Best blooms
Choose right plants for Albuquerque’s challenging yet promising landscapes
No matter what part of Albuquerque you call home, a wide variety of plants will do well in your garden.
Look to the USDA or the Sunset Western Garden Guide and you will find the country broken down into numerous planting zones based upon average annual minimum temperatures. These zones can provide a rough guide for planting times and help you determine what plants may thrive or not in your location.
While the USDA has 13 zones, the Western Garden Guide, considered the plant bible by many, has a more definitive 24 zones.
These hardiness guidelines are a start but are by no means a guarantee of success. Albuquerque, with its diverse soil conditions, temperatures, rainfall and wind patterns, can be a challenging and yet promising landscape.
Plant experts generally agree that plants suited to the Albuquerque area and able to survive the winter can be planted in any part of the city. Of course, the steps you need to take to achieve long-term success with those new plants can be impacted by where you live. And success is more likely if you pick the right place within your garden,
add soil amendments and root simulators and water frequently, especially early on.
While the boundaries may be somewhat blurred, there are three distinct areas within Albuquerque that you might consider when buying and placing plants within your garden. These are the Valley, which includes parts of Corrales; the West Side, which includes Rio Rancho; and the Eastside, particularly the Far Northeast Heights and extending south to Four Hills. While overall temperatures and rainfall differ slightly in these areas, they are not significant factors. What does affect new plantings are the soil and wind conditions.
Experts from Jericho Nursery and Plants of the Southwest said there are many plants that will grow well in full sun whether you live in the Valley, the West Side or on the Eastside. Below are some of their picks.
Valley
The Valley straddling the Rio Grande is Albuquerque’s green zone. The flooding and receding of waters over thousands of years has left the soil rich compared to other areas. Much of the land along the river has been irrigated for at least a thousand years.
“The Valley has everything from heavy, heavy clay to river bottom silt. It gets a gets a wide range of soil conditions, but typically speaking, you are looking at soil more clay based,” said Jennifer Hobson, owner of Jericho Nursery. Clay can help hold in moisture, which can be good for many plants but a negative for plants requiring a welldraining soil.
CHOCOLATE FLOWER: A cold hardy native flower that blooms all summer and, of course, smells like chocolate. Spreads easily once planted.
NEW MEXICO SUNFLOWER: Also known as Maximilian’s daisy, it is a large perennial that can grow to 8 feet and produce 3-inch yellow flowers. The seeds are popular with several species of birds.
PENSTEMON: These tough perennials can take a lot and reward you with bright blooms of long tubular flowers in a variety for colors.
ECHINACEA: The most common is Echinacea Purpurea, one of nine species. A hardy perennial that can grow up to 4 feet with pink or purple flowers.
SALVIA: Also widely known as sage, salvias are very popular with honey bees and hummingbirds. The genus is large with over 900 species and numerous flower colors. One popular and easily available variety is Autumn Sage with pink to red flowers.
COTENEASTER: A low growing shrub with beautiful deep green leaves and white to pink flowers that will give way to deep red berries.
FRUIT TREES: The water retention capacity of clay soil helps trees like apple, peach and cherry bear fruit.
West Side
As Albuquerque expands westward, gardeners in newer communities of the West Side and Rio Rancho face the dual issues of a nutrient-poor sandy soil and more winds than other parts of the city.
“The West Side faces its own challenge because it is on the mesa and gets a lot of wind,” said Hobson.
While the soil can be amended to produce a much better base for new plants, the winds are more difficult to overcome and can wreak havoc, especially on new plants. Winds, combined with warm temperatures and low soil moisture, can dry out plants, putting them under stress.
“The biggest thing to think about in the different parts of town is how much wind things are going to get, and so the plants you want to think about are those that hold up to the wind,” added Hobson.
BLUE FLAX: A perennial with blue to lavender flowers on long, graceful stems. Likes
full sun and well-drained soil.
ICE PLANT: A ground cover succulent that doesn’t mind the heat and is wind hardy because it is so low growing. Produces a multitude of small daisy-like flowers in a variety of colors.
JUNIPER: This is a common plant in many parts of the city, including the West Side. Both upright and low growing, uses little water and is very forgiving of wind.
APACHE PLUME: A very hardy native plant that can grow up to 6 feet tall and starts blooming in spring with single white flowers.
CLIFFROSE: A dense evergreen shrub that is tolerant of wind and typically grows 8-16 feet tall. Blooms during May and June with whitish flowers up to an inch wide.
RED YUCCA: A very low-maintenance plant that is generally tolerant of the harshest conditions. It generally grows 3-4 feet tall and produces deep red flower stalks up to 5 feet long from late spring through midsummer.
NEW MEXICO PRIVET: Often called the New Mexico olive, this native tree is hardy and well-adapted to local soil conditions and can tolerate heat and wind. Grows up to 12 feet with light green leaves. The female tree produces berries favored by many birds.
Eastside
The Eastside of Albuquerque encompasses a large area of mostly older neighborhoods with well-draining soil heavy in decomposed granite. The closer you move toward the Sandias, the more prevalent this decomposed granite is in the soil.
BLACKFOOT DAISY: A low mounding perennial that can grow up to 12 inches tall and 20 inches wide. Covered in small daisy like flowers all summer and well-adapted to arid landscapes.
CATMINT: With gray-green foliage and clusters of lavender to blue flowers, this perennial is a tough little plant that adds color to gardens and requires little maintenance.
LAVENDER: A fragrant and relatively easy-to-grow summer blooming plant that likes well-drained soil.
FORSYTHIA: This deciduous shrub is low maintenance and one of the first to bloom early in the spring. With its brilliant yellow flowers, it attracts bees and butterflies and is a dramatic addition to a garden.
BUTTERFLY BUSH: As the name suggests, this fastgrowing deciduous shrub with white, mauve or lavender flowers is a butterfly magnet. Not very particular about the soil so long as it’s well-drained.
BLUE MIST SPIREA: Also known as Bluebeard, this perennial thrives in welldrained soil and, exposed to full sun, grows up to 5 feet and produces blue-lavender flowers that attract bees.
DESERT WILLOW: A slender native tree that does well in the city — yet not a true willow. Can grow up to 40 feet tall with pink to lavender flowers that attract bees and hummingbirds.
Micro-climates
Getting a new plant off to a great start begins with placement. Does the plant need full sun or some periods of shade? Wind protection is another consideration. But the most important thing to do to start off a new plant is amending the soil, according to Hobson.
“Our recommendation is that you use a 50/50 or 60/40 mix of compost to native soil,” said Hobson. She also suggested adding a root stimulator for up to six weeks to promote a healthy root system.
Adding organic compost to sandy or decomposed granite soils not only adds nutrients, but helps the soil maintain moisture, while adding it to clay soil helps to aerate it.
Natalie Sept of Plants of the Southwest sees every garden as having potential regardless of what part of the city you are in.
“Every yard is different, and you need to see what kind of soil you have and how much sun you have,” she said. She added that even within a yard, the soil, amounts of sun and shade can make a world of difference.
“It’s really house to house and yard to yard. There are lots of wonderful microclimates in every garden,” she said.