All About Growing the Desert Willow

Also known as the trumpet flower, flowering willow, and willow-leaved catalpa, the desert willow is native to the United States. It is a member of the trumpet-creeper family and is botanically known as Chilopsis linearis.

Desert Willow Description

Growing 15 to 40 feet high, this is a large shrub or small tree with deciduous leaves and a twisting trunk. Leaves are light green, willow-looking although this is a catalpa relative, and alternate. Flowers are funnel-like and ruffled. Blooms are white, light pink, dark pink or purple, and may have yellow, purple, or white streaks in the throat of the flower. Flowers are on terminal racemes and smells like violets. Seed pods are slender and persist after the flowers. Bloom season is between April and September.

Growing Guide

The desert willow likes to grow in full sun conditions with a well drained limestone soil. It is both cold and heat tolerant and works in dry or moist soil. Propagate by seeds or semi-hardwood cuttings. No treatment is needed for the seeds, cuttings should be done in late summer. Too much water and fertilizer can bring on less blooms and a weak plant. It can rot in too much water.

Pruning

For the first few years, prune the plant for a single trunk or just a few trunks. For more blooms and branching out, during the winter dormant season you need to cut 1/3 of it back off. Dead heading the seed pods and the spent flower buds will keep the plant blooming longer.

Distribution

The desert willow is found in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and in Texas. Typically, it is seen in ravines, ditches, streams, washes, and river banks.

Wildlife Attracted

It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to the landscape, with nectar, and its seeds attract granivorous birds.

Uses

This has been a honey plant, used in erosion control, and Indigenous people made bows and baskets from its wood. It is an old Mexico herbal remedy for coughs and bronchial issues.

Source: NPIN


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