Explore AE-recommended trees, shrubs, cactus, succulents, grasses, groundcovers, and flowering plants for new Arizona landscape projects. Save your favorites and share your AE Plant Wishlist with our design team.
See something you like in a neighborhood, nursery, or magazine? Snap a photo and AE's plant AI will tell you what it is — and add the match to your AE Plant Wishlist.
Right plant. Right place. Right design. AE helps you choose plants that fit your home, your yard, your lifestyle, and the Arizona desert.
Arizona is not one-size-fits-all. A plant that performs well in Phoenix may need different placement in Prescott, Tucson, or a higher-elevation community. Select your region so AE can better guide plant recommendations.
Selected region: Not sure yet — AE will confirm regional fit during design.
Your AE Plant Wishlist helps our design team understand your style, color preferences, shade needs, privacy goals, and maintenance expectations. Final plant recommendations will be confirmed by AE based on your property, sun exposure, irrigation, drainage, mature plant size, HOA requirements, city guidelines, nursery availability, and overall design.
Your wishlist is a starting point, not a final planting plan.
Explore trees, shrubs, cactus, succulents, agaves, grasses, groundcovers, vines, and flowering plants that can work in Arizona outdoor living designs.
Click 'Add to My AE Plant Wishlist' on the plants you like. Your wishlist helps AE understand your style before the design conversation.
Send your wishlist with project details such as pool plans, HOA requirements, pets, children, shade needs, privacy goals, and maintenance preferences.
AE will help confirm the right plant selections based on your property, irrigation, drainage, sun exposure, mature plant size, availability, and overall design.
Desert Museum Palo Verde is a signature Arizona shade tree known for its green trunk, airy canopy, and bright yellow seasonal flowers. It creates strong curb appeal and gives a yard an unmistakable desert look.
Arizona's state tree. Blue-green bark and a soft golden bloom in spring.
Small native palo verde with yellow-green bark — slow, tough, and iconic.
Native mesquite with deep roots and broad canopy — a true Sonoran shade tree.
Fast-growing thornless or nearly thornless mesquite — quick shade for new yards.
Long-lived Sonoran native with dense canopy and lavender spring bloom.
Desert Willow is a soft-looking flowering desert tree that works well when homeowners want seasonal color, lighter texture, and a less harsh desert appearance.
Dense evergreen tree — excellent for privacy from two-story neighbors.
Stunning winter yellow bloom on a small flowering tree — striking but thorny.
Elegant white-barked tree with weeping foliage. A signature modern desert look.
Tough evergreen with silvery-green foliage. Excellent low-water screen.
Evergreen small tree with fragrant purple grape-scented spring bloom.
Tall, narrow weeping tree — perfect for tight privacy lines.
Mediterranean evergreen with silver foliage — confirm fruitless variety for Arizona codes.
Deciduous shade tree with brilliant fall color — needs more water than desert natives.
Large native evergreen shrub — works as a privacy hedge or small tree.
Texas Sage is a tough flowering shrub known for silvery foliage and purple blooms. It is popular in Arizona landscapes because it adds color, structure, and low-water performance.
Green Hopseed Bush is a popular privacy and screening shrub for Arizona yards. It gives a softer evergreen look and can help screen walls, neighbors, and outdoor living areas.
Crisp white blooms after every desert rain.
Tiny red puff flowers that hummingbirds love.
Explosive orange-red bloom all summer. Dies back in winter, returns strong.
Yellow-flowering bird of paradise — evergreen and more cold-tolerant than the red form.
Tall, vigorous orange-trumpet flowering shrub — a hummingbird magnet.
Tough native evergreen shrub with leathery gray-green leaves.
The smell of desert rain. A true Sonoran native.
Winter-blooming red-flower shrub — color when most desert plants are quiet.
Native hummingbird shrub with tubular red flowers in cool months.
Silver foliage and a yellow daisy bloom — Sonoran spring in a plant.
Native wildflower with soft orange or coral blooms.
Edible Mediterranean evergreen with light blue blooms — useful and tough.
Tight, glossy evergreen — the cleanest small hedge in the AE palette.
Glossy evergreen hedge plant — clean look with hidden sharp thorns.
Compact flowering shrub — note: all parts are toxic; place carefully around pets and children.
The iconic Sonoran giant. Protected by AZ law — sourcing and permits matter.
Multi-stem columnar native cactus — dramatic vertical native character.
Massive columnar cactus, larger than saguaro — a true desert centerpiece.
Spineless, sculptural columnar cactus — one of the cleanest vertical accents available.
Golden Barrel Cactus is a bold, clean-looking cactus that works well in groupings, boulder landscapes, and modern desert designs. Its round form and golden spines create strong visual impact.
