From the Waterwise plant sale, spring 2018.
Some examples
Photos
A small flowering tree that can take very dry conditions. Late to leaf out in spring. Blooms on new growth, so each new flush of growth produces a new crop of flowers.
But it's elegant too --- or it can be with some pruning. I've gotten good at limbing up shrubs and small trees, and I plan to keep this one pruned. It's what we'll see coming up the driveway. This one on Chamisa Path is nicely shaped.
Photos
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| White flowered 'Hope' at the Waterwise test plot |
Expectations:
Tracy Neal at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden raved about chilopsis and thinks it should be planted more. Two downtown are thriving despite absolutely no supplemental watering.
I sought out a white flowered variety. I'm not crazy about fuchsia - magenta flowers, and a whole tree of them seems too much.
Tracy Neal at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden raved about chilopsis and thinks it should be planted more. Two downtown are thriving despite absolutely no supplemental watering.
I sought out a white flowered variety. I'm not crazy about fuchsia - magenta flowers, and a whole tree of them seems too much.
So when I found a white desert willow, Chilopsis linearis 'Hope' at the plant sale, I got it.
This is, of course, not a willow. It grows natively in arroyos, where it takes standing floodwater for days, followed by months and months of no rain at all. This is a tough plant.
It is described as "sticks and seedpods" all winter, not attractive during long dormancy. Hardy to zone 6 but may get dieback below 0 degree winters. Left natural, desert willow can be shrubby and unkempt. The seedpods are messy.
But it's elegant too --- or it can be with some pruning. I've gotten good at limbing up shrubs and small trees, and I plan to keep this one pruned. It's what we'll see coming up the driveway. This one on Chamisa Path is nicely shaped.
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| A nice desert willow on Chamisa Path (in October) |
Here's a shot of one pruned nicely. This is 'Pink Dawn', which is a lighter pink.
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| An example of pruning on a pink flowered desert willow. |
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| A nicely shaped one in a yard in the Pulte development. |
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| A young desert willow at Lucy Smith's on Lost Feather. |
Experiences:
It flowered the first year when planted in 2018, still tiny, but hasn't put out any blooms in the years since.
Alas, it was mismarked, and even as a tiny twig it bloomed, and it is magenta. This is not the white flowered 'Hope' I bought.
I'm pretty sure this is 'Lucretia Hamilton' based on this deep purple pink color. High Country Gardens (Waterwise) also sells this variety. It's a smaller, more compact variety (to 12 feet tall instead of 25 feet).
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| Lucretia Hamilton - more pink against a blue sky |
It took its time to leaf out in spring 2019, as predicted, really late. But it looked great as it filled in , and when I moved it in early June that year it had quite a root system. I kind of tore it out, and it wilted. It recovered, but got set back for the next couple years I think.
But by 2023 it was still tiny, no growth at all and it never bloomed again since the first year. It;'s healthy but not growing. Losing faith that this will thrive.