Xeriscape Demonstration Garden - Plant Collections
City of Tempe Women's Club Park

Low Water Use Plant Collections:

Biogeographical Collections:

The city of Tempe’s sub tropical climate hosts several exotic vegetative communities that offer a wide range of texture and color.  To highlight these variations three biogeographic sections are being developed from within the existing collections, these include an Australian collection, a Mediterranean collection and both a Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert collection.   

Generally speaking 99% of all the plants currently found in the City of Tempe’s Low Water Use Demonstration Garden are considered low water use plants by the Arizona Department of Water Resources check list for the Phoenix Active Management Area.  That list represents a copulation of plants voted on by green industry professionals as meeting low water use characteristics and suitable for use in the Phoenix area.  A copy of that list can be found at http://www.azwater.gov/dwr/ or or view the list here

Australian Collection:  Once popular in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s Australian plants still maintain a small niche in our urban forest.  Considered low water use by many experts Australian plants can provide numerous interesting forms suitable to home landscaping.  Long gone from our nurseries are the massive Eucalyptus introductions that still dominate through out the Phoenix metropolitan area.  Today nurseries offer a much more refined cross section of plants representing color and sculptural features.  

Mediterranean Collections:  Pre dating the popularity of Australian plants in Phoenix, Mediterranean plants represent some of our first cultivated low water use plants in Phoenix.  These include Olive, Alleppo Pine, Date Palm and Carob.  Not as common as at the turn of the century these plants still can be found locally.

 Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert Collections:  Following the popularity of Australian plants in the 1970s a surge of interest developed in the mid 1970s focusing on native southwestern desert plants.   Several local nurseries began showcasing the abundant variety of plants native to this region.  This movement which continues today has created landscapes more representative of our local environment and

Check List of Plants Found within the Tempe Demonstration Garden:   

Collections:  

Largest represented families:

                                Agavaceae
                                Fabaceae
Acanthaceae        Justicia californica
Acanthaceae        Ruellia peninsularis
Agavaceae           Agave angustifolia
Agavaceae           Agave geminifolia
Agavaceae           Agave parryii
Agavaceae           Agave villmoriana
Agavaceae           Nolina bigelovii
Aloeaceae            Aloe virens
Anacardiaceae    Rhus lancea
Araceae                Washingtonia robusta
Araceae                Brahea armata
Asteraceae           Encelia farinosa
Asteraceae           Ericameria laricifolia
Asteraceae           Hymenoxys acaulis
Asteraceae           Isocoma arcadina
Asteraceae           Baileya multiradiata
Bignociaceae       Chilopsis linearis
Bignoniaceae      Tecoma stans  ‘Yellow bells’
Bignoniaceae      Tecoma stans   ‘Orange bells’
Boraginaceae      Cordia parviflora
Cactaceae            Opuntia santa-rita
                               Acacia berlandieri
                               Acacia constricta
Fabaceae             Acacia craspedocarpa
                               Acacia farnesiana
                               Acacia rigidula
Fabaceae             Acacia salicina
                               Acacia stenophylla
Fabaceae             Acacia willardiana
Fabaceae             Bauhinia lunarioides
                               Caesalpinea cacalaco
                               Caesalpinea pulcherrima
Fabaceae             Calliandra californica   
Fabaceae             Calliandra eriophylla
Fabaceae             Cassia artemisioides (Preferred name is Senna artemisioides)
Fabaceae             Cassia covesii
Fabaceae             Cassia nemophila (Pref. name is Senna artemisioides ssp. filifolia)
Fabaceae             Cassia sturtii (Preferred name is Senna artemisioides ssp. strurtii)
Fabaceae             Cercidium floridum x Cercidium aculata
                               Cercidium aculata                          
Fabaceae             Cercidium floridum
Fabaceae             Cercidium microphyllum
Fabaceae             Cercidium praecox
Fabaceae             Dalea greggii
Fabaceae             Prosopis velutina
Fagaceae             Prosopis alba
Labiatae               Rosmarinus officinalis  ‘Prostratus’
Oleaceae             Olea europea   ‘Swan Hill’
Poaceae              Muhlenbergia rigens
Poaceae              ‘Tifway’
Scrophulariaceae   Leucophyllum frutescens 'Green Cloud'
Scrophulariaceae   Penstemon parryii
Scrophulariaceae   Penstemon eatonii
Ulmaceae                Celtis reticulata
Verbenaceae           Lantana montevvidensis  ‘Gold Mound’
Zygophhyllaceae      Larrea tridentata