A native shrub made of slender, jointed green stems that look like an upright broom. It stays green year-round with almost no water, takes full and reflected sun, and gives a desert garden a fine, sculptural texture.
Living with it in the Phoenix Valley
Watering
Follow the shrub schedule in our Landscape Care guide. As a true desert native, it should be kept lean once established. It is sensitive to overwatering, so avoid placing it on the same valve as thirstier plants.
Pruning
Best left alone. Light shaping is fine, but its natural broom form is the point.
Soil
It needs fast-draining, gravelly or sandy soil. Heavy, wet soil is the main way to lose it.
How our designers use it
Native desert gardens
Our designers use it among cactus, ocotillo and palo verde for an authentic Sonoran look.
Texture contrast
Its fine, upright stems contrast with bold agaves, barrels and boulders.
Hot, dry spots
It holds up in reflected heat along walls and driveways where many shrubs burn.
Good to know
Around the pool
No thorns and almost no litter, so it is easy to place near water as long as splash and runoff do not keep its roots wet.
