KNPR's Desert Companion on Tour with Norm Schilling

If the beautiful weather wasn't enough motivation to get into spring gardening this past Saturday, Desert Horticulturalist Norm Schilling of Schilling Horticulture Group, definitely inspired various shades of green thumbs to get planting. 

City regional magazine Desert Companion welcomed readers to "Desert Companion on Tour" at Star Nursery on Saturday, March 14. Norm joined editor Andrew Kiraly for a lively discussion, providing expert tips on spring planting, yard care and how to prune like a pro.

Red yucca

Hesperaloe parviflora

Norm addressed some common and some not so common desert gardening issues that many people face here in the valley. Whether you've just moved in from another part of the country, or you're a native, the challenges we all endure to create our own peaceful green space are the same.

Our poor soil can be embraced instead of cursed when using the right plant material.

Dark dancer autumn sage

Salvia greggii 'dark dancer'

He brought to light many underused and overlooked desert compatible options.

He showed us the potential that some drought friendly varieties could have in our landscape, even though they may not look very promising in their nursery containers.

Tam Juniper

Juniperus sabina var. tamariscifolia

Here are some of the answers given to the excellent questions that were asked:

• If your Texas Rangers have gotten too large, you can prune them down to nearly nothing in the early spring to revive them and get a better look and shape to the plant.
• Put plants that have different watering needs on separate valves and zones so that you don't end up over or under watering certain varieties.
• Make sure to use organic wood mulch around your roses and fruit trees.
• Choose smaller sizes when picking out plants so that you are in more control of their growth.
• Raised beds make vegetable gardening easy and rewarding.

A small list of Norm's plant recommendations for the desert garden:

Tam Juniper (Juniperus sabina var. tamariscifolia)

Blue Carpet Juniper (Junioerus horizontalis 'wiltonii')

Autumn Sage (Salvia Greggii)

Gopher Plant (Euphorbia rigida)

Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)

Red Yucca  (Hesperaloe parviflora)

Bush Morning Glory (Convolvulus cneorum)

Cup-Leaf Texas Sage (Leukophyllum frutescens 'cup-leaf')

Lynn's Legacy Texas Sage (Leukophyllum frutescens 'Lynn's legacy')

Perky Sue (Hymenoxys argentea)

Powis Castle Artemisia (Artemisia 'powis castle')

Tangerine Beauty Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata 'tangerine beauty')

Red Push Pistache (Pistacia 'red push')

Mexican Blue Fan Palm (Brahea armata)

Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus)

Bush Morning Glory

Convolvulus cneorum

Thanks again to Norm and Andrew and the crew over at KNPR/Desert Companion 

for a fun and educational day.

Oh, and drink wine!