Tag Archive for: Mexican fence post cactus

Desert Adapted Plants Thriving in the Heat

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flowering groundcovers and a cactus desert adapted plants landscape


Embracing the Desert Heat: Landscaping with Desert-Adapted Plants

Surviving the Summer Scorch with Desert Adapted Plants

Let’s face it…summer can be brutal.

I tend to spend as little time outdoors as possible when temperatures soar above normal ranges. It’s times like this that I praise the inventor of air-conditioning.

While we can escape record-breaking temperatures, our heat-stressed plants can’t.

Beauty in the Heat: Desert-Adapted Plant Landscaping

However, you can create a landscape filled that thrives in the heat by using native or desert-adapted plants. And you know what? Most are very pretty!

Last weekend, I saw a great illustration of this…

Hospital vs. Church Landscaping: Lessons in Adaptation

Our church recently opened up a new campus, filled with new plants, but many of them were struggling to survive the intense heat, even if irrigated properly. Many were planted native to more tropical climates.

After church, my husband and I headed out to the hospital to visit a loved one. The hospital had just undergone a renovation and brand-new landscape areas surrounded the entrance.

I stopped to take a photo of one of the areas that were doing very well so I could share it with you. Full disclosure: if you hang out with me, be prepared for sudden stops to take pictures of plants.

The Secret to Thriving Landscapes

There were two main reasons that the landscape by the hospital was doing better than the one by the church:

  1. The plants by the hospital were better adapted to hot summers – desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), gold lantana (Lantana ‘New Gold’), and Mexican fence post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus).
  2. Additionally, these plants had been installed three months earlier than the ones at the church. Yes, plants can technically be added any time of year BUT there are times that should be avoided if at all possible – specifically May and June.

Heat-Resilient Gardening

Sometimes you need to add new plants at the wrong time of year due to construction schedules, etc. In that case, I advise the use of shade cloth on a temporary basis for young plants through September IF you see that certain plants are struggling. This is in addition to watering them more often than existing plants in the landscape to help them establish their roots.

Use native or desert-adapted plants (those from other regions with similar weather conditions) to help your garden to be more resilient to hot, dry temperatures and they will need less help from you to beat the heat.

Stay cool friends!

An Imaginary Land With Real Plants

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(Desert Adapted Plants) Indian Mallow

(Desert Adapted Plants) Indian Mallow (Abutilon palmeri)

Exploring Imaginary Landscapes with Desert Adapted Plants

I always enjoy seeing well-designed landscapes that make use of many of my favorite desert adapted plants. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to explore lovely landscape areas that existed within an imaginary land with real plants that were used to provide a sense of reality to this fictional place.

I invite you to explore these areas along with me and look for clues as to where it is.

Globe mallow, Mexican honeysuckle, and Indian mallow

Globe mallow, Mexican honeysuckle, and Indian mallow

A Desert Oasis in a Fictional World: The Beauty of Desert Adapted Plants

This is a gorgeous layering of three different shrubby plants. Indian mallow (Abutilon palmeri) anchors the background with its gray-green leaves and yellow flowers. In the middle stands Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera), which has lovely foliage and orange flowers that appear throughout the year. Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) adds nice color contrast with its foliage and orange flowers in the foreground. All of these are drought tolerant and thrive in desert gardens.

saguaro cactus, ocotillo, and a little yucca are Desert Adapted Plants

A Taste of Arizona: Desert Plants Creating Authenticity

Continuing our exploration, we walk by a desert planting filled with young heat proof plants such as saguaro cactus, ocotillo, and yucca. It almost made me feel like we were in Arizona.

jojoba shrub (Simmondsia chinensis)

The beautiful green foliage of a jojoba shrub (Simmondsia chinensis) stood out against the reddish walls of a ‘canyon’.

Vertical Elegance: Cereus Cacti and Mexican Fence Post Cactus

(Pachycereus marginatus) cactus which are Desert Adapted Plants

Mexican fence post cactuses (Pachycereus marginatus) along with other cereus cacti add a lovely vertical element.

desert Southwest views

Naturally-themed areas have a plant palette that places you in the desert Southwest. But, we were several hundred miles away from the real desert.

Have you guessed where we were yet? Here is another clue:

A sign detailing the gardens plant life

Information signs reveal the different kinds of plants in this imaginary land. Your final clue is the name of the plants as well as the shape of the small prickly pear pad.

Revealing Radiator Springs: A Disney-Inspired Desert Adventure

Radiator Springs

We were exploring the town of ‘Radiator Springs’ which came to life in the movie ‘Cars’ and its sequels. These are my favorite Disney movies because they take place in my own backyard.

Balancing Reality and Imagination: The Use of Live and Imaginary Plants

I found it pleasantly surprising how well they constructed this imaginary town and used the plants to achieve an authentic look. However, there were some notable exceptions to having live plants throughout Radiator Springs.

Cozy Cone Hotel

Old-fashioned rear lights create imaginary flowers at the Cozy Cone Hotel. 

Cozy Cone Hotel pretend garden

Other car parts serve as components of this cornucopia.