Native barrel cactus with reddish spines and yellow spring blooms.
Purple-tinged pads with yellow spring blooms. Iconic Sonoran color.
Classic green-pad native prickly pear — tough, fruiting, and iconic.
Clumping cactus with huge fragrant white night blooms.
Small clumping native cactus with brilliant magenta spring blooms.
Tall, columnar, near-spineless cactus — natural living fence.
Blue Agave creates a bold modern desert look with strong blue-gray color and sculptural form. It is a high-impact plant that works best when given enough space.
Large, smooth-edged blue-green agave with a refined modern look.
Soft, flexible blue-green leaves — one of the friendliest agaves near walkways.
Compact symmetrical blue-gray rosette — a designer favorite.
Geometric white-striped rosette — slow-growing collector-grade agave.
Massive blue rosette with broad cupped leaves — major statement.
Tentacle-like wavy leaves — softer, friendlier agave near patios and pools.
Red Yucca is one of the most reliable desert accent plants for Arizona landscapes. It gives homeowners color, structure, movement, and low-water performance without looking messy or overgrown when maintained correctly.
⚠ Sharp leaf tips; avoid tight walkways
Compact, brilliant red-flowering yucca selection.
Yellow-flowering form of red yucca — same form, brighter color.
Silver-blue spherical sotol — like a fireworks burst in the landscape.
Green-leaved sotol — vibrant alternative to desert spoon.
Ocotillo is an iconic vertical desert plant with tall canes and bright red seasonal flowers. It brings strong Arizona character and works best as a statement plant with room around it.
Succulent rosettes with winter–spring flower spikes — practical and ornamental.
Sprawling succulent perennial with chartreuse winter bloom. Sap is irritating.
Deer Grass adds soft movement, texture, and contrast to Arizona landscapes. It works well around boulders, hardscape, turf edges, and modern desert plantings.
A cloud of pink in fall — gorgeous against bronze gravel and warm walls.
Selection of pink muhly with deeper, more vivid fall color.
Native fountain of narrow green leaves — looks like grass, lives like a sotol.
Lantana is a tough, colorful flowering plant used often in Arizona landscapes for groundcover, borders, and seasonal color. It is popular because it provides bright blooms with relatively low water once established.
Cascading evergreen groundcover with light blue blooms.
Bright yellow mounds of bloom for months.
Spreading purple-flowering groundcover for warm-season color.
Silver-foliage trailing groundcover with soft purple bloom.
Flat-spreading evergreen groundcover — clean modern coverage.
Low daisy-flowered groundcover with intense color.
Blue-gray succulent groundcover with chartreuse winter bloom. Sap is irritating.
Thornless climbing rose with massive spring bloom — perfect for pergolas and walls.
Vigorous evergreen wall vine with yellow spring bloom.
Pink-flowering vine that smothers a trellis or pergola.
Fragrant evergreen vine — best in protected, shaded patios.
Brilliant, tough flowering vine — beautiful color, sharp thorns, frost-sensitive.
Fragrant flowering vine for pergolas and fences — water more than desert natives.
Clinging evergreen wall vine for a clean, manicured look.
Fast-growing, wide-canopy shade tree with yellow spring blooms — popular for new yards needing quick shade.
Tall, narrow evergreen with weeping willow-like foliage — good vertical screening tree.
Native multi-trunk tree with fragrant yellow puffball flowers in late winter.
Fast lush shade tree — beautiful but aggressive roots can damage hardscape, pools, and pipes.
Stunning purple spring bloom — frost-sensitive and messy when flowers drop.
Brilliant pink spring blooms on a small to mid-size tree — strong front yard color.
Small evergreen tree with large white crepe-like flowers most of the year.
Lemon, orange, lime, and grapefruit — fragrant blooms, edible fruit, glossy evergreen foliage.
Clumping, multi-trunk fan palm — tough, cold-hardy, and modern-looking.
Tall, slender single-trunk palm — classic Phoenix skyline silhouette.
Massive iconic date palm — fronds have sharp spines; needs real space and professional pruning.
Compact feather palm with silver-blue arching fronds — slow, cold-hardy, and tidy.
Native shrub with bright yellow trumpet flowers spring through fall — hummingbird magnet.
Fine silver-green foliage with masses of bright yellow flowers in late winter.
Delicate native shrub with pink powder-puff blooms that draw hummingbirds.
Long-blooming perennial in red, pink, white, or coral — favorite of hummingbirds.
Soft mounding perennial with orange tubular flowers — handles part shade.
Tidy yellow daisies nearly year-round on a compact mound — workhorse front-yard color.
Compact mound covered in small white daisies most of the year.
Tall pink flower spikes in early spring — a signature Sonoran hummingbird plant.
