, Acuahuitl
Scientific Name: Chilopsis linearis (kaiee-LOP-sis lyn-ee-AIR-iss)

Family: Bignoniaceae (Catalpa Family)

• Geographic Range: Southwestern and Trans-Pecos Texas west to extreme southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, and southern California; northern Mexico.



• Plant Form: Small deciduous tree up to 25', occasionally more.



• Remarks: Excellent xeric tree; orchid-like flowers with shades of of pink, purple, and white appear throughout the warm season. Light water, full sun, good drainage. Attracts hummingbirds. Hardy. You can prune them to one trunk or leave them alone as a multi-trunk large shrub. They do produce seen pods, but there is a variety by Monrovia that is seedless.



• Sun: Full Sun - USDA Zone 7 - 9
  

Embracing the Now

Nesting has hit me. A nagging feeling of needed permanence has led me to searching for homes here and abroad. I want my own place, desperately. Painting, organizing and gardening are high priorities that I can't do very much of where we are. Don't ask me if it is being pregnant or just not knowing what the future will bring. It is probably both.

I found a cute cabin in Provo Canyon that we even looked into buying, but without down payment assistance (we can't get it because we don't live in Utah...) we can't afford it. We found a cute home here in Las Cruces, but we just applied to jobs in Utah...

Since I can do nothing about these feelings right now I have decided to embrace where I am. I am ordering business cards that can serve me wherever I live, and I am going to learn as much about this climate and plants as I can. I am working on a Landscape Design for my friend Jenny, who, with her husband is closing on a new house this month.

Each week I am going to highlight a beautiful plant that grows here in Las Cruces. Las Cruces is in the Chihuahuan Desert, it is high altitude (about 4400 ft) and a zone 7. It is extremely dry, but has beautiful Rio Grand River Valley's.

This Morning

At the Las Cruces Farmers Market it must have been at least 85 degrees at 8:00 am. It was hot, but it was the busiest I have seen it. I haven't felt much creative inspiration lately, so I went out in search of things that make me happy. Here are a couple of them.

Dried chile peppers and watermelon. A stark reminder of where we are in the world!

A beautiful glass dragonfly. It must be 5-6" from tip to tail.

The Sprouts man. He is one of the busiest people here. Locals love him.

Fresh sunflowers.

By far my favorite booth. An old man who comes with his knee brace and oxygen tank and sells handmade wooden toys. These are some of the painted ones most are not painted, on my other blog you can see his amazing wooden trains.