Low Maintenance Plants for Arizona 

If you’re a gardener in Arizona, you’re probably aware that a lot of plants don’t do well in the extreme sun and heat.

However, that doesn’t mean we need to give up on gardening.

There are many low-maintenance plants that will work in hot dry climates like Arizona.

In This Post – we will talk about different low-maintenance plants for all of your gardening areas. Whether you’re just getting going with gardening, or you’re an expert, you will want to review these plants!

Low Maintenance Plants

There are a bunch of plants to choose from that need next to no maintenance to grow.

A good option for anyone who enjoys gardening, but may have a busy life outside of their gardening interest.

Low-maintenance plants are low effort, but still take some care.

Low-maintenance plants are drought resistant so they do not need a lot of water, but if you haven’t had rain in a while, it won’t hurt to water them.

Arizona Rosewood Vauquelina Californica

Arizona Rosewood is an evergreen shrub from the rose family.

Feathery Cassia Cassia Nemophila

Feathery Cassia is also an evergreen shrub and has a fast-growing habit, will prefer the full sun and is tolerant to drought.

This shrub will also bloom and produce round yellow flower clusters on the ends of the branches.

Sugar Bush Rhus Ovata

The sugar bush plant is a bush that is normally about 3 to 4 feet tall.

The leaves are green, with red edges. In the fall, the leaves turn beautiful orange or red colors.

The sugar bush plant has small yellow flowers as well.

Chihuahuan Sage Leucophyllum Laevigatum

Chihuahuan Sage is a easy-going plant that’s well-suited to Arizona’s dryness.

It has small, grayish leaves and purple flowers in clusters.

These shrubs grow pretty big; up to 4 feet tall and spreading 5 feet wide!

Mexican Bird of Paradise Caesalpinia Pulcherrima

The Mexican bird of paradise plant is a tropical shrub that has bright, showy flowers.

The flowers are typically red, orange, or yellow, and they are often arranged in clusters.

Little Leaf Cordia Cordia Parvifolia

The little leaf cordia is a tiny shrub more like a tree that can be anywhere from about 3 to 6 feet tall.

It has a broad, rounded canopy and makes nice fragrant white flowers in the spring.

The leaves are pointed and small, the bark is thin and light brown.

Perennial Plants

There are a ton of reasons why having perennial plants in the garden is a good idea. 

Perennials grow back year after year, so you do not have to worry about re-planting them every year. 

Perennials are usually lower maintenance than annual plants because you only have to deadhead them or weed them once a year instead of every week.

Perennials are relatively low-maintenance because you usually only have to plant them once, and then can enjoy them since they come back every year.

Some perennial plants to try in your garden are:

• Coneflower Echinacea
• Foxglove Penstemon
• Giant Hyssops Agastache Foeniculum
• Lantana Lantana Camara
• Lavender Lavandula Angustifolia
• Russian Sage Perovskia Atriplicifolia
• Speedwells Veronica Spicata
• Yarrow Achillea Millefolium
• Yucca Yucca Aloifolia

Annual Plants

Annual plants almost didn’t get included on this list as they don’t typically qualify as low-maintenance plants, since they only bloom the year that they grow from seeds.

However, if all that’s required is a couple of hours of one day’s effort to provide your garden with some new plants to switch things up for the upcoming year; and where the maintenance is almost minimal, they deserve to be on the list:

• Cosmos Cosmos Bipinnatus
• Marigolds Tagetes
• Moss Rose Portulaca Grandiflora
• Silver Ragwort Jacobaea Maritima
• Zinnia Zinnia Elegans

Low Maintenance Plants for Shaded Areas

There are a good number of drought resistant plants that like full sun, what about the shade?

If you have shade from buildings, plants or even the shade from baby joining structures you created in your backyard so you had somewhere shaded to sit, here are create drought resistant plants that will handle the heat but need a little shade.

Japanese Boxwood Buxus Microphylla

Japanese Boxwood is a small, evergreen shrub that has dark green leaves.

It is a low-maintenance plant that is suited for Arizona gardens.

One plant can grow 12″ to 36″ tall and wide.

Fox Tail Fern Asparagus Aethiopicus

Fox Tail Fern has long stems that are covered in small green leaves.

