Ocotillo Excursion

The Ocotillo (Fouquieria Splendens) is one of the most distinctive and fascinating desert plants of the American Southwest. Kim and I (especially Kim) have been very fond of the plant for a dozen years, since we started exploring our desert surroundings. Our friend Natasha is crazy about the Joshua Tree (Yucca Brevifolia) a native Agave that grows in the Mojave Desert just east of here and is both the state plant of Nevada and is fully protected in California as a endangered species, so it is illegal to take, possess, purchase, or sell Joshua trees, import or export them, harm, harass, or kill them without permits. Ocotillos do not enjoy that status. Consequently, when we bought this hilltop, we chose to install a wonderful 10’ high metal sculpture of a Joshua Tree at the northwest corner of the property, but we also planted an ocotillo (Fouquieria Splendens), down by the entrance. We had seen the ocotillos along the roadside in Borrego Springs and thought it would be a good place to display it. We were wrong and for whatever reason (too much water or too little sunshine most likely), it died a slow and painful death.

Ocotillo (Fouquieria Splendens) are long and slender with spiny stems (canes) that can reach 15-20 feet tall. They have multiple unbranched stems growing from a common base in a fountain-like pattern with their sharp spines along the stems, typically 1-2 inches long protruding to fend off any desert predators. They have small, paddle-shaped leaves that appear seasonally with brilliant red-orange tubular flowers clustered at branch tips.

When you go to buy ocotillos (they are so plentiful in the Anza-Borrego Desert, it is tempting to just dig one up…) they ask you if you want the Fouquieria or the Alluaudia, sometimes called the Madagascar Ocotillo. Those two plants, while both well-adapted to the Southwest U.S. desert climate, are actually very different species and not at all related except in some degree of looks. Strangely enough, Ocotillo Fouquieria are not cacti, but Alluaudia are. I have several Alluaudia around the garden and they look even more menacing than an ocotillo, but Kim’s passion is for the Ocotillo Fouquieria. Both plants require full sun, extremely well-draining soil, minimal water (especially in winter) and a great deal of patience since they are very slow-growing.

As I drove through the Anza-Borrego the other day, I was very much inspired by the vast desert filled with vibrant green ocotillos. I presume that display was on account of the recent rains last week. You see, ocotillos often appear “dead” during dry periods when they are leafless, but with as many as 100+ individual canes in mature specimens, the stems remain green and photosynthetic even without leaves. Their preferred habitat being the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where the rocky slopes and desert flats at elevations from sea level to 2,000 feet, where well-draining, sandy or gravelly soils exist (receiving 3-15 inches of annual rainfall), my lower back hillside where there is no irrigation (elevation 1,500 feet) and with 5.6 inches of annual rainfall per year according the National Weather Service, should prove an accommodative environment. The peak blooming season is March through June assuming there is adequate winter moisture. The flowers are a bright red-orange and are tubular and about 1 inch long in clusters that are 8-10 inch long at the stem tips. If they get established, they will self-propogate with all the natural pollinators in the yard like hummingbirds, carpenter bees, butterflies, and moths. Of note is the fact that ocotillos are a great example of coevolution since their flower shape is perfectly adapted for hummingbird bills. In fact, they are considered critical for migrating hummingbirds. Ocotillos are extremely slow-growing, taking as much as 5-10 years to reach 3 feet, but the growth rate increases with age and size and they can live 60-100+ years with some specimens estimated over 200 years old. In other words, planting on this hillside will change the hillside long after I am dead and gone. Its interesting that ocotillos have deep cultural and historical significance due to their indigenous uses. They were used in fencing, ramadas (shade structures) and other forms of construction. In medicine, various plant parts have been used for traditional remedies and the flowers are sometimes eaten as a food source. Even the stems were used for walking sticks and fishing poles.

So, I went to Waterwise Botanicals and bought three three-footers in 24” boxes and plan to plant them down on my lower back hillside around my 8’ Mexican metal rooster. That will happen this weekend with the help of Handy Brad’s helper crew. I have bought on Amazon (already delivered within 5 hours…damn!) a special soaker hose and timer since transplanted ocotillos need up to a year to properly root in a new place and I know from experience that you have to invest the time to get them rooted. Once that happens they are particularly hardy and self-sustaining without incremental irrigation (hence I will not likely put in a permanent drip line). The damn things can survive without rain for over a year. I should be able to monitor them easily as they can produce leaves within 5 days of adequate rainfall…or watering. I have to be careful not to over-water, but I think the rocky hillside will allow for good drainage. The Ocotillo is truly a marvel of desert adaptation, representing millions of years of evolution in arid environments. Its unique appearance and fascinating biology make it one of the most recognizable and beloved plants of the American Southwest. Kim is not alone in liking these plants, so I feel very righteous in attempting this transplant.

I will admit to a little larceny in my Ocotillo Excursion yesterday. I do lots of business with Waterwise Botanicals and when I called to check on their ocotillo inventory (several other nurseries had none), they priced the 24” boxes for me for the Fouquieria and the Alluaudia with the presumably less indigenous Alluaudia costing $210 versus a the Fouquieria coasting $275. This made no sense to me and I know that the margins are vast on these things that grow in the wild 40 miles from here in the Anza-Borrego are free for the taking. So, I made my case to my regular clerk there, saying I had been told they were $210. I have beaten him up many times about the fact that he never gives a good customer like me a discount, so this was not an usual drill to him. This time, he accepted the possibility of the confusion and allowed me the lower price. Having saved almost $200 or one whole ocotillo from this gambit, I felt very proud of myself since I rarely bother with such commercial tactics. I know how prosperous the Altman family has become as owners of this and many other nurseries in the area (they are actually the largest commercial grower of succulents in the country), so I shed no tears for them and drove off with my new ocotillos. Now I will see if Mother Nature will allow my investment to thrive on my hillside for the next century.