A conversation I had with Priscilla Brodkin (co-author of Butterflies of Arizona) not long ago, gave me the input to write about these lovely desert plants. Like Priscilla, I love Butterflies and in my garden my Dalea species bloom almost all year long and I find Butterflies even in winter on warm days on them. The Dalea's are still underused and sometimes not easy to find in most nurseries. There are several species in this family which are very drought tolerant and cold hardy and have great interest for the desert garden. My front garden is kept very natural and consists of drought tolerant and easy to keep plants. Here I grow 2 species of Dalea. Next to the dry creek is Dalea greggii - trailing indigo bush. It rambles between the rocks and cacti and every year it covers a bigger area. This plant is native to the Chihuahuan Desert. It is a trailing evergreen groundcover that can spread up to 6 feet a single plant. It roots as it spreads. The plant is covered with small gray leaves and has tiny purple flowers. It flowers heavily in the cooler seasons but I find flowers on it all year long. It makes a wonderful groundcover especially on slopes but it doesn't like to be walked on. The flowers are not very showy from far away but at a close-up look they are very pretty and Butterflies love them. The other plant of this genus I grow in this area is Dalea pulchra - purple bush Dalea. Another evergreen, a shrub growing to 4 feet tall. The leaves are dainty, hairy and silvery gray. Purple flowers are on the branch tips and come in the cool season, late winter into spring. This is nice and gives my garden winter interest and the Butterflies something to munch on. In my yard this plant self-seeds it-self quite freely. As it is not a demanding plant I have let it happen but sooner or later I have to dig some starts up. A very similar plant is Dalea frutescens - black Dalea, another evergreen. Somewhat smaller in scale the flowers are bright purple and the foliage is lacy and green. Than there is D. bicolor - indigo bush. This one is deciduous and grows 6-8 feet tall with silvery leaves and deep blue autumn flowers. I once purchased a Dalea from Peter Gierlach, a little low growing shrub with bright yellow elongated flowers and lacy green foliage. I think he called it Prairie gold, it flowers in autumn and is absolutely lovely. Unfortunately I can not find any reference anywhere. If you come across it somewhere it is sure worth growing.