Add a touch of the tropics to your desert landscape

We may live in the desert, but that doesn't mean tropical flowering plants can't add a little zing to your landscape. While plants such as lantana, red bird of paradise, bougaianvilea and oleander often fall victim to freezes, they have eye-catching blooms and grow back quickly in the spring.

We can add to this list showy flowering Tecoma shrubs in their many variations, including Arizona yellow bells, gold star, orange jubilee, sierra apricot, sunrise and cape honeysuckle

According to John Begeman of the University of Arizona, Tecoma shrubs are recognizable because of their compound leaves and trumpet-shaped clusters of orange or yellow flowers. They grow with open, upright stems and can add a tropical feel to your landscape.

Here are some selections for Las Vegas:

When grown in Nevada, Tecomas can grow to be anywhere from five to 10-feet tall. In Arizona, where it's warmer, some shrubs may grow to 25 feet or more.

Sometimes, you may find Arizona yellow bells growing wild among boulders, or in washes, where there is adequate moisture. The yellow clusters -- which bloom through the season -- often attract hummingbirds and carpenter bees.

Gold star is a type of Arizona yellow bell found growing in a private garden in San Antonio by Texas A&M University. This plant made it into the superstar program in Texas when it was introduced, because of its reliability and performance across the state. Its tolerance of heat and reflected sunlight and its small size make it a great choice for a sunny patio.

Orange Jubilee has become a very popular flowering bush. It thrives from May to November and features orange to reddish-orange flower clusters. It is a very fast grower, making it ideal for many landscape situations. The feathery leaves are usually dark green and lush.

Sunrise isn't as well known as others, but has attributes to consider. It produces glorious spikes of orange-yellow flowers from spring to fall with a burnished copper color on flower buds and on the back of the flowers. This plant has a self-cleaning habit built in, as it drops old, spent flowers quickly, so the bush remains attractive. It doesn't set seed until late in the season, which means it is constantly supplying new blossoms through summer. It has the potential to grow to be about six feet tall and is a haven for hummingbirds.

Sierra apricot is a petite plant that delivers a powerful punch of apricot-colored clusters of bell-shaped flowers. Because it is virtually seed free, the clone blooms constantly through summer. This gem is smaller than its cousins with a compact and dense form.

Cape honeysuckle shines when it is grown against a wall or trellis, as it tends to sprawl. The plant's glossy foliage can blacken if temperatures fall below freezing, but otherwise it is an evergreen plant.

To get the best results, Tecomas need full sun. They are drought-tolerant, but frequent waterings can help the flowers be at their best, especially when it's warmer than 90 degrees. If you are growing them in containers, they need to be watered daily in our desert heat.

Like other lush plants, Tecomas recover quickly after a freeze. For maximum flowering, do not prune to shape during the flowering season, as that can hinder new buds.

PESTS-ASIDE

Casting pests aside is all about integrated pest management -- and that's not hard to do. Join insect specialists Cari Taylor of the Springs Preserve and Jeff Knight from the Nevada Department of Agriculture to learn how to implement techniques that rid your gardens of pests. You'll be cooking up some ecological and economical recipes that use nontoxic substances to achieve a pest-free garden. That's at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Call 822-7786 to register for this class.

Linn Mills writes a gardening column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.