The end of each stem is thinner than the base of the stem, making it look like there is a dozen green fox tails sprouting from the plant.

Tropical Bird of Paradise Strelitzia Reginae

The bird of paradise blooms in a brilliant orange and blue variety, although there are pinks, purples, and yellows as well.

The flowers resemble hummingbirds in flight and not only add color to a garden, but also add interest with the shape too.

Baby Sun Rose Mesembryanthemum Cordifolia

This plant is a sprawling succulent that forms a carpet of vibrant green leaves and lovely pink flowers.

If it can’t grow outwards, this plant will grow upwards and potentially reach a foot tall.

Bamboo Palm Chamaedorea Seifrizii

Bamboo palm, or reed palm, is a little slow growing palm which will usually grow to a height of 6 to 10 feet.

It has a slender, smooth trunk, and has long (thin)a green leaves.

Crossandra Crossandra Infundibuliformis

The firecracker flower is a colorful flower that is native to Arizona.

It has a long, spiny stem with bright red, orange, or yellow flowers.

It is also a low-maintenance plant that does not require too much care only in the shade.

Croton Codiaeum Variegatum

Croton plants look like autumn in the northern parts of the U.S.

The leaves are deep shades of red, yellow, and orange and bring impactful colors to your garden.

These bushes are sometimes referred to as “bush on fire,” and that is certainly what it looks like with the warm tones of the colors in their leaves.

Low Maintenance Potted Plants

Plants in pots fit into three different categories:

1. thrillers
2. fillers
3. spillers

A thriller is a plant that is the centerpiece of the pot.

It usually has a lot of height—such as a big flower, or a spiky top foliage.

A filler is a plant that has low height, but spreads and fills out the pot.

Fillers generally have foliage and smaller flowers that won’t compete with the thriller.

A spiller is a plant that literally spills over the edge of the pot, often creating a waterfall effect as it cascades downwards.

They are typically longer-vined or longer-stemmed plants with small leaves, without flowers (typically).

You can even just use one kind of plant in a pot at a time.

This will allow you to move and manage how much sun each pot gets, track how much water to applying, and apply fertilizer without worrying about other plants.

If there is a specific type of look you are looking to achieve for your pots, here is a list of plants that do well in pots, and what type of plant they are.

1. Thrillers

• Cosmos
• Gomphrena
• Salvia
• The Texas Lantana
• Purple coneflower
• Santa Rita Prickly Pear

2. Fillers

• Marigold
• Vinca
• Zinnia
• Mint
• Desert Agave
• The Blue Flax
• Autumn Sage
• Echeveria

3. Spillers

• Calibrachoa
• Ivy
• String of Pearls
• Portulaca

Low Maintenance Food Garden Plants

So far, we’ve covered shrubs, trees, flowers, thrillers, fillers, and spillers, but did you think about that some vegetables may be low-maintenance plants that can actually grow well in Arizona?

There’s a whole list of vegetables that you can grow in gardens, or in pots, in the Arizona heat!

Some vegetables do better in the cool season and some do better in the warm season.

Your elevation will affect, on average, the temperature, so even though it’s summer, you may be better off with planting cool season vegetables.

You’ll notice that there are no fruits on this list, with the exception of melons. This is their commonality.

That’s because the flowers that make up fruit are not as resilient as the flowers that make up vegetables, so if the heat decreases the quality of the flowers that produce fruit. In the extreme heat, fruit flowers can get killed creating no chance for fruit to grow.

You could try to grow fruits if you are an experienced gardener and believe that you can fulfill the needs of the fruits, but they won’t be very low-maintenance!

Cool Season Vegetables

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Turnips

Warm Season Vegetables

• Beans
• Bell Peppers
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Melons
• Pumpkin
• Squash
• Sweet Corn
• Sweet Potato
• Tomato
• Zucchini

Final Thoughts

If you want a low-maintenance plant that will thrive in Arizona then check out one of the plants from the list.

There are some plants that love the sun, some plants that love the shade, there are those plants you can grow in pots, and even those you can feed your family with!

With a little planning it is easy to have a nice garden that will require very little maintenance while providing color and life in your space.