Water Conservation
Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation (AWAC)
Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation (AWAC)
Recommended High Desert Plants
Recommended High Desert Plants
The Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation (AWAC), a dynamic coalition of 25 regional organizations working together to promote water conservation, has created this list of desert-adaptive plants, divided by category (accents, grasses, groundcovers, perennial flowers, shrubs, and trees), to help you select plants that grow well in the High Desert using little water. Thoughtful landscape planning, low-water-use plants, and proper irrigation strategies will help you conserve water. AWAC recommends that you take this list with you when you visit your local nursery or home-improvement store.
  • Accents
    • A gave species: A. Americana (Century Plant); A. parryi huachucensis; A. victoriae-reginae
    • Dasylirion wheeleri, Desert Spoon
    • Nolina microcarpa, Bear Grass
    • Hesperaloe parvjflora, Red Yucca
    • Kn~phoJIa uvaria, Red-Hot Poker, Torch Lily
    • Yucca species: V aloj/blia, Spanish Bayonet; V baccata, Banana Yucca, Datil; V brev4,folia, Joshua Tree; V. data, Soaptree Yucca
    • Chamaerops humilis, Mediterranean Fan Palm
    • Trachycarpusfortunei, Windmill Palm
    • WashingtoniaJulifera, California Fan Palm
  • Grasses

      Ornamental

    • Muhlenbergia rigens, Deer Grass
    • Muhlenbergia capillaris, Regal Mist
    • Muhienbergia lindheimeri, Autumn Glow
    • Festuca ovina glauca, Blue Fescue
    • Bouteloua gracilis, Blue Grama
    • Nassella tenuissima (Stipa tenuissima), Mexican Feather Grass

      • Turf

    • Buchioc dactyloides, Buffalo Grass (Legacy)
    • Buchloe dactys!oides, Buffalo Grass (UC Verde)

      • Warm-Season Grasses (winter dormant):

    • Zoysia, Zoysia Grass
    • Stenotaphrum secundatum, St. Augustine Grass

      • Cool-Season Grasses (year round):

    • Festuca arundinacea, Tall Fescue
    • Lolium perenne, Perennial Ryegrass
    • Poapratensis, Kentucky Bluegrass
  • Ground Covers
    • Oenoth era berlandieri, Mexican Evening Primrose
    • S'antolina chwnaecyparissus, Lavender Cotton
    • Cerastium tomentosum, Snow-in-Summer
    • Gazania, most varieties
    • Sedum, most varieties
    • Thymus, most varieties
    • Verbena peruviana; V. puichella
    • Dalea greggi4 Trailing Indigo Bush
    • Rosmarinus officinalis, 'Prostratus'
  • Perennial Flowers
    • Coreopsis, most varieties
    • Penstemon ambiguus, P. barbatus, P. centranth~folius, P. eaton ii, P. palm en, P. parryi, P. pin~folius, P. pseudospectabilis, P. stnictus
    • Cosmos, most varieties
    • Convolvulus cneorum, Bush Morning Glory
    • Perovskia, Russian Sage or Blue Spire
    • Berlandiera lyrata, Chocolate Flower
    • Gaura lindheimeri, 'Whirling Butterflies,' 'Siskiyou Pink'
    • Hemerocallis, Daylily, most varieties
    • Rosmarinus officinalis, most prostrate and upright varieties
    • Verbena gooddingii, V. peruviana, V. rigida
  • Shrubs
    • Salvia greggii, Red Sage, Autumn Sage
    • Salvia clevelandii, Blue Sage, Cleveland Sage
    • Salvia chamaedryoides, Germander Sage
    • Fallugiaparadoxa, Apache Plume
    • Leucophyllumfrutescens. Texas Ranger species, several varieties
    • Leucophyllum laevigatum, Chihuahuan Sage
    • Baccharis 'Centennial,' Coyote Bush
    • Bacchanis pilularis, Dwarf Coyote Brush
    • Artemisia, 'Powis Castle'
    • Cotoneaster honizontalis, Rock Cotoneaster
    • Photiniafraseri
  • Trees

      Evergreen

    • Eucalyptus camaldulensis (rostrata), Red River
    • Eucalyptus in icrotheca, Coolibah
    • Pinus eldarica, Eldarica Pine, Afghan Pine, Russian Pine
    • Pinus halepensis, Aleppo Pine
    • Pinuspinea, Italian Stone Pine
    • Gedrus deodara, Deodar Cedar
    • Calocedrus decurrens, Incense Cedar
    • Heteromeles arbu4folia, Toyon
    • Sophora secund(flora, Texas Mountain Laurel
    • Arbutus unedo, Strawberry Tree
    • Pithecellobium flexicaule, Texas Ebony

      • Deciduous

    • Albiziajulibrissin, Silk Tree, Mimosa
    • Chilopsis lin earls, Desert Willow, 'Burgundy'
    • Chitalpa tashkentensis, Pink Dawn, Morning Cloud
    • Parkinsoniafloridum, Blue Palo Verde
    • Parkinsonia microphyllum, Littleleaf Palo Verde
    • Parkinsonia aculeata, Mexican Palo Verde
    • Fraxinus angust~folia, 'Raywood' (Raywood Ash)
    • Fraxinus velutina, Arizona Ash
    • Fraxinus velutina, 'Modesto' (Modesto Ash)
    • Prosopis chilensis, Chilean Mesquite
    • Prosopis glandulosa. Honey Mesquite
    • Prosopis pubescens, Screw Bean Mesquite
    • Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust
    • Pistacia chinensis, Chinese Pistache
    • Vitex agnus-castus, Chaste Tree, Monk Tree
    • For more information, contact your local water provider or the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District, 760.843.6882, extension 104.