Iconic glowing-spined cholla — gorgeous at sunset, brutal up close.
Wiry, sculptural cholla with thin pencil-like stems and yellow fruit.
Burgundy foliage with arching purple plumes — modern desert favorite (sterile cultivar recommended).
Native bunchgrass with distinctive flag-like seed heads — soft, low, drought-tough.
Native evergreen conifer with blue-green to silvery foliage — excellent screen and rare native evergreen tree.
Tough native shade tree with rugged bark and wildlife-supporting berries — handles harsh desert conditions.
Iconic Sonoran Desert native shade tree — broad canopy, fragrant spring blooms, deeply tied to AZ landscape history.
Smallest of the palo verdes and the AZ state tree — slow, sculptural, ultra low-water Sonoran native.
Showy summer-flowering tree in pink, white, red, or purple — popular AZ flowering accent.
Airy desert shrub with white papery flowers all warm season — soft texture, very low water.
Native AZ wildflower with apricot-orange blooms — pollinator favorite, true Sonoran character.
Compact evergreen mound covered in bright yellow daisies — clean, modern, drought-proof.
Tidy native evergreen mound with golden fall blooms — refined native look, very low water.
Silvery Sonoran native with bright yellow spring daisies — iconic desert wildflower shrub.
Iconic AZ barrel cactus with curved fishhook spines and orange-red summer blooms.
Clustering native cactus with brilliant magenta spring flowers — small, showy, AZ-iconic.
Compact geometric agave with striking white-edged leaves — collector-grade modern accent.
Silvery-green low spreading groundcover with purple spring flowers — tough, clean, fills wide spaces.
Native AZ perennial with lavender-purple flower clusters — pollinator magnet, long bloom season.
Clean lines, sculptural plants, boulders, lighting, artificial turf, travertine, porcelain pavers, and modern pool areas.
More greenery, flowering shrubs, soft texture, and shade without creating a high-water tropical landscape.
Authentic Arizona desert character using native and Sonoran-inspired plants.
Cleaner structure, bold accents, and careful placement for pool-adjacent planting.
Plants selected for screening walls, neighbors, two-story homes, and outdoor living spaces.
Flowering plants and accents for homeowners who want color without creating a high-maintenance flower bed.
Strong street presence, clean structure, desert character, and low-water curb appeal.
Submit a project request below and our design team will review your wishlist alongside it. AE confirms the right final plant palette based on your property, design goals, irrigation, sun exposure, mature plant size, HOA requirements, nursery availability, and long-term performance.
Your wishlist is a starting point, not a final planting plan.
Your wishlist is empty. Add plants above before submitting so we can include them with your request.
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The AE Arizona Plant & Tree Guide helps homeowners explore low-water, desert-adapted, and Arizona-friendly plants for outdoor living projects. Browse trees for shade, shrubs for privacy, cactus and agaves for modern desert style, grasses for movement, flowering plants for color, and pool-area plants selected with cleanup and placement in mind. Your AE Plant Wishlist gives our design team a better understanding of your style before we confirm the final plant palette for your property.
Choosing plants near a pool takes more planning than choosing plants for a typical yard. AE considers leaf litter, flower drop, thorns, spines, mature size, shade patterns, irrigation overspray, and maintenance before recommending plants near pool areas. Use the pool-friendly filter to explore plants that may work near pools with proper placement.
Low-maintenance does not mean no-maintenance. The right Arizona plant palette can reduce water use and simplify upkeep, but plants still need establishment watering, proper irrigation, pruning, and seasonal care. AE helps homeowners choose plants that match their desired level of maintenance and the realities of Arizona outdoor living.
General disclaimer. The AE Arizona Plant & Tree Guide is intended to help homeowners explore design preferences. It is not a final plant design, horticultural prescription, or guarantee of plant availability. Plant performance depends on irrigation, drainage, soil, sun exposure, reflected heat, frost, maintenance, HOA requirements, city rules, nursery inventory, and installation conditions. Final plant selections are confirmed by the AE Outdoor Living design team.
Availability. Plant availability, size, pricing, and suitability vary by season, nursery inventory, city, HOA, soil, sun exposure, irrigation design, drainage, and project location.
Pool areas. Plants near pools require extra care in selection and placement. AE considers leaf litter, flowers, thorns, spines, roots, irrigation overspray, shade patterns, mature size, and maintenance before recommending plants near pool areas.
Maintenance. Low-water landscapes are not no-maintenance landscapes. Proper irrigation, pruning, cleanup, and seasonal care are still important for long-term plant health and appearance.
Share your AE Plant Wishlist with our design team and we'll help create a plant palette that fits your home, style, sun exposure, irrigation, pool area, HOA, and long-term maintenance goals.
