Fuss-Free Plant: Chuparosa
Do you enjoy going out into the garden in summer?
I don’t!
I admit to sometimes neglecting my garden when the temperatures go above the century mark. My aversion to gardening in a furnace is one of the reasons that I like to use desert-adapted plants that don’t need much attention.
One of my favorite fuss-free plants is chuparosa (Justicia californica).
It has beautiful red, tubular flowers that decorate the garden in late winter into spring and sporadically throughout the year. Hummingbirds can’t resist it AND it is drought-tolerant and low-maintenance.
Want to learn more? Here is my latest plant profile for Houzz:
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."
Hi, azplantlady. Seeking advice. We used to have 3 oleanders trimmed as trees around our a/c unit. They did a nice job of obscuring the beast, mostly by drawing your eye up and away from it. Sadly the oleanders have all succumbed to leaf scorch. What do you recommend replacing them with?
Hello Kathy,
I’m sorry to hear about your oleanders. I recommend using hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa), which you can allow to grow as tall shrubs or pruned hedges. I hope this helps!