Easy Care Types of Desert Landscaping Plants

Desert Landscaping Plants

Some believe that you can only have types of desert landscaping plants if you live in the warm and dry southwestern part of the U.S.  But they can also thrive in the high deserts of the Pacific Northwest and in most humid tropical areas.

The Yucca tree grows tall and produces a beautiful flower.  Other cacti with their menacing spines can be very intimidating, but will also flower during certain times of the year.  Due to their spiny thorns, surrounding your yard with them can act as a security fence.

A desert landscape can be very striking but there may be areas of the yard that are in the shade all day and will require the use of landscape shade plants.  By visiting your local garden shop you will find the many varieties that do will in your particular climate.

There are numerous desert landscaping plants to pick from.  We have provided names and descriptions of just a few of the many desert landscaping and landscape shade plants.  You can ask your local nursery for advice of what does exceptionally well in your area.

Agave Americana: The interesting form and the plant's high tolerance to heat, drought, cold, sun, and even poor soils makes this an ideal all-around plant.  The Agave Americana will grow anywhere from one to six feet tall, developing into unique styles of leafs and beautiful colors.

Opuntia phaecantha variety discata, This is a very hardy plant that can survive in cold weather and will produce a beautiful deep yellow flower in the spring and summer months. It does tend to crawl along the ground and root as it goes. It has very sharp long spines that can be dangerous if planted around children.

The Agave or "century plant," so named due to the flower stalk that is said to only bloom every one hundred years. In reality, the flower stalk appears at the end of its life, which can be as long as twenty to thirty five years. It has been used for ropes with the fiber, some for tequila, and baked and eaten.

Using Landscape Shade Plants in your Desert Garden

Astilbes: These plants have wonderful, plume like flowers of red, pink, and white that will bloom for a long time.  As a perennial, the flower will grow back year after year while growing perfectly in a shaded area.

The hosta plant is another great shade plant.  The large variety available range from some with variegated leaves, solid green, gold or bluish green.  They are perennials, returning each year larger than the last.

Another type of shade plant is the Liriope Spicata.  This plant resembles grass and is sometime called border grass.  It has flowers the turn from white to purple when it is blooming then a dark berry grows on the plant in the fall.

The Foxglove which is better known as a day lily grows well both in the sun and shade.  It will produce unusual looking flowers of different colors depending on the species.  The Foxglove is a poisonous plant so it should be kept out of reach of children and pets.

More info on landscaping can be found here Koi Water Garden