Jeanie, you would love my lawn. It is reddish brown, looks and feels like concrete with many "Designer Cracks" within which the small critters live. A lawn like this can be had for next to nothing.

Larry

Mine has been brown for months now. I was just wandering around from the Texas board and its all about the drought on that board too. Even the natives are dying.

I've always thought that if I could have one of the big walled courtyard Spanish gardens with a lovely big covered patio (what do they call them?), lots of the red Spanish tile and a whole bunch of stuff around in pots, I might be in hog heaven. Lie there in a hammock in the shade and read a book and admire my lovely flowers spilling over the sides of the pots and trailing down from containers hung from the beams. A few big yucca and sage planted around for background. A lovely small and beautifully groomed orange tree as a focal point. Maybe an avocado tree as well. Oh, my.

Now I'd better get out there and check the water on the melons, before they all turn into a wilted and ruined mess. I can see a garden re-design and an investment in shade cloth coming for next year if I plan to do much veggie gardening at all.

On a good note, I did see the big line of hesperaloe in Tecumseh yesterday and they look just beautiful. Now there's some sort of a dense pink thing planted in with them, but I went past too fast to see what it might have been. I may need to pull around the corner and walk back for a better look next time. Anything that can make it out in that planter bed by the street, with full and constant sun, deserves a closer inspection.

Pat

Larry,
L. O. L. Don't be such a snob. You don't have an "exclusive"! It is now the trend. HA. As I have already stated on another thread, I'm certainly saving on gasoline for the mower and, hey, no mosquitoes.

Wantonamara,
Guess we Okies and Texans could dredge canals from the Mighty Miss. Inland. Either that or learn how to Rain Dance!

Jeanie

Pat,
I've always loved Spanish courtyards and could EASILY live like that. Who knows?! At this rate of "heat-up", we might can grow citrus and avacados, some day. It HAS to be Burros Tail in the hanging pots!......

Jeanie

Hey, I want a house with a courtyard too. I love many of the New Mexico plants and have incorporated a few into my landscaping. My desert willows are doing awesome right now. They are blooming like crazy and really bushing out. My hollyhocks did well earlier in the summer. The morning glories have a good start, but mainly they bloom before I get up. I've tried to sart a few cactus, but I think they get too much moisture up close to the house.

Larry, you are too funny. I still have an area of green grass but it's mostly because I have a lot of lateral lines. LOL

Adellabedella,
WOW! Love that handle!
Tickled to hear your Desert Willows are doing well, because I've been wanting one. Thought I would wait until Fall to purchase and plant. Just too hot right now to even THINK about it!
Yep. haciendas with beautiful courtyards are really nice. If this heat continues, they just might become more of a possibility than we could dream!

Jeanie

I had been wanting a desert willow for several years. I saw them at Marcum's and they wanted 40 bucks or so for a not so very big one. I happened in Home Depot and found a really nice one the same size for 20 bucks. I got it, put it out, and it is doing pretty good, all things considered. I am spending a lot of time and water keeping it alive, LOL I am just trying to keep stuff alive now. I don't know which worries me most, the water bill, or the fear that they are going to start rationing water. The desert willow really is doing well, blooming and all. Didn't seem to stress when we planted it earlier in the spring. I love fall planting, and I need to start thinking about a tree to replace the one that split on Sunday.
mo

Mo,
About how tall was the DW from Home Depot? Did they have several? I really don't want to plant right now, but hope they have several good ones in a couple of months.......

Jeanie

In the ground, it is prob. about 30-36 " They did have several, but that was about 3 wks. ago. It was the HD on Shields . At the time, all their stuff looked pretty good. I imagine that they are having trouble keeping stuff alive. I hate to see that but I know this year is esp. terrible. Prob. be some good deals, later on,but I don,t know if I will have the ambition to take on anything new, but I DO know that I won't have a jackhammer to help me dig.
Hate it.
off to fill more buckets and drag more hoses.
mo

Thanks, Mo. Boy! &40.00 for a 3' fairly common tree at Marcum's seems a bit overboard. I had planned on looking for a DW or some fast-growing, hardy tree (what else in this heat?) in the Fall to shade my West-facing bedroom window. At my age, fast-growing is a key word. When I used to work at the OKC nurseries, these little old ladies would come in and buy whips that I KNEW the poor little things would NEVER see to a grand shade tree in their yards. I would feel SO sorry for them, and now, I can relate. HA...........

