[bugman-74]

Hi All,
First some info: I am having some issues with 2 types of plants in my back yard. I am located in Tucson AZ. The plants are all on a drip system. It currently waters every 3rd day for 3.5 hours. I lightly prune once per year and lightly fertilize with "Arizona’s best" several times per year. I have included links to pictures of the plants at the end of the post.

The first problem plants are my 4 Mexican bush sage (salvia leucantha) located in a corner that get full sunlight. They looked great when they were originally planted 2 years ago, but over the past couple years they always seem to look bad around June/July/August. Last year the one in the corner died. I re-planted, and this year it looks like that one will die again. So far the salvias have yet to bloom this year.

When they were first planted, I had plumbed 2X emitters (~1GPH I think) to each of the salvias. Last year I thought my issues were due to overwatering, so I reduced it to 1X 1GPH per salvia. This didn’t seem to help much. I suspect it is either a sunlight/heat issue or a water issue. Any ideas?

I am considering digging them up and replacing them. Any thoughts on a suitable replacement? I was thinking maybe 3X red bird of paradise (caesaplinia pulcherrima) might look good there…

The second problem plants are my 3 moon bay nandinas (nandina domestica). These see a lot of sunlight, but do get a little shade being so close to the house. The one on the right seems to stay fairly green and grow somewhat, but the other two are always red, don’t seem to grow much, and have never flowered. I originally plumbed 1X 1GPH emitter to each nandina. Last year I suspected they weren’t getting enough water so I plumbed another 1GPH emitter to each plan (2X 1GPH per plant). This didn’t seem to help much.

I’m not real fond of the nandinas anyway, so I plan to replace them. Any suggestions on what might do well there and look good?

Salvia when first planted in 8/2008: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG2254.jpg
Salvia in 8/09: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG3330.jpg
Salvia in 8/10: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG4546.jpg
Nandina when first planted in 8/2008: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG2256.jpg
Nandina in 8/09: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG3326.jpg
Nandina in 8/10: http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e...4/CIMG4544.jpg

[KUXJ]

Hi! bugman-74, welcome to AMHD :)

From your pixs I can see why you would like to change what you presently have.
The outside of your home looks eeriely similar to a lady I helped last year.

You need ideas, have you seen this site? I'm not endorsing them, but they do have a nice portfolio of pixs.
horticultureunlimited.com/landscape-plants/tucson-shrubs

[bugman-74]

Cool - that might be a good starting point for me. I'll take a look through all the pictures. I also found this which seems to be more comprehensive: Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert | Low-Water Shrubs

I think finding a replacement for the salvia's will be easy. I just don't know what to get for the small area in front of my bedroom window where the nandina's are...

[KUXJ]

That link is a nice find, I put it in my chest o' marks.

If your looking for some privacy the Oleander would look nice there, but you will have to move that small boulder.
You might find it in white, yellow, orange, red, and various pastel shades of those four colors. I did find a double color of a lite yellow with orange center. Use your search engine on images.

Use it as the centerpiece, and then build around, and to the sides of it.

For the inner, and outer corners of your house you might use something a little taller, and more slender.
You could even use palms.