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Parry’s Agave

This is the description for Parry’s Agave, but there is also an Agave parryi var. ‘truncata.’ For this variety, please see Artichoke Agave.

The Parry’s Agave is a small, neatly designed variety with elliptical leaves arranged in a tight rosette. It is one of the more common agaves in the garden. It can colonize forming offsets around its base. So, in addition to seed collection, these clones can be collected, and at Sunnylands they are harvested for future specimen replacements. It is a perfect companion for wildflowers and perennials in desert gardens, but is equally successful in groupings of several Parry’s Agave. It is one of the most cultivated species for low-desert gardens.

Parry’s Agave grows an inflorescence (flowering stem) that may rise up to 20 feet, extending branches that will hold bright yellow flowers, touched with red or pink.

It’s origins include Arizona, New Mexico, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Durango at an elevation range between 1,500 and 8,000 feet, but it has done equally well on the desert floor. The vast range of this species allows it to thrive in many locations.

Murphy’s Agave

Murphy’s Agave was not included in the original design plan in 2012. It was brought in later as a test to replace the more frost-tender Smooth Agave in some of the shaded garden beds. Due to high temperatures in the Coachella Valley, it does well in these shaded sections, but in colder areas it will require full sun. At Sunnylands, you can find it north of the Center under Palo Brea trees. It shares the urn-like shape of the Smooth Agave, but having fewer offsets than the Smooth Agave it needs less maintenance to keep its urn-shape visible.

Its stalk can grow to 13 feet, displaying bright yellow blooms tipped with purple. It rarely sets seeds but does set bulbils after it blooms. These can be collected and replanted.

Murphy’s Agave is native to the rocky slopes of central Arizona at elevation ranges between 1,500 and 3,000 feet.

Caribbean Agave

The variety of Caribbean Agave at Sunnylands is ‘marginata,’ and its name refers to the striped margins of its leaf edge. It is in the specimen beds closest to the solar field. Late in life, it will begin to grow a stem that raises a rosette of leaves off the ground. Often this happens right before the plant blooms.

When it does bloom, this final act will require all of the energy it has been storing during its life. It will send up a 16-foot branched stalk that will bloom and then set bulbils (small, fully formed plants). These can be collected and propagated. If left alone, they will tumble down to root around the parent or blow off to bloom elsewhere and begin a new colony. Earlier during its life, it will also have grown offsets or clones that can replanted. In the wild, it may form a colony of these cloned versions of the parent plant. It is possible that the parent plant will be long gone from older colonies.

This is a native of northern Mexico, but it has an extensive range with varieties as far south as Costa Rica.

Black-spined Agave

This geometric wonder plant grows in complete contrast to the urn-like or the tight rosette structure of some other agave. It’s identifiable by its rigid, straight, and linear leaves that radiate from its heart, like a starburst. This stand-out agave is easiest to find in beds to the south of the Great Lawn. The black-spined leaf margins give it its common name. Everything about its perfectly balanced structure evokes symmetry, but with energy.

Though it has not bloomed at Sunnylands, it will—like other agave—bloom once at end of life. A 6-foot branching stalk will produce green flowers with a slight tinge of purple. It will set multiple bulbils, which are small, fully formed plants that will grow on the branching stalk. These will tumble to the ground to root and grow as a new plant. Black-spined Agave can be propagated by seeds, bulbils, or clones, which can be removed and planted.

A native of Mexico, but restricted to the state of Oaxaca and the city of Tehuacán in the Mexican state of Puebla.

Artichoke Agave

One of our most popular plants at Sunnylands is the truncated variant of Parry’s Agave. When visitors hear its common name is Artichoke Agave, the response is an instant head nod and verbal agreement—of course! It displays a tight, perfectly round rosette that is reminiscent of an artichoke bloom. Its arrangement in uniformed rows at Sunnylands draws the eye to its oval, blue-green leaves.

Like other parryi varieties, Artichoke Agave is versatile in garden design, pairing gracefully among wildflowers and perennials, or stealing the show in groupings. It adapts well to both desert floor and hillside gardens, making it a great choice for any space.

Ocotillo

Ocotillo is a spotlight specimen at Sunnylands and is planted sparingly throughout the gardens in a few mixed-bed locations. There are no single specimen beds that contain only this plant. Its tall stems with significant spines confuse visitors unfamiliar with Ocotillo. They are often unsure if this is a skeleton of a long gone plant or possibly a dead cactus. Shortly after spring begins, Ocotillo will show their true colors. The spines are an indication of the leafing out that will come after spring rains and are the leftover leaf stem from previous seasons.

The plant produces scarlet blooms during a season that can last until fall. The blooms will appear at the tips of the stalks, attracting migrating hummingbirds and orioles. When the season has ended, the leaves and blooms will drop, but the green of the stalk will allow the Ocotillo to gather nutrients through photosynthesis until the next period of rain.

In the wild, stalks will reach up to 20 feet, but they normally top out at 10 feet in cultivated gardens. Ocotillo is easy to grow with few requirements other than well-drained soil and full sun.

Palo Brea

Palo Brea is one of two species of Parkinsonia in the gardens and can be distinguished by its green bark, which is much lighter and almost appears chalky compared to the other Parkinsonia, ‘Desert Museum.’ It is found only adjacent to the Center. On the west side of the Center, it shares a garden bed with Golden Barrel cactus, formally arranged in rows. It is mulched with a contrasting ground, a black lava stone called scoria.

