Winter Blooming Desert Flower

Winter Blooming Desert Flowers: A Garden Joy

Living in the desert southwest has many advantages, including being able to have a landscape filled with blooming plants all winter long when gardens throughout much of the country are brown or covered in a layer of snow.

Over the weekend, I stepped out into my garden to see how my plants were doing and took photos of those that were flowering.

**I’ve provided links to earlier blog posts where you can learn more about these plants and see if they deserve a home in your landscape.

Globe Mallow: A Colorful Desert Perennial

Winter Blooming Desert Flower, Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)

Winter Blooming Desert Flower, Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)

First, were the globe mallow, which are just beginning to produce their colorful blooms. While the most common type produces orange flowers, they do come in other colors as well. I have red, pink, and white ones in my garden. You can learn more about this plant in an earlier blog post.

Winter Blooming Desert Flower, Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)

Winter Blooming Desert Flower, Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)

Winter Blooming Desert Flower, Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)

Despite its small size, angelita daisy is a small powerhouse in the landscape that blooms off and on all year long. They thrive in full sun and look great when grouped next to boulders. During my walk through the garden, I discovered that this one has a volunteer Parry’s penstemon (Penstemon parryi) growing next to it. I’ll leave it alone as they will look great together.

Firecracker Penstemon: A Hummingbird’s Delight

Winter Blooming Desert Flower Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

This perennial delights hummingbirds with its red-orange blooms that appear in January and last well into spring. There are many different kinds of penstemon, which thrive in drought-tolerant gardens and firecracker penstemon is by far, my favorite. 

Blackfoot Daisy: Delicate Beauty in the Desert

Winter Blooming Desert Flower Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)

Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)

The delicate flowers of this ground cover don’t look like they can survive the intense heat of the desert garden, but blackfoot daisy thrives all year long with little fuss. I have mine growing alongside boulders and at the base of cactuses. I haven’t been able to determine exactly when they are supposed to bloom because mine always seem to be flowering. 

Purple/White Trailing Lantana: An Unusual Winter Blooming Desert Flower

 Winter Blooming Desert Flower Purple/White Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis 'Purple' and 'Alba')

Purple/White Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis ‘Purple’ and ‘Alba’)

This groundcover form of lantana is a popular staple in the drought-tolerant landscape, but you seldom see it with two different colors. In winter, it is usually touched by some frost damage, but our weather has been unusually warm, so it is still flowering. Normally, you see all white or all purple, but not both together.

While there is a variety called ‘Lavender Swirl’; it can be hard to find and somewhat expensive. I’ve replicated the same look in my garden, which I share in this earlier blog post.

‘Sparky’ Tecoma: A Head Start on Spring Blooms

 Winter Blooming Desert Flower 'Sparky' Tecoma

‘Sparky’ Tecoma

Here is the newest addition to the front garden. It shouldn’t be blooming this time of year, but again, with the mild winter, it is getting a head start on spring. ‘Sparky’ tecoma is a new plant that is a cross between yellow bells and orange bells. It is a winter blooming desert flower. The flowers are apricot in color with deep maroon centers. This shrub was created by an ASU professor, who named it after the school’s mascot. I am very excited to see it reveal its lovely flowers on either side of our large front window.

Do you have any plants that bloom in winter? Inside or outside, please share what is happening in your garden this month.

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
9 replies
  1. Sandy Smith
    Sandy Smith says:

    Hi Noelle,
    Seeing the various plants identified by their common name growing in your garden is extremely helpful. Sometimes I’ll see an attractive plant and think, “Hmm, I wonder what that is?” I find a ‘volunteer’ to be more hardy than, say, a pony-pack plant, what do you think?
    Yellow bells were somewhat blooming, but the morning temps have been below 35, but above 32, for the past week. No frost warnings, so the Weather people must not have noticed.
    Thanks again for a very informative post.
    P.S. Sparky needs full sun to bloom, or perhaps you could comment on that. Mine hasn’t bloomed yet, but it’s only a year old. 🙂 I might be over-watering as my leaves look a little yellow. Bye, thanks again.

  2. Sandy Smith
    Sandy Smith says:

    Just looked at your link for ‘Sparky’ and I’m convinced I have too many drippers on my plant. Thanks, I’ll cap those today, especially with our cold weather. ;p

  3. Mike
    Mike says:

    Oh my, I love this, bunch of my favorite flowers. I used to have this in my garden but looks like it does not fit our soil type.

  4. Carrie
    Carrie says:

    Thanks for all your information! I love a blooming garden. My hibiscus plants and my purple lilac vine are active bloomers in January and February.

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