You have most likely seen this plant in Tucson and surrounding areas of Southern Arizona—either as a ground cover or in raised planters or pots. Tradescantia or Setcreasea pallida is known as a Purple Heart or Purple Queen. Native of Mexico, the Queen is easy to grow even in our desert climate especially in mostly shaded areas.

This ground cover grows 12 inches to 18 inches tall. Once established, it is drought tolerant needing water every few days. If you have some planted and it is leggy or struggling, it's most likely not receiving enough water. The plant is great in a shade garden or morning sun near a pool or fountain and will become more dense with an occasional pruning.

Are your summer flowers in your desert pots looking really sad right now? With a little effort, many can be pruned back to encourage new growth and prolific blooms for the next couple of months while we wait for the cooling temperatures of late October and November. Flowers such as vinca, pentas, Rudbeckia (the Black Eyed Susan family), summer snaps, (Angelonia,) Gallardia and salvias will all respond very well to pruning back to new growth. Zinnias and if you still have them, marigolds, if in poor shape, will need to be pulled.

Foliage plants such as coleus and sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) will also benefit from a pruning. If you have sweet potato vine, and it is wilting during the day regardless of how often you water, it is just hot! A good hair cut will help the root system succeed in supplying the water needed to keep the plant happy all day long.

Depending on the amount of “empty” space in the soil due to removal of low life plants, you can decide if the other plants will fill in or if you need to add a few things. A trip to your local nursery will provide you with some possibilities of good plants to keep you growing through the rest of our long summer.

Be sure you continue to water your pots deeply during the varying degree days of the valley desert. It is even more important at this time of year to feed your flowering plants as the pots have been depleted of their nutrients from the constant watering they receive. Use a water soluble fertilizer as we have previously discussed in our articles

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Marylee is the founder and former owner of Tucson’s The Contained Gardener. With more than 15 years of successfully designing and growing potted gardens in the desert’s challenging and oftentimes harsh climate, Marylee has become known as the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Marylee is available for digital consultations and you can always email her with comments and questions. Follow The Potted Desert on Facebook!

1. Jet Spray:
All of your potted plants including flowers, shrubs, cacti, succulents - i.e. everything - every day if you are able. This will increase air circulation and deter pests and disease such as spider mites, powdery mildew, aphids, etc.

Do this in the early morning while drinking your tea or coffee. As long as your plants are well established, i.e. they have been growing all summer in their pots, do not be afraid of using the jet setting on your hose. Stand about three feet from the plants.

2. Potted Cactus/Succulents:
Depending on your home’s rain quantity, you will want to water your potted cacti this month. The best plan is to test the soil and see if it is damp. If it is, then wait until it dries out before watering. If it is dry now — go ahead and give it a soaking.

When you do water, give it a half strength dose of the same water soluble fertilizer you use on your other potted plants.

3. Watering Roses: Keep up your watering schedule.
• Roses in pots need daily water.
• Never let them dry out or the soil will become hard to re-hydrate.
• Check your irrigation system often.

If you would like to receive Monthly Potted Garden tips - sign up for the Potted Desert Newsletter.

Marylee is the founder and former owner of Tucson’s The Contained Gardener. With more than 15 years of successfully designing and growing potted gardens in the desert’s challenging and oftentimes harsh climate, Marylee has become known as the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Marylee is available for in-home or digital consultations and you can always email her with your questions and comments. Follow The Potted Desert on Facebook!

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We did choose to live in the desert now didn't we? For us die-hard gardeners, we still want our gardens to look good and provide us with color and interest around our homes.

Obviously, we have no control over the weather but we do have control over what we plant. Without always having to resort to succulents and cactus, there are remarkable plants that we can successfully plant in our pots and enjoy them for months to come! Some of the most durable plants add color to our desert landscapes and we are not going to have to spend the hot days tending them.

Knowing that we also have abundant desert winds around our homes, one type of plant that I love to use in pots are ornamental grasses. As they dance in the wind, these will hold up to the drying conditions of the heat and wind, thrive in full sun and take a low to moderate amount of water — given a large pot.

A desert standby is Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') but you can use most grasses that the nurseries carry. One of my favorites is Muhlenbergia capillaris or Pink Muhly. A very wispy grass with pink airy plumes, it flows nicely in the wind.