Jeanie

My Dad used to plant trees and he would say: " I'll be long gone, but your kids might have a shady place to play. " He is long gone, and my youngest is 31, so the grandkids can play under them. He would go out to the woods, dig up a nice tree and plant it in my yard. Now one is pretty badly split so I have tried to plant some Shumard oaks, ( and they are whips LOL )
which nursery did you work at?
mo

My eyes are going or my "tapping" fingers are moving too fast over this tiny little screen. I just noticed that I didn't hit the $ sign square on above. HA. I lived in OKC for about 45 yrs. and worked, periodically at different nurseries, depending on where I was living at the time. Warren's in Nocoma Park, Satterlee's on N. May, Lovable Critters in Yukon, Lowe's Garden Centers in Yukon and on Memorial Road and TLC on E. Memorial Road. Of course, I've frequented just about every Nursery between Ardmore and OKC and over to Tulsa as ashopper.
What a sweet story about your Dad! Makes a lump in your throat.......

Jeanie

Tell me more about the desert willow, if you would, please? I'm not that good at tree ID. I think I know which one you mean, but I'm not sure. Is it one that has a slightly more grayish foliage?

What I do know is that the tiny corkscrew willow my daughter got for me two years ago is still managing to thrive, even in this heat. So far the grasshoppers have not managed to strip the leaves from it. It's roughly 15' tall and between 8 and 10' wide. I'll be starting cuttings from it if anyone else is interested. A place I used to work had a magnificent old one with a bole that was well over 2' thick. One day an arborist came out to do some work on another tree. He'd never been to the place before and when he walked around the corner and saw that big old tree, he stopped dead in his tracks and said "Wow".

There's one willow that grows wild here, and I haven't taken the time to try to track down which one it is. The leaves are very fine-cut and delicate; much more than any other willow I've ever seen. It has a slightly weeping habit, but nothing compared to an actual weeping willow. Can anyone readily think of which one it might be? It's a beautiful tree.

I've probably posted these someplace else, but the first one is so pretty that I'll do it again here.

Here's a shot of another back yard in the same arid area.

I don't know if we'd get too much water in a normal year for these things to survive or not, but I think they'd make it just fine. What you can't see is that, off to the right, outside the frame, is the most glorious big yellow (I think it's a brugmansia) tree in full bloom. I'd never seen one before, and I was just blown away by it. That one deserves its own separate photo.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think this is probably z9, so Tracy, there should be a lot of stuff in here that you could grow. The hardier ones would work for the rest of us. Not that I'm planning on seeing OK become a desert, you understand, but there are some interesting plants to consider for the drier areas.

Pat ...

Jeanie,
I think I have shopped all of those except maybe Warren's. Might have been there too, LOL I used to buy my pansies and mums at Coopers on MacArthur, Hated when they went. I also used to stop by Green Thumb, between Mac, and Rockwell, on 50th? or maybe 63rd. There was a nursery between Meridian and Mac south of NW 10th street in the late 70's that was maybe on NW 7th or 8th. It was ina residential area, and I think it was at someone's home. It was fairly big but I can't remember the name, and no one else remembers it being there. My Dad always made a trip to Gerdes in the spring to buy his Scarletta Begonias. I never saw them anyplace else, I would like to have some for sentimental reasons. I don't have luck with begonias from seed.
mo

Pat,
Not too sure about OK not becoming a desert. HA
Remember me ? Trees are NOT my strong suit. I am assuming that most Willows require a LOT of moisture, as the Weeping Willow that can destroy your plumbing. whereas, this one, Chilopsis/Desert Willow/Desert Catalpa, prefers dry limy soil. It gets 15-30' tall, is a fast grower, has shaggy bark, willow leaves and blooms all Summer flowers that resemble orchids. They can be purple, pink white or two-toned. It will grow seed pods like the Catalpa. Attracts Hummingbirds. You can see why it would be desirable. It used to be kind of "border-line" here, only to Z7, but probably no longer. HA

Jeanie

Mo,
Been combing my brain for the nursery on 7th or 8th, but nothing, and I thought I had been to every nursery in OKC city limits. I think I am the only one who remembers the desert nursery on NW 23rd yrs. ago, great variety of Cacti and Succulents. So many of the best nurseries have closed. Makes me sad, especially since I worked at some of them.

