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I recently moved to the California high desert. I am not used to this… | Anything about plants | Planta community

Vicki

I recently moved to the California high desert. I am not used to this environment. I love plants and want to have a nice yard. When I moved here the only thing living in the yard was weeds. I have a fresh pallet, but I have lost several plants so far due to the excessive heat. I’m not a big fan of cacti. Some people have raised flowered beds. I’m not strong enough and healthy enough to do that myself anymore and that’s too expensive. Are there any suggestions? What plants would look good here, flower, and remind me of back east? Thank you.

6 likes 16 comments

16 comments

  1. Adrian

    I’m not a big cactus person myself, but I love succulents. You can do a spread of quite a few different types outside, such as stonecrop, echeveria, pachyphytum, haworthia, aeonium, and graptoveria. Planting them all together, especially the more “flower-like” ones, could make a really beautiful desert garden! As for flowers, you could take advantage of the bright light and look for full sun flowers that don’t need their soil to always be moist. Perhaps something like a lupine, penstemon, poppies, zinnias, black-eyed susan’s, cosmos, blanket flowers, or sunflowers would work! Something like sage or yucca could work in the place of shrubs. It might be difficult to use some flowers from the east coast that are used to rain and humidity, but there’s probably tons of native flowers in California you can choose from! Hope this helps!

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    • Adrian

      Here’s some examples of what I mean. You can get a variety of succulents in those mixed succulent planter arrangements at box stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot for $10 and under and get a bunch of different succulents. certainly doesn’t haven’t to be something this extravagant, but just a thought!

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    • Vicki

      You have been extraordinarily helpful! Great ideas! I do like succulents. That’s a marvelous idea. Thank you so much.

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  2. Alyssa

    Wow! So beautiful, now I wish I had a desert garden lol, good ideas Adrian

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  3. Doll

    Yeah Adrian that was a really thoughtful and helpful post.🤍🪴

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    • Vicki

      It sure was!

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  4. Sunny

    I lived 2 years in the California high desert region many years ago in the Lancaster/Palmdale area. Growing grass was just as expensive as having a golfing hobby. Plants native to the region plus succulents, as shown above, were the only plants that could survive the 120°F mid summer temperatures and have reduced watering needs year round. That’s the downside of high desert living. Good luck!🍀🪴

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    • Vicki

      Thank you so very much for this! I really appreciate everyone’s help. I am near Victorville, very close to the areas you spoke of. You know exactly what I’m going through. I am so grateful there’s no grass, only rocks.

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    • Sunny

      I know Victorville! I arrived as a college intern working part of the year at Edwards Air Force Base. I arrived from the airport and a tumble weed rolled past me with a tiny dust tornado on the empty lot across the street! I cried that night because the California in the high desert was nothing like the TV show Bay Watch!! I was bamboozled!😭 But, I met my future husband minutes after I arrived at the apartment. He had the most beautiful monstera I had seen in his apartment. I also met my roommate, his friend, who became my BFF. We are still friends today.

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  5. Dillon

    I agree with Adrian, ground cover like ice plants or sedum look super pretty too

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