Daylilies are another sure thing. Often called "the perfect perennial" due to its dazzling colors, ability to tolerate drought, thrive in full sun, and requiring very little care, daylilies bloom for months giving you a big bang for your buck and most likely you will not be throwing them into the compost heap! These will regrow each year so you can leave them in a pot until they outgrow it.

For both of these plants, you want to make sure that you plant them in a pot that is at least 20” at the top and one that has a V-shape opening; not an urn-shape where the top curves into the plant. It will be a devil to take out when it overgrows the pot.

Sign up for more Desert Potted Garden news at the Potted Desert website or by emailing Marylee today!

August Potted Garden Tips

We have made it to August and as the sun rises a little later each morning, we can try to coast into September.
HOWEVER, as I write this it is hot and windy out so I am not sure if you will agree with my choice of the word coasting!

Too often desert homeowners make the mistake in thinking that a monsoon storm means they can cut back on irrigation or hand watering for their pots, gardens and other plants.

Points to consider:
**It has to rain at least one (1) inch in order to saturate the root ball of your plants (get yourself a rain gauge so you know how much rain your yard has received)

**Pots under a ramada, tree or overhang do not receive enough. if any rain.

**A deep soaking rain (more than 1 inch) received over a long time period (several hours) will replace one day's watering.

**Pots in full sun with flowers and other 'soft' plants are accustomed to daily watering.

**A missed watering can cause your plants to get stressed and this invites problems including pest invasion and disease.

**If you have not received much rain, water your potted cacti/succulents now ~ Deeply!

Potted Garden To Do List:

Deadhead:
Continue to deadhead your annuals and prune to create new growth and a well-shaped plant.

Fertilize:
Your potted gardens every two weeks with a water soluble fertilizer. Monsoon rains will support wild growth!

Prune:
Your tomatoes by two-thirds to encourage new growth and fruit set for the fall. If you haven't pruned back your geraniums, do so now.

Jet Spray:
All of your potted plants including flowers, shrubs, cacti, succulents - i.e. everything - every day if you are able. This will increase air circulation and deter pests and disease such as spider mites, powdery mildew, aphids, etc. Do this in the early morning.

Capture Rainwater:
And use it to water plants under your covered areas. Micro nutrients in the rain are great for potted plants!

Plant:
A fresh selection of annuals to replace those that have petered out. Nurseries will have new Zinnias, Marigolds, Vinca, Angelonia (Summer Snaps) and many other wonderful color plants perfect for this time of year in the desert.

Roses in August (from the Rose Society of Tucson)

Water:
Deeply water to encourage roots to grow to where the soil is cooler.
Roses in pots need daily water.
Never let them dry out or the soil will become hard to re-hydrate.
Check your irrigation system often.

Feed:
Fertilize lightly (50% solution - twice weekly)

Deadhead:
Deadhead your roses but leave all old leaves and canes to help shade the plant. Just take off the flower stem and forget the rule of going back to a five leaf section. The additional leaves that remain on the plant help protect it.

If you would like to receive these Monthly Desert Potted Garden updates in your inbox, click here to subscribe. Marylee is the desert's potted garden expert. Email her with questions or comments!

Sometimes we decide to just give up the ghost when gardening in the sauna heat of the desert monsoon season. But do we really want to be greeted by a dead pot every time we come home this summer? If you were to look at this first picture every time you enter your driveway or front door, how would that make you feel? Even an empty pot with groomed soil is better in my mind than one with dead plants. They just say to us that we have more work to do. When we are struggling with the heat, who wants more work, especially outdoors?

We have a few options when contemplating these dead plants. Choose one of these and feel free to let me know which you decided to do with your dead potted plants!

Limited Work Options:
1. Clean out the dead plants and make the soil look neat and tidy.

2. Plant an easy care summer flower that will love the heat — such as the vinca in the picture below. They will fill in nicely with a minimum amount of work. They do need daily water though!

3. Plant your favorite sun loving succulent or cactus. Pay attention to any cacti with thorns if you have low stature pets or kids!

Enjoy living potted plants while we dream about the fall season.

Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions.

There are many resources in Tucson for desert landscaping. Even though my posts are centered around desert container gardening, I often get asked about concerns in landscape plants.

Here is one resource you might want to check out. Watch this short video and then email Deborah to get your free landscape calendar.

