Desert Willow

After our mid July rains the Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) is blooming in my yard. This is a native shrub/tree that has many common names including Willowleaf Catalpa, Bow Willow and Flowering Willow. There is a large one at the side entrance to the Senior Center at the Wimberley Community Center.

I first noticed Desert Willows in a Southern New Mexico town where they were attractively planted in a row down the middle of an avenue. They can get up to 40 feet tall, but some varieties never seem to get above shrub size. The leaves are long and slender like willow leaves. Desert Willows are deciduous, thus losing their leaves in the winter.

The funnel shaped flowers vary in color from light pink to dark purple with white or purple streaks within the throat. Catalpa trees have flowers of a similar appearance, hence the common name of Willowleaf Catalpa.

Hummingbirds and other pollinators love these flowers. After the flowers have been pollinated they will make dangling seed pods. I have known people who take the seeds from a ripe seed pod and grow young Desert Willows. My trees rarely have a chance to make seed pods because if I deadhead the fading flowers I stimulate the plant to produce a new round of flowers. Agrilife Extension says that the more you trim the Desert Willow the more flowers you will get.

Being native to our area they require water for the first year or two to get established, but thereafter they are drought tolerant. It is best to plant them in the fall or early spring. I would protect it from deer until it is too tall for deer to munch. They do not need fertilizer, are resistant to pests, and survive in our alkaline soil. They need full sun to bloom well. Maybe you have a spot in your yard for a Desert Willow.

Written by Jackie Mattice, Hays County Master Naturalist