Living up to its name, this “early bloomer” is usually the first tree to bloom in spring. It peaks mid-April and declines by the beginning of summer, unlike its cousin, the darker-barked ‘Desert Museum,’ which has a longer bloom season, stretching beyond the early summer months.

In spring, bright yellow blooms clustered close together create distinctive outlines on its branches. This species, as well as the ‘Desert Museum,’ are crowd-pleasers for humans and pollinators alike.

Mesquite hybrids

The gardens are filled with a variety of thorn-less hybrid mesquites. In fact, other than the four Sweet Acacia trees that frame the motor circle in front of the Center, mesquites are the only brown-barked trees in the garden. Their bark colors range from a gray-brown to a deep red-brown and they display a variety of smooth and rough textures.

Mesquites grow naturally as multi-branching trees, which allows them to bend with the strong desert winds. In most of the garden, you will see this multi-trunk growth pattern, but for accessibility in the parking lot and along some paths, they are trained to grow in a single-trunk standard. Whenever possible, natural growth patterns should be encouraged.

As a tribute to Leonore Annenberg, all the trees selected for the Center & Gardens have yellow blooms, one of her favorite colors, and the mesquites are no exception. In the spring, they form dense groupings of yellow tubular flower clusters.

Like many native desert trees, mesquites are legumes, which nourish the desert floor by dropping nitrogen-rich leaves, seedpods, and branches. These fertile grounds offer opportunities for young, fragile plants to get an easier start, but it also means that they require more cleanup.

Their sweet seedpods have been a food staple for humans and native wildlife alike.

Texas Ebony

Texas Ebony is easy to spot as it creates the tall hedge that surrounds the Center & Gardens. Its zigzagging branch structure is one of its most interesting features and makes it uniquely striking. Planting locations should be carefully selected as its branches are covered in long, rigid thorns, making it virtually impossible to infiltrate.

Like many desert trees, its leaves are small and glossy, which assist it in reducing water loss through transpiration. In spring, it fills with fragrant, light cream-colored flowers. The woody seedpods that follow the blooms are large and can remain on the tree for up to a year. When mature, the pods twist open to scatter their seeds. Though the pods and seeds can create litter, it is deciduous (leaves shed just once a year) in most places so leaf litter is of less concern.

Desert Milkweed

Thousands of Milkweeds were planted at Sunnylands during the original installation of the gardens prior to the 2012 opening. And even more were added during the addition of the administrative campus and service road in 2017. Planted mostly in single specimen beds, this tough desert native can be found in every part of the gardens.

When not in bloom, Desert Milkweed may appear like a cluster of reeds. Unlike many other milkweeds, this desert variety doesn’t form large leaves, instead its leaves are narrow and hair-like. Since large leaves can result in water loss through transpiration, having small leaves is a common desert trait. Many trees in the desert use this same small-leaf strategy.

When in bloom, circular clusters of creamy-white buds will appear at the end of the stalks. They will be followed by large, crescent-shaped seedpods. Once dried, the pods will open, allowing winds to catch, lift, and carry the seeds. The seeds are attached to a soft fluff of radiating fibers, which allow it to float and roll long distances before settling to germinate.

Milkweed is vital not only to the Monarch Butterflies for egg laying, but they also attract a number of other pollinators and invertebrates. Most common are aphids and the Large Milkweed Bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus), which do relatively little harm to this durable plant. The Tarantula Hawk Wasp (Pompilidae) can be seen during the summer months nectaring on the milkweed.

This plant contains cardiac glychoside compounds in its milky sap. It can interrupt ion flow in and out of cells, but some invertebrates—including Monarchs—are not sensitive to this interruption, so they ingest it and are unharmed. The benefit of ingesting this lies in the cardenolides within milkweed that make these insects unpalatable, so predators learn to avoid them. That same milky sap can be an issue for people as well. If you have a sensitivity, simply handling the milkweed may result in an uncomfortable rash, so these plants should be handled with caution and, in best practices, with gloves.

SUNNYLANDS MONARCH PROGRAM: The presence of milkweed resulted in the launch of the Sunnylands Monarch Program. Beginning in 2013, in partnership with Southwest Monarch Study and Annenberg Learner’s Journey North Program (now based out of the Arboretum at University of Wisconsin, Madison), Sunnylands began tagging Monarch Butterflies in the desert. Today, we work through our citizen science program training local students and public volunteers as monarch taggers. They work with Sunnylands staff to tag Monarchs and collect important vital statistics and data to submit to a national database. This contributes to an understanding of what role the desert plays for both residential Monarchs and those that are part of the annual Monarch butterfly migration.

Palo Verde

This striking tree is easily identified by its dark green bark and is one of only two green-barked species in the gardens. It has been planted throughout the east and west gardens, and it encircles the Great Lawn, though not in the planting beds directly adjacent the Center. Those beds belong to its cousin, the lighter green Palo Brea, also a Parkinsonia.

The ‘Desert Museum’ is a complex hybrid with parentage of three other Parkinsonia: the Mexican (P. aculeata), Foothill (P. microphylla), and Blue (P. florida), and inherited traits of all three.

Bright yellow flowers fill the tree’s thorn-less canopy during its long flowering season, which begins in early spring, generally peaking in mid-April, and continuing into the summer. In spring, you will see Costa’s Hummingbirds battling for the best branches to perch and nest and hear the soft buzzing of dozens of delighted bees collecting pollen from this wildlife favorite.