Type: Semi-evergreen shrub
Exposure: Full Sun
Water Use: Low
Mature Size: 8’ H x 12’ W
This semi-evergreen shrublike tree puts on an interesting fall display as the white seeds twist into a feathery white tail so big it obscures the green leaves. It thrives in hot sunny spaces and can live with neglect. It requires little pruning and deep watering only once a month.
Type: Evergreen Shrub
Exposure: Full Sun
Water Use: Low
Mature Size: 4’ H x 4’ W
This fast-growing shrub has thready silver-blue semi-evergreen leaves. It is fast growing and has a deep taproot with fibrous roots that absorb every bit of rain. Trim in February to encourage new growth come spring. It grows well in reflected heat and helps stabilize sandy areas.
Type: Evergreen
Exposure: Full sun to Part Shade
Water Use: Low
Mature Size: 3’-4’ H x 4’-5’ W
This beautiful, low-maintenance evergreen xeric plant has beautiful dark green leaves that nicely contrast with grey/green natives. It is a great, aromatic shrub for courtyards, patios and entryways, with large 3” pink blooms that appear in late spring for a few weeks.
Type: Deciduous
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Water Use: Medium
Mature Size: 6’ H x 8’ W
Austrian copper rose, which blooms in June, has flowers that are copper red on the upper surface and yellow on the lower. It is an old cultivar of shrub rose that’s been around in New Mexico for a long time. This rose grows tall with arching stalks and spreads around the garden. It’s an attention-getter when used as a backdrop or screening plant along a wall or fence, especially when it’s in bloom! Placing grey/green plants with strong texture in front of the rose adds interest. When fall arrives, the leaves turn yellow.
Photography by Hunter Ten Broeck
Type: Deciduous Shrub
Exposure: Full Sun
Water Use: Low
Mature Size: 1’-2’ x 2’-3’ Mexican blue sage is a semi-evergreen, silvery-blue flowering perennial that holds its mounding shape well. It’s a heavy bloomer in the spring and early fall, with leaves that emit a spicy fragrance. Mexican blue sage does well in all soils, even clay.
Type: Deciduous shrub
Exposure: Full Sun
Water Use: Medium
Mature Size: 4’ x 4’
The flowering quince is a winter showstopper, producing spectacular blooms well before anything else starts to green up for spring. This shrub’s apple-like blossoms, ranging in color from pink to coral to red, grace elegant arching branches that make beautiful cut flower arrangements. Long oblong leaves fill in after bloom time is over. Be sure to give it some space in your garden, as the stems are thorny.
Flowering quince is surprisingly easy to grow and will thrive on a modest water budget once established.
(Photo Courtesy of Texas Smart Scape.)