The tall, billowy silhouette of the Western Cottonwood towers over the tops of most other native trees found growing in the washes around Tucson. This fast –growing, deciduous tree is especially striking when temperatures cool gradually in fall, causing the bright green heart-shaped leaves to take on a golden-yellow glow before dropping from the branches…
Height: 30 – 50 feet Width: 30 – 50 feet Bloom color: Inconspicuous Flowering season: Spring USDA minimum zone: 9 Cold hardiness: 30° F
This Australian native has a unique growth habit, with its pendulous weeping branches. New growth starts out a fuzzy bronze color, aging to bright green. Unusual, scarlet colored flowers resemble a bottlebrush, and emerge heaviest in the spring and sporadically throughout the rest of the warm season. The unique blossoms last up to a week…
Height: 15 – 25 feet Width: 10 – 15 feet Bloom color: Red Flowering season: Spring, Summer, Fall USDA minimum zone: 8 Cold hardiness: 15° F
The Weeping Acacia is an elegant and breathtaking tree. It grows slowly to maturity at about twenty-five feet, donning magnificent, weeping branches of silvery-blue foliage. Small, yellow puffball flowers, a classic characteristic of the Acacia family, may appear in early spring and winter. Following flowering, the blossoms transform into small seedpods, filled with seeds that…
Wax-leaf privet is an old fashioned plant that has been popular in landscapes for years. It has been commonly used for hedging, screening, and topiary because of its dense growth and how well it responds to pruning. Ornamental blossoms cover thick, waxy leaves in late spring and summer, transforming into berries that birds adore. Wax-leaf…
Figs are mentioned in many of our earliest texts, and evidence suggests that these broad, deciduous trees have been in cultivation for thousands of years. The fig tree’s leaf, in particular, is a widely familiar shape that has provided some of the world’s most famous statues and paintings with strategic covering and a modicum of…
Variegated society garlic is a grassy, clumping groundcover that grows to about a foot tall. Lilac-purple flower clusters top tall stems that stand anywhere from a few inches to a foot above the plant throughout the warm months, especially in spring and summer. Creamy white stripes line the edges of each strappy, blue-green leaf, giving…
Height: 3 – 6 feet Width: 2 – 4 feet Bloom color: Pink Flowering season: Summer USDA minimum zone: 7 Cold hardiness: 10° F