Radiator Springs truck

Inspiration for Your Desert Garden: A Visit to Cars Land

I found myself distracted by both the real and imaginary plants, other visitors reveled in the appearance of the inhabitants of Radiator Springs.

An Imaginary Land With Real Plants

Have you ever visited Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure? If you have the opportunity, you might discover inspiring ideas for your desert garden that could surprise you.

Colorful Container, Before and After, and Valentines

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February is what I like to call a ‘bridge’ month.  In regards to work, it is a transition month for me.  It is the month between January, when work slows down as it’s cold with not much is growing and March, when the weather is delightfully warm and everybody seemingly wants to redo their landscape.  If I could choose the perfect month in terms of work load, it would be February.

Landscape Dilemma: Colorful Container Before and After Landscape

Landscape Dilemma ,Colorful Container Before and After Landscape

Last week, I was visiting one of my favorite clients whose landscape has been a work in progress.  The backyard was finished last year and now, it was time to pay attention to the front.  Of course, I took a few minutes to see how things were doing in the back and my attention was immediately drawn to this colorful container filled with colorful succulents.  The orange stems of ‘Sticks on Fire’ Euphorbia adds welcome color to the garden throughout the year while elephant’s food (Portulacaria afra) trails down the side of the pot.  

I am a strong proponent of using colorful pots filled with low-maintenance succulents in the garden.  Why mess with flowering annuals if you can enjoy vibrant color without the high maintenance?  

Full disclosure: I do have a couple of pots filled with petunias, but the vast majority are filled with succulents 😉

Landscape Dilemma: Colorful Container Before and After Landscape

Landscape Dilemma

One of the most rewarding parts of my job is assisting my clients with their landscape dilemma.  Often, the solution is much simpler than the client imagined.  Last fall, I visited this home which had a large, shallow depression that was filled with dying agave.  The interesting thing was that there was no obvious reason for its presence as no water drained into it.  It definitely wasn’t what the client wanted in this high-profile area.

Landscape Dilemma: Colorful Container Before and After Landscape

So what would be a good solution for this area?   The client wanted to plant a large saguaro cactus in this area, but didn’t want to add a lot of plants.  My recommendation was to get rid of the dying agave and turn the depression into an attractive feature of the garden. 

Landscape Dilemma: Colorful Container Before and After Landscape

This is what it looks like now.  Filling the area with rip-rap rock, adds both a texture and color contrasting element to the landscape. Well-placed boulders with a century plant (Agave americana), Mexican fence post (Stenocereus marginatus), and golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) help to break up the large expanse of the shallow depression with their spiky and globular shapes.  Finally, a saguaro cactus was added, which stands sentinel over this renovated area.  

One would never imagine that this part of landcape hadn’t been planned this way when it was first planted years ago.

Valentine's Day

Lastly, February is all about Valentine’s Day.  I sent my granddaughter a care package filled with goodies for Valentine’s Day.  Dinosaur cards for her classmates, a little craft, a hanging mobile, stickers, and of course chocolates – all with a Valentine theme.  

For me, Valentine’s day comes with mostly great memories.  As a child, I looked forward to handing out Valentines to my classmates and getting them in return.  During teenage years, there was one particularly memorable one when I was 17 years old.  My boyfriend didn’t get me anything, however, another boy gave me a card and a flower, which was some consulation.  And to finish off that infamous Valentine’s Day, I came down the chicken pox that very day.  Guess who also got the chicken pox?  The boyfriend who forgot Valentine’s Day.  Now, I look forward spending the 14th with the main man in my life, who after 31 years, still makes me feel special.

*What do you do to celebrate Valentine’s Day?  

Cactus Flowers Color the Desert Landscape

A Newly Planted Cactus Cutting – 3 Years Later

Drive through any Southwest neighborhood and you are highly likely to see cacti growing alongside shrubs and groundcovers.  

I must admit that I don’t have a lot of cactus in my own landscape – there are three to be exact.  But, the few that I have, I find myself particularly attached to.

Mexican fence post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus) , Cactus Cutting

This is my Mexican fence post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus), which I brought home as a single cactus cutting over 10 years ago.  As you can see, it has grown a lot since then, growing taller and producing new stems.

Mexican fence post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus)

Three years ago, we took a cutting from this cactus and gave it to our friends and neighbors, who live kitty-corner from our house.  

Newly planted - March 2013 , Cactus Cutting

Newly planted – March 2013.

Every since then, I’ve kept my eye on this newly planted cactus watching with interest as it grew.

Cactus Cutting , November 2013

November 2013

Eight months later, two new stems began to emerge.  You can see the parent cactus in our yard in the background.

Cactus Cutting , March 2014

March 2014

A year later, the new stems were becoming more noticeable.

Cactus Cutting , March 2015 - 2 years later

March 2015 – 2 years later

I was surprised at how quickly it grew.

Three years after planting.

Three years after planting.

Today, as I was driving home, I noticed a new little stem beginning to emerge.  

Many different types of cacti can be planted from cuttings and it has been so much fun watching this one go from a single ‘spear’ to one with multiple stems.  

Have you ever planted a cactus cutting?  If so, what kind and how did it grow for you?

Click here, to read how to plant a cactus cutting.