Firecracker Plant (Coral Fountain)
Russelia equisetiformis | Also called: Coral Fountain, Coral Bush, Fountainbush, Firecracker Bush The first time most people see a well-established Firecracker Plant in full bloom, they stop and look twice. The form is unlike anything else in a typical Phoenix landscape — long, arching, rush-like stems that cascade outward and downward from the center, covered […]
Little John Bottlebrush
Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’ | Also called: Dwarf Bottlebrush, Little John Bottlebrush Little John is the kind of plant that earns its place quietly. It doesn’t grow fast, it doesn’t demand attention, and it doesn’t make a scene when conditions get difficult. What it does is stay attractive year-round, produce bright crimson-red bottlebrush flowers repeatedly […]
Ruellia
Ruellia simplex | Also called: Mexican Petunia, Mexican Bluebell, Purple Ruellia, Wild Petunia Ruellia is one of the most color-productive shrubs available for Phoenix landscapes. From spring through fall — and in warm microclimates pushing well into winter — it produces a near-continuous stream of trumpet-shaped purple, pink, or white flowers that don’t require deadheading, […]
Fountain Grass
Cenchrus setaceum ‘Rubrum’ (formerly Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’) | Also called: Purple Fountain Grass, Red Fountain Grass Few ornamental grasses do what Fountain Grass does in a Phoenix landscape — a dense, arching mound of deep burgundy-purple foliage topped with feathery rose-pink plumes from late spring through fall, moving with every breeze, catching morning and afternoon […]
Outback Sunrise Emu (Eremophila glabra)
Eremophila glabra ‘Mingenew Gold’ | Also called: Outback Sunrise Emu, Emu Bush, Mingenew Gold Most ground covers in Phoenix are compromises. They either look good and need too much water, or they’re truly drought-tolerant but spend half the year looking burnt and brown. Outback Sunrise Emu Bush is the exception — a low, sprawling evergreen […]
Torchglow Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea ‘Torch Glow’ | Also called: Torchglow Bougainvillea, Paper Flower Most people in Phoenix have a complicated relationship with bougainvillea. They’re everywhere, they’re undeniably colorful, and they’re brutal to deal with — thorny vines that take over, dump bracts all over the ground for months, and fight back every time you try to keep them […]
Yellow Bells (Tecoma stans)
Tecoma stans | Also called: Yellow Trumpet Flower, Yellow Elder, Esperanza If you want one shrub that delivers consistent color in a Phoenix commercial or residential landscape from spring through fall with minimal fuss, Yellow Bells is the answer most experienced desert landscapers reach for first. It’s a fast grower. It blooms in waves rather […]
Mulga Acacia
Acacia aneura | Also called: Mulga, Mulga Acacia, Dream Seed Tree The Mulga Acacia is the tree that commercial and HOA landscapes in Phoenix keep discovering and then wondering why they didn’t plant sooner. It’s evergreen, thornless, drought-adapted, modest in scale, and produces bright sulfur-yellow flowers multiple times a year. It doesn’t heave hardscape, doesn’t […]
Why Fertilizing 4 Times A Year Is Hurting Your Landscape
Why Fertilizing 4 Times a Year Is Holding Your Landscape Back The case for feeding your soil every month, and what that actually means Ask most landscapers when to fertilize and you will get some version of the same answer: spring, early summer, fall, and maybe once more in between. Four times a year, roughly […]
Why I Don’t Like Synthetic Fertilizers
Soil First Thinking The Problem With Synthetic Fertilizers Why feeding the plant can starve the soil. Walk into almost any garden center and you’ll see the same promise everywhere. Bigger blooms. Greener grass. Faster growth. Instant results. To be fair, products like Miracle-Gro, Scotts Turf Builder, and other synthetic fertilizers do exactly what they say […]