沙漠花园

Here in our 沙漠花园 you can stroll through three different levels of demonstration gardens showcasing various species of plants that can be grown in the region. There are two water features and quiet seating in this tranquil setting. A great spot to sit and relax while watching the native birds come and go.

曼陀罗wrightii

Jimson weed (its most widespread English name) is a perennial herb 2 to 5 feet (0.60-1.5 m) tall and up to several feet (a couple of meters) wide from a large tuberous root. The foliage is dark green and sticky with an unpleasant odor when crushed. 大漏斗状的, white flowers are 6 inches long and 3 inches wide (15 x 8 cm); they open by dusk and emit a strong, 甜香味. The bloom is sporadic throughout the warm months if soil moisture is present, 但它在夏末开得最多. The spiny, golf-ball-sized fruit contains numerous disk-shaped seeds.

This beautiful plant is a useful ornamental if there is sufficient space for its large size and one is willing to put up with its winter disappearance below ground. Hawkmoths pollinate the flowers and lay eggs on the foliage. The caterpillars (called "hornworms" in this family) incorporate the plant's toxins into their own tissues and become toxic to their potential p红色的ators.

沙漠globemallow

沙漠globemallow is a short-lived subshrub; many stems with slightly woody bases arise from near ground level grow up to 3 feet (1 m) long. The stems grow in all 方向 from erect to horizontal forming a hemispherical mound when growing in the open. 三角形的叶子是灰色的毛. Goblet-shaped flowers are about ¾ of an inch (20 mm) across. Throughout most of its range the flowers are apricot-colo红色的 to bright orange. 粉红色的分散种群, 薰衣草, 红色的, or white flowers comprise the variety rosacea (Parish mallow). Plants flower profusely in spring and sparsely at other times following rains.

沙漠globemallow is common in the deserts of California and Arizona and from Utah into Mexico.

Like the Spanish name, the O'odham name also means "sore eyes"; the name should be taken seriously. The very wet winter of 1998 produced huge fields of globemallows 5 feet (1.在许多沙漠地区高5米. On a Desert Museum expedition to Baja California we drove through a patch on a warm day with the windows down. The road was so narrow that the side mirrors slapped the mallows on both sides of the vehicle. Our resultant misery reminded us that stellate hairs probably evolved to discourage herbivores.

仙女喷粉机

这是一棵蔓生的灌木, usually about 2 feet (60 cm) tall and twice as wide with sparse semi-evergreen foliage of small, twice-compound, 叶子. 小不点(2.5 cm) mimosoid flower heads are pale to deep pink. The plants flower profusely in late winter and sporadically at almost any season in response to good rains.

仙女喷粉机 grows from southern Arizona and southeastern California south to central Mexico and northern Baja California.

仙女喷粉机 has several pollinators, including bees, flies, and butterflies. It is among the first perennials to bloom in Arizona Upland, typically in February.

沙漠万寿菊

沙漠万寿菊 is an annual or short-lived perennial with white-wooly 叶子 forming a dense mound about 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm) in diameter. Flower heads perch well above the foliage on 1 foot long (30 cm) stems. 平板1英寸(2英寸).5厘米高的雏菊是亮黄色的.

沙漠万寿菊 grows mostly on bajadas and in valleys throughout the northern Sonoran, 南部莫哈维族, 和奇瓦瓦沙漠北部. It is one of the most common wildflowers, often abundant on disturbed soils such as road shoulders.

This is perhaps our most consistent showy roadside wildflower; it blooms in any season after a moderate rain. 在坚硬的土壤上，如石灰石, desert marigold is replaced by the somewhat similar Bahia absinthifolia (which has no vernacular name except its genus name). The foliage of bahia is more sparsely distributed; its stems arise from perennial underground rhizomes that form colonies. Bahia 叶子 are less woolly and the flowers slightly smaller than are those of desert marigold. 巴伊亚的活动范围一直延伸到松林.

肥皂树丝兰(yucca elata)

The soaptree yucca has a simple or branched trunk up to 23 feet (7 m) tall. 数不清的2英尺(0.6米长, 薄, flexible 叶子 are cluste红色的 at the ends of the stems, 使植物看起来有点像手掌. 花是乳白色的, borne in a great cloud on the upper half of a stalk up to 10 feet (3 m) tall, 通常在五月和六月.

Soaptrees grow mainly in desert grassland from central Arizona to west Texas and northern Mexico. The range extends into the upper margin of Arizona Upland.

The 叶子 yield the major basketry fiber for the Tohono O'odham, who know how to harvest the tender new 叶子 in a way that promotes branching instead of killing the plant. The English common name refers to another of its uses.