6 Ornamental Flowering Bulbs for the Southwest

20.09.2024 - 17:39 / finegardening.com

When it comes to gardening in the Southwest, selecting the right flower bulbs is crucial to creating a vibrant landscape. The region’s arid climate and unique soil makeup require plants that can thrive in hot, dry conditions. But the best options still provide those familiar bursts of color that most gardeners are accustomed to seeing when the word “bulb” is mentioned. The following are some of my favorite ornamental flowering bulbs for the Southwest, with varieties that not only survive our regional conditions, but bring unsurpassed beauty to even the most challenging spots.

(Cyrtanthus obliquus)

Zones: 9b–10

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; well-drained soil

The genus Cyrtanthus is a colorful group with wide variation in habit and flower form. Knysna lily, the largest one, might be named the queen of the bunch, if I had a say in it. A plant from South Africa’s southeastern grasslands, its onion-like bulbs sit partially exposed above ground, while white fleshy roots anchor it securely below. Three to five thick evergreen leaves stand upright with a slight twist, to about 14 inches. Once mature, the flower spikes emerge in mid-spring, rising above the leaves and crowned with five to twelve pendulous orange flowers, shading yellow and green at the tips. Tolerant of heat and drought, Knysna lily has survived best for me in the Sonoran Desert when provided dappled sun through midday. It does well when kept on the drier side through the cool winter months, although it does not mind summer rain if the drainage is good. I grow my Knysna lilies in the ground in Tucson, where they emerge through a soft bed of silver dichondra (Dichondra cv., Zones 10–11). I have only seen occasional minimal frost damage to some leaves in