What Blooms in the Winter?
What Blooms In The Winter?
Even in the Sonoran Desert, many plants go dormant in the winter. Many trees and shrubs are deciduous, and many others simply slow down their biological processes and don’t create much color. There are some exceptions, though. This article will go over some native options and some non-native options that will provide some much needed color during the coldest time of year.
The list of native options is rather limited, but the ones that do bloom between December and March are quite beautiful options. The Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis) is a low, clumping groundcover that blooms in waves all year long, including the wintertime, with pretty yellow daisy flowers. The Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) is a larger, low-growing bush that creates shoots of red trumpet-shaped flowers throughout the year as well. It’s a favorite for hummingbirds. The Pink Fairy Duster (Calliandra eriophylla) is generally considered to be among the plants that slow their processes during the winter, but usually their last fall blooms will remain on the plant throughout the winter. Even when most of the leaves have fallen off, the light pink blooms often remain for most of the winter, and their next blooms are typically some of the first of the spring anyway.
When it comes to trees, the only Sonoran Desert native that blooms in the coldest of the winter is the Sweet Acacia (Acacia farnesiana), a medium tree in the legume family that becomes covered in golden puffball flowers, usually in January.
The non-native list gives us some more options. Most notably for the low growth are the Aloes. The Blue Elf Aloe (Aloe ‘Blue Elf’) and Aloe Vera (Aloe vera) are two of the most common options, though there are hundreds of varieties to choose from, ranging in size from ground cover to enormous trees. The Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii) is a beautiful red and green option for the winter. The Bush Dalea (Dalea pulchra) and other Dalea species bloom in lavender legume clusters throughout the winter and spring. The Valentine Emu (Eremophila maculata) blooms a deep red or pink, predictably, by Valentine’s Day.
Some trees that bloom in the winter include the Shoestring Acacia (Acacia stenophylla), Cascalote (Tara cacalaco), and Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia mexicana). All three of these will be covered in bright yellow blooms by January.
If you’re looking for some winter annuals to stick in a flower pot for the cool season, you could look into Pansies, Violas, Salvias (especially the blue Salvia), certain Geraniums (especially the Ivy Geranium or the Martha Washington Geranium), Alyssums, Lobelias, Bacopas, and even Petunias. If you live in an area prone to javelinas, avoid the geraniums, Petunias, and Alyssums. Be careful with Petunias in general, as they are quite susceptible to “damping off,” or randomly dying from an outbreak of root fungus latent in most nurseries. If you can have these flowers planted and established before the first frost of the winter, you can have beautiful blooms throughout the cool season.
At ELS Maintenance & Construction, we install seasonal flowers at monuments that provide the best color coverage throughout the year, and install plants that are water-efficient and beautiful! If you know of a community or commercial center that needs new landscapers, email [email protected] and we can get started!
