The Power of Plants

Looking for an easy-care pollinator plant that feeds hummingbirds while looking stunning in your garden from summer through fall? California Fuchsia meets both goals, while also being tolerant of drought, heat, and frost.

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for October

Turpentine Bush provides both fall color and autumn pollen and nectar for butterflies and other pollinators. This drought-tolerant, native southwest shrub requires very little watering after established, and its aromatic foliage resists browsing by deer and rabbits.

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for September

~ Jojoba, Goat Nut ~

Summer is harvest time for one of our prized desert plants, Jojoba or Goat Nut (Simmondsia chinensis). As well as being valued for its drought tolerance and fire resistance in southwest yards, this durable, attractive evergreen shrub produces seeds from which the popular “jojoba oil” is extracted for use worldwide in cosmetics and body-care products. Its seeds can also be eaten if roasted, or made into a beverage. We’ll share with you how to prepare these treats below.

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Part of my appreciation of our native desert plants comes from the indispensable gifts that these plants have provided for millennia to humans, wildlife, birds, insects, soils, and the whole ecosystem. Indigenous peoples have long valued and used native desert plants for food, medicine, healing, shelter, clothing, utensils, and ceremony. I would like to share some of these uses that we can incorporate into our lives today, but this comes with a responsibility to reciprocate thoughtful care and stewardship for these tenacious but fragile desert dwellers. I always encourage respectful harvesting and mindful use of our native plants (join one of our workshops to find out how! We prepare these native plants for you to taste, drink, smell, touch, and experience).

I also strongly encourage the purchase and planting of native plants in our own yards, especially if we want to harvest their gifts regularly (see our section, Native Plant Nurseries, for southwest nurseries that sell California native plants). By incorporating plants into our yards that are native to our own region, we also help sustain native butterflies, native bees, birds, wildlife, and migration corridors for all of them, as well as reducing our dependence on added water, fertilizers, and pesticides in our yards. Growing plants that thrive in our climate also reduces our time and cost to maintain our yard). It is truly a win-win scenario.

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Jojoba (pronounced ho-HO-ba) ~ Summer brings ripe seeds to harvest for planting, roasting to munch on as a calorie-free treat, or grinding up after roasting to make a beverage that tastes like a hazelnut tea. Jojoba’s seeds are not actually filled with oil, but with a liquid wax ester that has amazing properties. It has a very long shelf-life, and will not turn rancid or oxidize easily as other vegetable oils do (which are true oils, not liquid waxes).

Jojoba replaces sperm whale oil ~ Jojoba “oil” replaced the use of sperm whale oil when the import of whale oils into the United States was outlawed in 1971. Jojoba oil performed as well as whale oils as a lubricant in fine machinery that does not break down at high temperatures. It also makes an excellent cosmetic ingredient, since it is reported to have a 97-percent chemical match with human sebum, or the oil our skin naturally produces. Jojoba seeds are pressed to extract their valuable liquid wax, which is sold as an “oil.”

Roasted jojoba seeds ~ Make a fun snack…that has no calories! You can munch on roasted jojoba seeds, and since they are filled with a liquid wax, they pass through your body without being digested or absorbed, so they don’t contribute any calories on their journey. Eat in small quantities, though, because the seeds can act like a laxative due to their high liquid-wax content. For more flavor, toss the roasted seeds in vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt…but then you will be adding calories!

A beverage from roasted, ground jojoba seeds is said to have been used as a coffee substitute in times past ~ To roast jojoba seeds either for munching or to make a coffee-like beverage, bake on a shallow baking tray in 250 degree F oven for one hour. Allow the seeds to cool for 15 minutes, then grind in a coffee grinder or food processor and steep the ground seeds as you would coffee.

Ground jojoba seeds for healing ~ Native Americans ground jojoba seeds into a buttery paste to apply as a poultice to treat sores and wounds and to condition their hair and skin. 

Jojoba thrives in hot, dry desert areas, and grows without irrigation after becoming established. Occasional deep watering will encourage it to grow faster and produce more abundant and larger fruit. Because it is fire-retardant and extremely drought-tolerant, it is a great landscape choice for your southwest yard. Jojoba is useful as an evergreen screen or informal hedge, although patience is needed for this slow-growing plant. Quail love to take cover inside its dense foliage. We encourage you to invite this valuable native plant into your own yard. Clockwise photos from upper left:

1. Jojoba plant
2. Male jojoba flowers
3. Female flower maturing into seed
4. Ripe seeds being collected
5. Harvested mature seeds
6. Roasted seeds ground to make beverage

Jojoba plant parts traditionally used:

• Seeds – Mature seeds roasted and ground to steep in hot water for a beverage
• Seeds – Mature seeds pressed to collect a liquid wax called an oil for cosmetic and lubricant purposes
• Seeds – Mature seeds ground into a buttery paste to heal skin sores and wounds 

This durable, drought-tolerant, native southwest shrub makes a reliable privacy screen that never needs watering after established, and produces miniature edible almonds relished by wildlife and humans.

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for August

A versatile evergreen shrub or tree whose “berries” have been used traditionally and today to make a wild lemonade.

Sugar Bush is a very long-lived, evergreen, aromatic shrub with lush, deep green, leathery leaves that are slightly folded like a taco shell. Maroon twigs and leaf stems, as well as reddish bracts that enclose the flower buds, strike a nice contrast with the deep green foliage. Pinkish flower clusters in late winter or spring produce red berry-like fruits (drupes) in summer that are coated with long strands of sugar, giving the bush its name. Traditionally, and even today, people harvest and soak these “berries” in water to make a refreshing drink like lemonade. This multi-branched sumac can be pruned into an attractive, single- or multiple-trunk shade tree. A workhorse of many southwest gardens, Sugar Bush is ideal for screens, hedges, windbreaks, for erosion control on slopes, or as a specimen on its own. Although slow-growing, it is worth the wait.

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for July

Mojave Desert Sage’s flowers are a treat for hummingbirds and pollinators, while its aromatic leaves are a delight for gardeners. An added bonus is that the plant is deer- and rabbit-resistant.

Mojave Desert Sage is an aromatic, native “shrublet” with striking blue-violet flowers that emerge from purplish, ball-shaped flower heads along the stems. This compact, herbaceous perennial is impervious to rabbits and deer, while enticing all types of bees, pollinators, butterflies, and hummingbirds. A compact, moderately fast-growing sub-shrub, this gem of a plant has a wonderful minty aroma, released when the silver-gray, spoon-shaped leaves are rubbed. This evergreen plant usually spreads wider than high. Mojave Desert Sage is a heavy bloomer that loves the hottest, most challenging sites in your yard. Trim off seed heads and lightly prune to shape after flowering. While more water results in more flowers, be careful not to water in summer. This mint-family treasure can be used for borders, accents, bank stabilization, and in gardens designed for butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and birds.

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for June