Desert Museum Palo Verde; What a tree!

Desert Museum Palo Verdes are a real marvel of science. With a succession that includes the Blue Palo Verde (Cercidium Floridum), the Foothills (Cercidium microphyllum), the Mexican (Parkinsonia aculeate), and the Sonoran/Palo Brea (Parkinsonia praecox). The DMPV takes great qualities from each of these which makes it faster growing, totally thornless, smooth trunked, have enhanced flowering, more cold resistant, basically a super tree ! This sometimes doesn't seem fair to other Palo Verdes. But don't worry, they all have a place in the landscape and we still use most varieties at one time or another. This particular tree just tends suit more "human" needs which is important. I have been at war with Palo Brea and Blue Palo Verde, those thorns cut right into your skull! Now you really know why the DM's are one of my favorite trees to plant in Arizona !

Phoenix Landscape Design

This Phoenix area home, designed and installed by Ultimate Landscapes, really encompasses the flavor of the native desert while spicing it up a bit with some cacti/plants from around the world. In the foreground above, one of my favorites, the "Argentine Giant" (Echinopsis candicans) is pictured in full bloom.

The native rock (2" to 8"grey stone you see) was used to really preserve the natural theme of the area. Gold 1/4" minus was put over the exposed dirt areas to give it a cleaner look but all effort was taken to use native colors.

In the background, you can see the specimen Saguaro (a real beauty that added its weight in gold) and specimen Yucca right in front of it. The hybrid "Desert Museum" Palo Verde was used as a shade tree for the home and the front courtyard. The Acker Stone Pavers really blend in with the home's theme and style. With the steep slope, we had to be creative but this paver driveway turned out to be a huge asset to this landscape.

The crew, the homeowner, myself, and even the HOA all worked together well from start to finish and we were able to complete this front yard project in about 12 working days @ site. (2.5 weeks) I appreciate when a project is really allowed to become what it was meant to become through creativity, hard work, and trust from the clients.