Las Cruces: pretty nice plants

20 years ago

I had a nice trip to Las Cruces and the weather was beautiful and sunny. I got to visit Enchanted Gardens as well as Guzman's (both locations). But in the end I wound up buying a nice boojum tree at the Cactus Ranch in T or C.

I saw some very nice plants in the Lac Cruces area, including Sabal mexicana, Olea europaea and some huge clumps of Opuntia ficus-indica. I was especially surprised to find the olive tree and Indian Fig opuntia, both of which were thriving. Of course there were plenty of Mexican and California Fan Palms, Mediterranean Fan Palms, Windmill Palms, oleander, Mexican Elder, mesquites, creosote, barrel cacti, various agaves and yuccas, ocotillos and even a few saguaros. All of these plants looked great and must have come through winter very well, although a lot the Mexican Fan Palms looked a little worse for wear, and none of the mesquites or ocotillos had leafed out yet.

I think I'll have to visit LC more often!

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Comments (3)

desertlvr
20 years ago
cd-- next time you go, you may want to visit Sierra Vista nursery in La Union, NM on the Texas border. To get there, if you continue on Avenida de Mesilla from Enchanted Gardens, through old Mesilla, you are already on NM Highway 28. Take it all the way through the lower Mesilla Valley, a beautiful scenic drive through quaint old farming villages and miles of pecan trees. Around or just past mile marker 3, you will see Sierra Vista Growers on the left side of the road. They have a wide range of xeric shrubs and trees, palms, yuccas, cacti, iceplants at wholesale prices.They also carry large W. robustas, with trunks from 3 to 10 feet, ready for transplanting, at $27.00 a foot. If you have a truck you can drive them back to Albuquerque.
I split my time between Albuquerque and a home on the west mesa of Las Cruces---west of Mesilla. A lot of our plants there came from Sierra Vista. Our W. robustas get a fair amount of frost burn but the filferas generally stay a healthy green, even those in the 15 to 20 gallon sizes.By April, they have all recovered nicely.
Last weekend, I noticed that 2 of the mesquites and desert willows closest to the house were leafing out.Generally the mesquites are all leafing out by April 15.... I love the climate around Las Cruces. Albuquerque is a great place as well, but I like the garden choices I can make in the southern part of the state.
Cheers.
cactus_dude
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks for the heads up regarding Sierra Vista. If I had more time, I probably would've have seen it since we always take a drive down that road to see the pecan groves, but we were pressed for time. I will definitely have to pay them a visit next time I'm down there.

I agree with you- Las Cruces has a great climate, and it's very conducive to growing things that don't do as well here in ABQ.

cd
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quercus_abq
20 years ago
Just got back from a few days working and meeting in El Paso-Las Cruces. I noticed at the Las Cruces I-25 / US-70 interchange how many of the TX honey mesquite died back severely ---maybe too much watering, or at least too little hardening off before early December's cold snap.
Elsewhere in town, the same species had no dieback and are in full (fresh, chartreuse green) glory.

Our honey mesquites are just leafing out at 5700' in the foothills, while they were at the same point in downtown El Paso on another trip there March 10...5 weeks earlier. Las Cruces was like this about 2-3 weeks ago.

I agree that Las Cruces also has a great climate, since its summers are only slightly warmer than Abq while winters are 10F warmer in the day (nights only a few deg warmer). I would also say they have less of an annual temperature range than Abq.

Oddly, though, the plant lists created by my project team for a new development we are designing for (west mesa of Las Cruces) are VERY close to what one would use up here in Abq, if one wants success / sustainability. We started with an inventory of existing flora and fauna onsite (prior to development), and then created other lists for specific situations (temporarily irrigated medians, entries, etc). Again, the species are more similar than are different between Las Cruces and Abq.

I should look at the species overlap sometime and analyze what is dominant / incidental in both places. What is fun about Las Cruces is the use of so many Leucophyllums (only a few make it in Abq), Sophora secundiflora, Lantana, and some other species that do well there but are iffy here.

To sum up, the project owners (state/local gov't, wealthy homeowners) are most of the hinderance to using attractive, bold and exciting plants (native + adapted) well in Albuquerque, not the climate...so keep fighting the good fight. Much we can do here...