# Low-Maintenance Desert Plants
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Trees
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Trees of various sizes and growth habits can provide you with a large shade tree or small ornamental. Desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) requires little watering and needs sandy soil and full sun. It grows up to 25 feet tall and 6 inches in diameter. It provides fragrant purple blossoms between April and August, and sometimes as late as November. Yucca plants like movaje yucca (Yucca schidigera ) and banana yucca (Yucca boccata) grow 12 to 40 feet tall, including the blossom stem, and bloom between April and July. Yuccas need little water and will adapt to various desert soil conditions, including rocky, sandy and dry soil.
Shrubs
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If you're looking for shrubs to grow in your desert landscape, you have several options depending on whether you're placing it in full sun or partial shade. Bird of paradise (Casesalpinia gilliesii ) and desert hackberry(Celtis pallidia) both require full sun but very little watering. The bird of paradise produces exotic, showy blossoms with thick flesh in an orange hue. The desert hackberry produces tiny yellow-orange fruits and white flowers. It grows up to 18 feet tall.
Ground Covers
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Ground covers work well along the border of a flower bed or surrounding a desertscape tree island. Creeping baby's breath (Gypsophilia repens) requires moderate watering and is a taller ground cover, growing 4 to 8 inches tall. It thrives in partial to full sun and produces pink and white blossoms in early summer months. Hardy ice plant (Delospermum nubigenum) blossoms throughout the summer, its leaves turning a dark red-purple hue in the winter. It grows only 1 inch tall and up to 18 inches wide.
Bulbs
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Bring some color and floral interest to your desert lawn or garden with low-maintenance desert bulbs. Most bulb varieties adapted to the desert climate require moderate watering. Blossoms like grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) grow 4 to 8 inches tall and require partial sunlight. Tulip varieties also require moderate watering and partial sun, and they vary widely in height, between 6 and 35 inches tall. For sun-loving bulbs, look for crocus varieties that require low to moderate watering and produce small, white blossoms with yellow stamens.
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