Argentine Mesquite (Prosopis alba)
Description
Maintenance
Blue Leaf Wattle (Acacia saligna)
Description
Fast evergreen tree to 25′ tall & as wide. Foliage often has a distinctly glaucous cast, especially in youth. Habit is rounded & somewhat weeping, with flowers that are dark golden yellow, almost orange, heavily produced in late winter. Damaged below 20 degrees F, Drought tolerant when established. Full sun-part shade. Tolerates wet, heavy soil. Deep rooted. Eroson control. Prune gradually to avoid heavy sucker.Acacia saligna grows as a small, dense, spreading tree with a short trunk and a weeping habit. Like many Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves; these can be up to 25 centimeters long. This tree attracts ants due to its surgery sap , which are believed to reduce the numbers of leaf-eating insects. The yellow flowers appear in late winter and early spring, in groups of up to ten bright yellow spherical flower heads. The fruit is a legume, while the seed is oblong and dark to black in color.
Blue Palo Verde (Cercidium floridum)Description
Blue palo verde tree is easily distinguished by its blue-green bark and brilliant yellow flower display. It can grow to 25 feet tall with a 25 foot spread. Its tiny leaves are cold and drought deciduous but, due to its blue-green color, it looks evergreen from a distance. Blue palo verde tree is naturally multi-trunked with a low hanging canopy. Known for its fantastic mid-spring flower display, it is native to Southern Arizona. Formerly, blue palo verde was known as Cercidium floridum. Recently renamed Parkinsonia florida, blue palo verde tree is often hybridized with other “Parkinsonia” species producing cultivars with remarkable differences in form and character.
Maintenance
Cascalote (Caesalpinia cacalaco)
Description:
Fast growing tree with beautiful foliage, spectacular flowers that blooms in fall and winter? This medium-sized tree has circular leaves, textured bark and winter flowers. Native to Mexico, Cascalote produces beautiful yellow flowers during the cooler months of fall and winter. It is hardy to 20 F, but will lose its leaves if temperatures dip into the 20’s. At maturity, the approximate size is 20′ x 20′.
MAINTENANCE: Cascalote is relatively a low-maintenance tree. It can be grown as a single or multi-trunk tree. Prune in the summer removing dead and crossing branches. Weekly irrigation is required throughout the summer and once monthly in the winter. I do not fertilize my Cascalote, but a slow-release or organic fertilizer can be applied if desired. Occasionally, some Cascalotes have been affected in the springtime by an insect known as a Psyllid which is a tiny insect that sucks on the leaves causing the tree to lose its leaves. Look closely at the leaves and you will see little white dots and shiny honeydew on the leaves. The best method to take care of this problem is to diagnose it quickly and spray off the leaves with a strong jet of water every day to help prevent more leaf loss. For those not opposed to using pesticides, applying a systemic insecticide such as Merit, (available in Bayer Advanced Garden Tree & Shrub Insect Control), will take care of the problem. If your tree has lost all of its leaves, they will grow back, but will require one of the two treatments in order for the tree to retain them and recover.