Jeanie

WOW!!! How did I ever miss that?! Talk about a "must, must, must have", that one will certainly top the list. And I see that they are not expensive to buy.
Anyone happen to know the growth rate? Is it like a regular willow, meaning fast?

Okay, I read a review on the DG site from a gal in OKC that says there are some lovely old ones growing here, even though it's not listed within the approved climate zones. Theoretically it's only hardy to z8a, but she says it lower than that.

My next question would be, when's the best time to get one and plant it? In the early fall, so it can be acclimated and get a little hardening off? Or in the Spring, to give it the whole growing season to develop a good root structure, and not trust that our winter won't hit all of a sudden, with a big bang..

Pat

Pat, what is that yellow flower on the bottom?
I'll have to take pictures of my brother's yard next time I'm there. It looks like a mini-botanical gardens or wildlife refuge. He's done an amazing job providing wildlife habitat and natural plantings on his one acre in Scottsdale. He started with one acre of a pile of broken concrete mess about ten years ago and now he has an oasis garden with birds and butterflies everywhere.
I believe he has some desert willow, which I love. Along with eucalyptus, Palo verde, and lots of other beautiful trees and flowers. Lots of lavender and different salvias. Various cacti.
He has some desert tobacco which is very pretty and has an interesting smell.
Many herbs do quite well here and can be used as ornamentals. Thyme, oregano, rosemary, lavenders. Mexican marigold can be used instead of tarragon and is very pretty. bee balm if it has a bit of water and shade.
BTW, I used to have a corkscrew willow on the island of my pond in Lawton. I just loved that tree. So pretty and it really brought in the birds.

Tracy, those photos were all taken in Old Town San Diego. Most people tend to think of that area as being pretty lush, but when it was being developed way back in the 1800s, it was called "Rabbitville" or "CoyoteTown" because it was believed that nothing but jackrabbits, coyotes and cactus could survive there.

I wish I could tell you what the yellow blossom is, but I can't. It's a small tree, maybe 12' tall and about 6-8' wide. I tried to find someone who could tell me, but most of the folks working were just custodians in charge of watering and maintenance. None of them could identify the plants for me. I did find a link that is supposed to provide horticulture information, and does not, but that shows another different view of the courtyard of the Casa de Estudillo.

As you said, a lot of the herbs do wonderfully well in that environment, and I'm sure there are palo verde there also.. There was another large shrub, maybe about 6' tall and wide, that had enormous white trumpet flowers hanging from it. Each one had to be about 6" long. The plant had been pruned up into sort of an ornamental tree shape (think it was pruned that way, rather than natural) so the lower trunk was exposed and the top fanned out into that amazing hanging bouquet display. I don't know if a call to the parks dept out there would yield any results or not, but I'm thinking of trying it, just because I'm dying to know what the plants actually are.

You might also be interested in seeing the photo of the Desert Garden display in Balboa Park. It's also in the dguides catalog of gardens to see. They have some really wild cactus and succulents on display.
My daughter and I took a stroll through the arboretum at Balboa Park, but it was in December and the display was disappointing. The stuff growing outside around the park was much more interesting. But it reminds me that, if you're so inclined, you could probably grow poinsettias outside there. I've seen them blooming clear up at rooftop level in a warm climate.
If you can also grow a big swath of bougainvillea, don't tell me about it. It's one of the things I really miss. I might weep real tears.

Pat

Here is a link that might be useful: Historic Old Town - Casa de Estudillo

I ordered my desert willows on-line last year from Sooner Plant Farm near Talequah. They sent me two 4' sticks in May if I remember correctly. We watered them all last summer. Both plants survived the winter. The tree that gets the most water is several times bigger than the second, but both trees are thriving.

