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Desert Plants Around Eastern Washington
Since much of Eastern Washington is a desert, with native cacti found in some areas, it shouldn't be surprising to find some desert plants used in gardens there. For the most part though, the potential of desert plants in Eastern Washington remains underexploited. Most people prefer to plant leafy, water-loving plants. Eastern Washington also has many interesting native desert plants, but those will be excluded from this album. See the Travelogue for more Eastern Washington pictures. |
Plants and Gardens Gallery |
Yucca aloifolia growing happily in Clarkston.
Yucca elata in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
Opuntia engelmanii in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
An impressive Yucca gloriosa in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
A very large plant of Opuntia imbricata in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
These cacti, including Opuntia basilaris, Opuntia engelmanii var. linguiformis, and Echinocereus engelmanii all thrive in the desert climate of the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
More Echinocereus species with Agave parryi in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
Probably Yucca torreyi, or perhaps Y. faxoniana, in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
Opuntia engelmanii var. linguiformis with Opuntia kleiniae and Agave parryi soaking up the Eastern Washington sun in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
A couple forms of Opuntia basilaris, Echinocereus engelmanii and another Echinocereus all blooming together in this garden in the Tri-Cities area. Photo courtesy of Peter Crawford.
This Opuntia species is a favorite of Peter Crawford, who submitted these Tri-Cities area photos. It has huge dinner-plate size pads and large flowers in multiple colors. Note also Opuntia imbricata blooming in the background, and a young Yucca rostrata.
In Parker, south of Yakima, there is an impressive but neglected planting of Opuntia cacti. These are O. phaecantha with O. imbricata in the background.
These odd cacti resemble some forms of Opuntia polyacantha one sees around southern Utah and southwestern Colorado.
Opuntia imbricata (right) and Opuntia kleiniae (left).
Opuntia echinocarpa, a species native to very dry, cold areas similar to eastern Washington, is quite happy here.
In Oroville, just a couple miles from the Canadian border, this huge specimen of Yucca elata can be found. It dates back to the early 1960s, stands about 22' tall, and appears never to have incurred significant damage from the cold. It is probably the largest Yucca in the state of Washington. The fence pictured is quite tall, making the plant appear less impressive than it is in person.
A closer shot of some of the lower crowns on the above Yucca.
Opuntia polyacantha in Pullman. |
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