Seven Easy Plants for Desert Landscaping

The bougainvillea is the third of seven desert plants that I recommend for people who want desert plants that are perennial (you need to plant them only once), hardy, low care, relatively drought resistant, easy to find, pretty cheap to buy, and provide lovely color many times during the year. Locally, you will most often hear bougainvillea pronounced: bo-gun-vee-ya.

The botanical name for bougainvillea is Nyctaginaceae. These are evergreen desert woody vines that flower several times throughout the year. The most common bougainvillea in the Phoenix area have bright reddish pink flowers, but there are some that are more pinkish-purple. The bougainvillea would like a little shade during the day, but it will be fine in full sun. Bougainvillea plants can be trained into various shapes. They can be used as vines, shaped into bushes, into ground cover, or just let to grow wild. Of all the seven desert plants I'm recommending here, bougainvillea, is the one that is most sensitive to frost, and there will be times during the winter when you should cover your bougainvillea with a light cloth or sheet. Even if the bougainvillea plant dies in the frost, it will probably come back after the winter if it is pruned, but it looks pretty ugly when it is frost damaged until that time.

Unless you have a lot of space to let it grow wild, bougainvillea will need periodic trimming. Don't be afraid to cut it way back. Be careful when pruning your bougainvillea plants--they have thorns and they aren't easy to handle! One last thing about bougainvillea: they are pretty dirty. That means that you'll have red bracts (those are the leaves that turn red that make it so pretty) everywhere. Don't put a bougainvillea next to a pool unless you are prepared for constant cleaning.

To see bougainvillea pictures, click here.

Desert plant #1: Oleander
Desert plant #2: Purple Sage
Desert plant #3: Bougainvillea
Desert plant #4: Lantana
Desert plant #5: Pampas Grass
Desert plant #6: Fairy Duster
Desert plant #7: Mexican Bird of Paradise

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