(Bird-of-Paradise Bush)

Delicate and absolutely striking in bloom, this tough desert shrub is a chameleon in the dry garden and equally good in the tropical border. It is native to Argentina and Uruguay where it thrives in dry washes and rocky hill country, just like its North American kin. Bird-of-paradise bush is so well adapted to the low desert it has naturalized in Texas and is even hardy across most of the American Southeast. This open upright shrub has a feathery appearance, with its light pinnate leaves, and is...

(Dwarf Poinciana, Paradise Flower, Pride-of-Barbados)

Pride-of-Barbados is a deciduous shrub or small tree that is evergreen in locales with mild winters. Leaves are dark green and compound with many small leaflets. In warm weather this shrub bears colorful flowers in combinations of orange, red and yellow with showy, long, curving, red stamens. Butterflies find these flowers irresistible.

Pride-of-Barbados prospers in moist, well-drained soil in a location with full to partial sun. Responding strongly to any necessary pruning for tidiness, be aware...

(Baja Fairyduster, Flame Bush, Tabardillo)

Baja fairyduster is a delicate-looking, bright-colored, evergreen shrub for very hot, dry desert gardens. It demands a frost-free climate and plenty of direct sun. It is native to sandy washes and rocky slopes of the dry cape regions of Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. The plant is thorny and deer-resistant. Branching is open and the narrow arching twigs are studded with soft fern-like, compound leaves.

This shrub blooms after the rainy season, whether spring or summer. Blooms may also appear...

(Fairyduster, Mock Mesquite)

Grown (and named) for its delicate and unusual winter blooms, fairyduster is a low, spreading, deciduous shrub from the southwestern United States and Northwest Mexico, where it grows in dry washes and gullies at low to middle altitudes. Gray, twiggy, often sprawling stems with small, alternating, pinnately compound leaves give rise to powderpuff heads of pink stamens in late winter and early spring. Their nectar attracts hummingbirds and other polllinators. Silvery seed pods follow the flowers....

(Powder Puff Tree, Stickpea)

Powderpuff tree puts on its show in fall and winter, blooming with distinctive magenta-red flowers. A native of Bolivia, this evergreen, large shrub or small tree is fast growing, attaining a rounded to sprawling habit with long, arching branches.

The fine-textured leaves are compound, made up of five to ten pairs of small oval leaflets that are coppery pink when young and mature to green. This plant can flower anytime year round, but blooms most when days are short, from fall to spring. The buds...

(Dwarf Powder Puff, Dwarf Red Powder Puff, Dwarf Stickpea)

The cute, mounding dwarf powderpuff puts on its show in fall and winter, blooming with distinctive magenta-red flowers. A native of Bolivia, this evergreen shrub is fast growing, attaining a rounded to sprawling habit with long, arching branches.

The fine-textured leaves are compound, made up of five to ten pairs of small oval leaflets that are coppery pink when young and mature to green. This plant can flower anytime year round, but blooms most when days are short, from fall to spring. The buds...

(American Beautyberry)

The arching branches and unusual violet purple berries of American beautyberry are the main selling points of this hardy deciduous shrub. Native to southeastern America from Texas across to Maryland, this interesting wild shrub is similar to Asian beautyberry species but has a rougher, more informal look. Mature specimens are large, bushy and develop either a horizontal or upright habit. Native populations exist in open woods and thickets.

American beautyberry has long arching stems lined with...

(American Beautyberry)

This is the naturally occurring white berried form of the normally violet purple berried American beautyberry. Native to southeastern America from Texas across to Maryland, this interesting wild shrub is similar to Asian beautyberry species but has a rougher, more informal look. Mature specimens are large, bushy and develop either a horizontal or upright habit. Native populations exist in open woods and thickets.

White American beautyberry has long arching stems lined with soft pale green leaves...

(Bodinieri Beautyberry)

Developing clusters of violet-pink berries late in the season, Bodinier beautyberry is a somewhat rangy, bushy deciduous shrub ideal for informal garden plantings. Native to the open forests and fields of China, it produces subtle lavender-pink flowers from early to midsummer and loads of vibrant berries from late-summer to early winter.

The dull green leaves of this shrub are oval, tapered and have slightly toothed edges. In midsummer, hundreds of tiny lavender-pink flower clusters line the...

(Beautyberry, Profusion Beautyberry)

This is one spectacular beautyberry! The arching boughs of 'Profusion' become weighted by the vibrant violet-pink berries that light up the late season garden. Sometimes listed under the name Callicarpa bodinieri var. giraldi, it is a bit more compact than standard Bodinier beautyberry and has a more uniform vase-shaped habit.

Developing branched clusters of purplish-pink berries late in the season, Bodinier beautyberry is a somewhat rangy, bushy deciduous shrub ideal for informal...