Then - when you are done with that one, visit my new and upcoming website to be sure you are signed up for the Desert Potted News.

Since it is hot out, you might as well stay cool with some web surfing!!

Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at [email protected].

In the midst of our extended summer heat wave, here are a few tips for keeping your plants happy and health:

Keep your water bill under control: Check your irrigation system for leaks.

Keep your beauty growing: Be sure your tender annuals are getting enough water.

Don't assume anything: We need ½" of rain to be safe in turning off the irrigation for any length of time. Your pots will need water again in two days. Don't forget to turn it back on!

Here's additional information on roses in the desert from the Mesa East Valley Rose Society.
• "With this almost unprecedented heat, be careful to keep roses watered adequately. Water more frequently and increase the quantity to compensate for the extremely high temperatures they have to cope with.
• Water the night before or even one or two days before high temperatures are forecast so there is available soil moisture that the plant can pull from.
• After a day of extreme temperatures, water your roses the evening. Make sure the surface soil is moist as well as the deeper soil in the root zone. This will help cool the soil and assist the roses to recover. Roses with readily available soil moisture stand a better chance of surviving from the day’s heat and also prepare for the next days high stress temperatures.
• We have to be proactive and water ahead of roses showing stress. When we see roses stress from inadequate water it is too late…..some or the entire bush will likely die"

Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at [email protected].

Just because you have potted cactus around your home does not mean that you can ignore them all summer. Cacti have a finite space where they can go for their water and nutrients. With the desert valley’s summer heat, these life giving elements need to be replaced regularly. However, they certainly are not as needy as flowers. Follow these few tips and your cactus will thrive during the summer.

Full Sun Cactus Pot Tips:

1. Be sure the base of the plant is not buried in soil or rock. If need be, remove some soil away from the base so the top roots are exposed.

2. Add some landscape rock to the top of the soil and snug it around the plant stem(s).

3. Deep water the cactus every two weeks.

4. Use the shower setting on your hose nozzle or a watering can with a shower nozzle.

5. Water the entire area of the soil. It is fine to get the leaves and flowers wet.

6. An average of 30 seconds of the shower setting is usually enough water for a 20”-24” pot. Larger pots need a proportionate increase amount of time.

7. Water should drain out from the bottom drainage holes.

8. At the same time, use the jet setting on your hose nozzle to blast water onto all plant surfaces. This is a great way to prevent and treat pest and disease. Be sure you are doing this in the morning so the plant has plenty of time to dry during the day.

9. Use a water soluble fertilizer monthly to help replenish nutrients during its active growing season.

Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at [email protected].

Sign up for the Potted Desert News by visiting www.potteddesert.com Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.

How many times do we say or hear, “But, it’s a dry heat?” Now that we are in the ‘hot spell’ of the desert valley, albeit for the next four months, we still want our landscape pots filled with flowers and color. I know I do!! This month I will provide you with some tips on how to keep your pots going so that you can enjoy them when you are in town.

This week — make sure your pots are being adequately watered. Depending on when you planted your summer flowers, your roots will be in the top 4”- 6” of soil. So you must be sure when you water, that water is going deep enough.

Shade pots need water every other day or more. Sun pots need water daily. This assumes that you have used large pots (20” or greater) and that you planted summer flowers. These tips do not refer to cactus in pots.

1. Water all pots in the early morning. Spend the coolest part of the day with your pots and your favorite morning beverage.

2. Be sure to let the hot water run from your hose before using it on your plants.

3. Water each pot thoroughly but only if the top two inches of soil is dry. (Go ahead — stick your finger in the dirt.)

4. Use the shower setting on your hose nozzle or a watering can with a shower nozzle.

5. Water the entire area of the soil. It is fine to get the leaves and flowers wet.

6. An average of 30 seconds of the shower setting is usually enough water for a 20”-24” pot. Larger pots need a proportionate increase amount of time.

7. Water should drain out from the bottom drainage holes.

8. If your plants wilt in the late afternoon, check to see that the soil is still moist. If it is, the wilt is heat wilt and not water wilt. They should recover by the next morning. If you would like to give them a misting in the afternoon, they will appreciate it but be sure the water coming out of the hose is cool.

Be mindful of the moisture in the pot throughout the summer as the heat escalates. If your pots are drying out during the day, they may need additional water in the afternoon.

Marylee is the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Email her with comments and questions at [email protected].

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