Spring Plant Sale

Grown right here at Tohono Chul, our Spotlight Species are perfectly suited for our arid climate while providing vital support to pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. These desert-adapted favorites bring vibrant color, biodiversity, and sustainability to any outdoor space!

Texas Mountain Laurel
(Dermatophyllum secundiflorum)

If you love the scent of grape Kool-Aid or bubble gum, you’ll love the Texas Mountain Laurel! This evergreen shrub, which can be pruned into a tree, keeps its leaves year-round and bursts into fragrant violet blooms each spring.

You might notice some bite marks on the leaves—those come from the Genista Broom Moth caterpillar! While they can be enthusiastic munchers, these larvae grow into important pollinators. To protect younger plants, you can remove caterpillars and egg clusters by hand.

To see a full-grown version of this tree, head up to La Fuente shop here at Tohono Chul. There is a great example of a beautifully shaped tree to the left of the entry way.

Narrow-Leafed Milkweed
(Asclepias angustifolia)

Monarch butterfly populations are in decline due to habitat loss and pesticides. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing them as endangered, and public comments are open until March 12—the same day as Members Day at Tohono Chul’s Spring Plant Sale! Click here to find more information about the proposal and add a comment to help save the Monarch.

Want to help? Plant Narrow-leafed Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia), a vital host plant for Monarch and Queen butterflies. Visit Tohono Chul’s Butterfly Garden to see this and other pollinator-friendly plants up close!

Queen of the Night
(Peniocereus greggii)

A true desert gem, you might have met the Queen of the Night during Tohono Chul’s annual Bloom Night event!

Also known as the Night Blooming Cereus, this unique cactus stays hidden for most of the year, blending in with shrubs and trees. But on one special summer night, it bursts into bloom, unveiling large, fragrant white flowers that attract nocturnal pollinators like bats and hawk moths.

The amazing part? These blooms often open in synchronicity, making Bloom Night at Tohono Chul a magical experience where visitors can marvel at this moonlit spectacle. After pollination, the flowers turn into bright red fruits, drawing in birds and wildlife.

Protecting your Queen: Javelina, rabbits, and deer love to munch on the stems, so it’s best to protect your cactus with a barrier. It also thrives with the support of a nurse plant like an Ironwood or Desert Hackberry.

Visit Tohono Chul’s Desert View Trail for more examples of this stunning species, and of course, don’t miss Bloom Night to see the Queen in all of her glory.

Cascalote
(Tara cacalaco)

Looking for something a little different from the typical bird-of-paradise found in Tucson landscapes? Look no further than the Cascalote. This vibrant plant displays bright yellow blooms during winter, attracting pollinators when many other plants are dormant. This large shrub, native to Sinaloa, Mexico, can become a small tree in warmer climates. In our desert, it grows into an evergreen shrub with distinctive, bumpy wart-like thorns on its bark as it ages.

Although frost-sensitive, it’s drought-tolerant and does well near reflective heat sources like block walls. Rarely found in local nurseries, it’s a plant you won’t want to miss adding to your garden!

For a great example, check out the Cascalote in Sami’s courtyard next to the Ethnobotanical Garden at Tohono Chul.