A Whisper of Autumn: Hesperaloe parviflora

Yesterday I enjoyed taking some photographs of a couple of our Hesperaloes.  They are placed, along with some dwarf shrubs, at wide intervals along the west side of our house, planted before we moved in.  The mere fact that they survive and flower and set seeds on almost no supplemental water here in the low desert is a sufficient statement about their vigour.

This is another plant from the Chihuahuan Desert, native from Texas down into northeastern Mexico.  Like some other Chihuahuan natives such as Chrysactinia mexicana and Leucophyllym frutescens, it performs beautifully here in the Sonoran Desert as well, taking the heat and dry winds of summer and more than sufficiently cold-hardy for inland low desert.  (Hesperaloe parviflora is said to be hardy down to 12 F/-11 C.)

I was so much enjoying the few remaining flowers and the opening seedpods that I did not photograph the growth habit.  These plants take the name False Yucca for a reason, as the leaves are thick and sword-like.  They are not spined, however; and they do have delightful fibres that form curly decor up and down the leaf margins.  The clumps are not enormous - ours range up to perhaps 3 ft across (.9 m), but the flower stalks can shoot up to 5 ft tall or more.  And it must be said that the whole plant has a rugged look - not exactly a refined garden plant, but a robust native capable of bearing delightful pink flowers like this...

...and seedpods that are also very decorative, like this...

With that for introduction, here are some of yesterday's early autumn shots of Hesperaloe parviflora.

I've collected a few of the chunky black seeds; there are plenty each year, but I've not seen it self-seed so far.

I think it might be nice to see those tall flower spikes arching upward in the garden!

In the meantime, it's fun just to go out and see the seedpods.

Weather Diary: Fair; High: 101 F (38 C)/Low: 80 F (27 C); blowing dust advisory till 3:00 PM