Desert-Friendly Trees

Apple

• Anna, Beverly Hills, Golden Dorsett and Gordon are apple trees that thrive in the low-altitude desert, according to the Arizona State University Cooperative Extension. Anna is a variety that bears a sweet apple capable of retaining its qualities for two months under refrigeration. Beverly Hills is a self-pollinating tree with a mature crop that has light yellow skin. The Golden Dorsett produces its crop of sweet apples earlier in the season than other cultivars. And the Gordon tree is the source of a green-skinned apple with red tinges.

Acacia

• Three Acacia trees are adapted to desert living. The narrow Mulga acacia (Acacia aneura) produces up to four flushes of yellow flowers yearly, usually spring through summer. Guajillo acacia (Acacia berlandieri) has white blossoms that appear February to May. The slow-growing tree usually develops multiple trunks. Another desert-friendly acacia is the hardy sweet acacia (Acacia smallii), the most cold-tolerant of the group, withstanding temperatures as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Starting in late fall and ending in March, it blooms in golden yellow. This species has thorns.

Almond

• Different varieties of almond trees thrive in the low-altitude desert. The Garden Prince Genetic Dwarf is a small tree, with a maximum height of 12 feet. This self-pollinating almond tree produces a soft-shell nut. At 15 feet in height, the All-in-One cultivar is a semi-dwarf, bearing sweet almonds. Another almond tree that Arizona Cooperative Extension recommends for the low desert is the Neplus Ultra, a plant that depends on cross-pollination to produce a crop of wide, flat nuts.

Desert Evergreen

• The following trees are not related, yet they belong in the same group of desert-adapted evergreens. Texas ebony (Pithecellobium flexicaule) makes off-white flowers in the spring and summer. Later, the blossoms give way to long seedpods that hang on branches 30 feet above ground through the winter. Cascalote (Caesalpinia cacalaco) is another year-round green tree suitable for an arid garden. It has a long blooming season, producing clusters of yellow flowers from late summer through late winter. Cascalote’s profusion of thorns might become a nuisance, though. A third desert evergreen is not very cold-hardy. The feather tree (Lysiloma watsonii thornberi) withstands temperatures only as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It does not do well at high altitudes either, where winters are often severe. In the low desert, water the plant sparingly, and enjoy the white round and fluffy blossoms that appear in spring.