Rewilding My Lot

Chilopsis linearis
Height in July 2023: 6ft
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center database entry

There are only a handful of plants that I have installed here so far and I shouldn’t have a favorite, but I do have a soft spot for this particular tree.

I knew early on that I wanted a Desert Willow tree here. They are very drought-tolerant, thrive in poor quality soil, and the predicted height of 15-40 ft is appropriate to provide (eventually) some filtered shade for this size of lot. They attract birds and butterflies, and they are interesting trees that were unknown to me until I came to Seguin.

When I started looking for specimens, my favorite nursery here (Green Jay Gardens) didn’t have them in 5-gallon pots yet (the size that would fit in my car). The only one they had was 6-ft tall in a 15-gallon pot, which was expensive and too big for me to transport.

Nevertheless, every time I went to the nursery for something else, I went to look at the tree and after the third time I felt that I had bonded with it and I just needed to find some way to get it into my garden! Green Jay Gardens offered delivery, and so the purchase was made.

Desert Willow trees not only tolerate drought, but they also actively don’t like to have wet roots, so my approach to planting this tree was a bit different to my usual. I intentionally made the hole ragged on the sides so that it wouldn’t function like a smooth-sided bowl to trap water, I put both soil and stones in the planting hole for better drainage, and I planted the tree high so that it sits in a little mound. Here are a couple of photos taken during the process, and yes, that many stones really did come out of the hole that I dug — the soil here is awful.

In the first year of planting a tree, I don’t expect it to bloom, or even grow much — I would much rather energy be spent in developing a robust root system. Nevertheless, it’s always encouraging to see new growth above ground as an indication that establishment is happening. It was several weeks before I finally saw a little tuft of new leaves near the top of the tree, so that was a relief. And then as a bonus, in our brutally hot July and after the regular blooming season had ended, the tree has unexpectedly gifted me with several flowers and new leaf bundles.
I think it’s going to do just fine here.