These tough, prickly flowering plants with great structure and texture beg you to take a closer—but not too close—look
Some of my very pet plant for our region are also the gnarliest , briary ones . While it might take a little extra planning when deciding where to plant them , they can be well deserving your retainer .
Common sotol
Also known as : desert spoonful , smooch yucca
Dasylirion wheeleri , Zones 8–11
This is a plant life that require you to endure uncompromising trouser . Common sotol is big , bold , and makes a dramatic assertion in desert - themed or xeriscaped garden . Frequently mistaken for a yucca ( Yuccaspp . and cvs . , zone 4–11 ) , coarse sotol has longsighted , minute leaves with precipitously serrated sharpness and a bluish gullible hue . The leaf spring up from a individual bole , forming a large fountain that reaches up to about 5 to 6 infantry in height and diam . Every few years the works produces a tall , pole - alike flower stalk , which is an impressive sight ( and makes an fantabulous walk stick ) . Sotol only thrives in the southern part of our realm , as it is native to desert climates and wo n’t tolerate prolonged Robert Lee Frost .
Mexican palo verde
Also known as : retama , Jerusalem thorn
Parkinsonia aculeata , zone 8–11
Mexican palo verde is a setaceous but finely beautiful small tree diagram . Palo verdemeans “ green stick ” in Spanish ; the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree got its name because in periods of extreme drought it will lose its leaves , and the trunk and branch will grow green and take over photosynthesis . It can make summit of about 36 feet tall , but 15 feet is more distinctive . Mexican palo verde has long , droop branches that put up finespun , narrow leave and yellow flowers . Younger staunch have a pair of shrill pricker below each leaf , which run even as the stem ages and the leafage falls off . Because of these thorns , Mexican palo verde is well located out where garden visitant ca n’t be snag .
Texas prickly pear
Opuntia engelmanniivar.lindheimeri . Zones 8–11
Texas barbellate pear really is a tried - and - dead on target thorny wonder for our region . What other flora is as purple , resilient , tough , and downright useful ? A dependable cactus , prickly pear has oval pad that are green to bluish - dark-green and cover with yellow backbone and mulct , annoy hairs called glochids . It can take on a imperial unsloped manikin or sprawl , hand acme of about 6 foot , often with a breadth to match . burry pear is extremely drouth broad and will thrive in full sun to partial specter . Propagation is as simple as bemuse a unmarried pad on the earth and letting it root in place . The pads and the fruits ( which are colored purple and known as tuna ) are edible and boast in traditional Mexican culinary art . The yellow blooms , which come about along the edges of the pads , are bright and upbeat and always a welcome good deal .
Devil’s claw
Also known as : ram ’s hooter
genus Proboscidea louisianicassp.louisianica , one-year
I would be remiss if I did n’t mention this unique , thorny beauty . Devil ’s hook has a truly strange aggregation of characteristic : it stinks , it has gorgeous bloom , it ’s gummy , and it has thorny , alien - looking seedpods . The beautiful pinkish white blooms , which resemble foxglove flowers , are the stark landing place pads for the bumblebees that pollinate them . The foliage is pretty oily , and the oil bear a discrete scent that some find unpleasant . I encounter that it is n’t noticeable unless the plant is trouble . Devil ’s hook is name for its unusual seedpods , which are eatable while immature and have a flavor kin to okra . If the pod are left to ripen on the flora , they become woody and the elongated cod splits into two prospicient , thorny hook . These dried pods have an unusual beaut and are often amass and used for humanistic discipline and crafts , including basket weaving . While devil ’s hook can be a pain in the neck in pasturage where livestock graze , it make a beautiful and unusual addition to garden beds . call back to be native to the southern and southwestern United States , it is now tame in much of the mainland United States , as well as in Australia , Europe , and South Africa .
— Karen Beaty is a horticulturalist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin , Texas .
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Common sotol’s tall flower spike is surrounded by a splay of spiky foliage, adding strong textural interest and splitting the garden in half vertically.Photo: Karen Beaty
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