We had started a couple of these when we lived in New Mexico. They are relatively fast growers, but they don't tend to get as big as the willows we see around here. I think they are probably more drought resistant than typical willows, but I'm not sure. I love them and am thinking about getting some more to put near my gray water output area.

Desert Willow isn't a willow. It is, I believe, Chilopsis linearis, and is in the Bignonia family, so is related to the trumpet creeper vine. The leaves resemble willow leaves so that's how it got its name. I have the common, everyday one and it is not in a place that's ideal for it because the soil really doesn't drain well enough for it in a wet year, and taller trees are begining to shade it more than it likes. If I ever plant another one, I'll put it in the narrow band of sandy soil near the Pecan tree and garden so it can have the well-draining soil it prefers.

The late Benny Simpson down in Texas did a lot of selection work with desert willows and some of his selections like the "Storm" series were once available commercialy. I don't know if anyone carries his selections any more though.

The Desert Willow I see most often in stores near me is "Bubba", but I generally only see them in spring. I bought mine about 10 or 12 years ago at Green Mama's in the D-FW metro area, and I paid $19.99 for a tree that was maybe 4 or 5' tall in a 5-gallon pot.

Down in North Central Texas, I think that Desert Willow is becoming the replacement for the ubiquitous crape myrtles seen everywhere in shopping center parking lots. Several of the newer shopping centers have planted Desert Willow in places where older shopping centers tend to plant Crape Myrtles. It is nice to see them being used more.

There's also a Desert Willow-Catalpa cross called Chitalpa but I don't remember its' hardiness zones.

Click on the link to see some examples of the Desert Willow.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Images of Desert Willow

Oh my, that's beautiful. We all need one of those. I guess if it grows in Tahlequah it should grow here, but I am zone 6.

I have banana trees that survived our -22 temps last winter. They are tucked into a sheltered place so the wind isn't fierce, but we have had cold icy winters and they made it. I have been very surprised. Maybe I should try to find a place for the DW and give it a try.

Tracy, The Yellow flower is Tecoma stans or also known as Esperanza. I don't think it will be hardy in Oklahoma. There is a variety that is hardier than the others called tecoma stans var augustifolia. I think it is indigenous to the West Texas mountains. I am not sure wich mouhntain range out there. It is smaller less rangy with finer leaves.

The desert willow is very easy to germinate so if you see the seed of one you like, help your self.

Thanks for the ID on the Tecoma stans. I looked up more photos and that is certainly what it is. I also read some reviews that say it will grow in z7a and that there are some growing in OKC. That's the angustata variety. HCG carries it, which has to say something for the hardiness. It's supposed to be root hardy to z6.

All I can say is that seeing it in full bloom is just amazing. It's gorgeous.

I was surprised to see some desert willows offered for a remarkably low price of under $10. Is that because they are easy to seed, or because they are pencil size plants, or both?

Pat

Carol, Back when I bought our Desert Willow about a decade ago, it was a risk because it was said to be reliably cold hardy only to 10 degrees. However, ours has survived tempertures as low as 0 degrees, and in recent years I have seen some descriptions of it that state it is cold hardy to 0 degrees although others still say 10 degrees. The humminbgbirds love it, which is why I originally planted it. I think I planted it our second or third year here, and planted my chaste tree the year after.

Pat, I love Esperanza and have planted it here, but in our heavy, slow-draining clay and sometimes surprisingly cold winters, it hasn't survived the winter. One thing that has been really hard on marginally cold-hardy plants here at our place is not, I think, the cold temperatures themselves, but rather the way we can plunge from 70 degrees on a December day to 5or 8 or 10 degrees that night. Also, some of the marginally cold-hardy plants can survive longer in our one area where we have that band of silty sand but not in the slower-draining clay areas.

Desert willows for $10.00 aren't unheard of, and it probably is because they're easy to propagate and are sold while still very small. They're supposed to be easy from both seed and cuttings, although I've never tried either.

Dawn