In A Desert Garden

"Apache Plume - Fellugia Paradoxa"

This is a shrub that can take extreme drought and does very well in our area. Unfortunately it is not easy to come by and you might be lucky and find it at the nursery of Ace Hardware. This shrub is native to the higher elevations of Utah and south to Texas and you can find in Colorado and in the high desert of California and Arizona and in Northern Mexico. The plant has a lacy appearance due to its small leaves and dainty rose like single white flowers. The flowers appear all summer long being replaced by fuzzy seed heads that resembles feather dusters, these turn to tan with age. The shrub is semi evergreen, slowly growing to 4-6 feet tall and up to 5 feet wide, The shrub is not bothered by deer or rabbits. When I planted the garden in front of the Visitor's Center of Ramsey Canyon Preserve, I put in 2 Apache Plumes and over all these years they have never been eaten by any animals. The plant needs gritty well draining soil and in my garden, as I have heavy Clay soil, I planted my plant in front of my house on the Island. Be careful not to over water, the plant will not tolerate a lot of irrigation in winter and it is rather slow to get established. This is a truly drought tolerant shrub. This drought tolerance makes the plant a good candidate to be planted on a hill for erosion control. Here in the high desert the plant loves full sun but can take quite a bit of shade as well. The plants I planted at the Ramsey Canyon Preserve are more or less in semi-shade and have grown quite a bit larger there than the one I planted on my Island in full sun, overall a fine textured shrub with interest all year long. The bark is very attractive too, mature stems have peeling bark and while younger branches and twigs are covered with gray fuzz, propagation through seeds. If you cannot locate a plant locally, check out my website and go to Xeribotanical or Diamond J.K.'s Nursery. Happy hunting.