What
To Plant
In Your
Southwest
Garden

 

Sun Gardens Logo
 
 
Gardening with Annuals
Bees and Bats in the garden
Attracting birds to gardens
Gardening with bulbs
Butterfly attracting plants in the garden
Day trips in New Mexico
Plant Diseases
Fertilizing your garden plants
Growing fruit and nut trees
Fruits & Veggies in the garden
Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses
Ground Covers for the garden
Gardening with herbs
Houseplants for the home
Insects & Pests in the garden
Irrigation systems and how to install - installing a sprinkler system
Landscape Ideas
Landscape maintenance choosing the right equipment
Native desert plants for the garden
Organic gardening in the desert
Palm trees for the desert
Perennials for the desert garden
Ponds and watergardens, installation and care
Southwest Recipes
Rose gardens in the desert southwest
Gardening with seeds
Shade trees and windbreak trees for the desert southwest garden
Shrubs for the desert southwest garden
How to care for turtles, water turtles and desert tortoises
Vines for the garden
Weeds in the desert southwest garden
Yard Art for your garden
 
Home | About Us | Our Blog | Garden Tips| Organic Gardening| Fun Facts| Recipes
   
  Ocotillo plant
Ocotillo

Ocotillo

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, is a desert Southwest native. Interesting plant with long whip-like branches or canes, covered in spines.

The Ocotillo has beautiful red flowers on the tips of it's branches in late spring to early summer, depending on the rainfall. Leaves only emerge after a good rain and they may do so several times in the summer.

When you go to buy an Ocotillo, if it is very small it may be in a container, however the most common practice is to buy them bare-root. Usually they are 'healed-in', roots covered with sand, and you take the plant home without any soil on the roots. This method works well, just plant it within a day or two. Water well when planting and then maybe once a week, depending on your soil.

You may wonder if your Ocotillo is alive or not, take one of the spines and bend it back, it should be greenish and not super dry looking. Try this out on a plant that you are sure is alive to see what a healthy one looks like.

It may take months to get over the shock of transplanting, but if it has not leafed out after several rains or several months, check to see if it is alive. Sometimes they don't survive the digging and replanting process and must be replaced.

Great as a specimen plant, mingled into the desert xeriscape or actually great as a barrier hedge. Nobody would want to try to cross through a fence made of Ocotillo!

No known diseases. Excellent plant, highly recommended!

Back to list of Shrubs

Ocotillo leaves and spines
Ocotillo, leaves and spines
 
     

Photography © www.martymoore.com

© 2021 www.sungardensinc.com   All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy | Site Usage Agreement | Interesting Links