Going Native

Mormon Tea

Desert Marigold

Pencil Cholla

Every year water is more expensive.  We can replace gas appliances with electric and put solar panels on the roof to cut down on utility bills.  But we can't do anything about water except to replace water hungry plants with xeric (low water) plants.  Driving between Barstow and Victorville we see exactly what will grow here with only rain water: Creosote Bush, Mojave Yucca, Brittle Bush, Rabbit Brush, and a lot of small scraggly prickly stuff that I don't want in my yard.  There is also the occasional Palo Verde or Tamarisk, neither of them native to the area.  To this I add Mormon Tea, Desert Bird of Paradise, Pencil Cholla, and Mojave Prickly Pear which grow on vacant lots in my neighborhood, also Jimson Weed and Coyote Gourd. 

Jimson Weed

Desert Bird of Paradise



The Desert Holly which abounds in Owl Canyon doesn't grow in Barstow because it needs clay soil.  And I have been unable to grow Banana Yucca, which is sold in the stores and is native to the Eastern Mojave.  So to go native, we need to be more selective than simply using native plants of the Mojave Desert.  And even if we find the right plants, we still need to water them the first few years until they are established, and continue watering them if we want our yards greener, with thicker vegetation than the open desert.

Desert Willow

Personally I like to define "native" as meaning plants from the Barstow area plus plants from the Las Vegas area, which has the same climate as Barstow.  Also, with added water we can easily grow plants like Desert Willow and Cottonwood which are found locally  in washes and river bottoms.  We can grow Flannel Bush which is native to the northen foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, and Our Lord's Candle/Yucca whipplei, native to the watersheds of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains.



Rabbit Brush

 Driving toward the Cajon Pass from Victorville, we leave the part of the Mojave Desert dominated by Creosote Bushes and pass through the part dominated by Joshua trees, into the Juniper zone.  Along the way we see plants like Joshua Trees and California Juniper wihich grow here, but do not reseed here.  We can even grow a few low desert plants like California Fan Palm and Ocotillo, but the mountain slopes and the low desert all receive more rain than Barstow, so plants native to those areas will require more water.

Cottontop Barrel Cactus



Coyote Gourd

 

Creosote Bush

The only native plants I have that I do not water at all are: Joshua Trees, Creosote Bush, Brittle Bush, Cottontop Barrel Cactus, Rabbit Brush, and Desert Marigolds.