Deciduous shrubDrought tolerantPollinatorsNative

Ocotillo

Fouquieria splendens

A dramatic desert shrub of tall, thorny, whip-like stems that carry spikes of scarlet-orange flowers in spring, a favourite of hummingbirds. It's very drought tolerant in sandy or rocky soil, and planted in a row its spiny stems make an impenetrable living fence, so keep it away from paths.

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Ocotillo: flowers — Photo: Joshua Tree National Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 12 × 10 ft; 3.5 × 3 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 7b–11b; USDA
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Blooms: Mar–May

Ocotillo at its mature size

A mature Ocotillo grows to about 12 ft tall and 10 ft wide, taller than most people.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, USDA PLANTS.

Through the year

What Ocotillo looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

Dormant · Jun–Feb

Bare gray spiny canes.

In flower · Mar–May

Green-leaved canes tipped with scarlet flower spikes.

Photos

Ocotillo: detail — Detail · Joe Decruyenaere, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Ocotillo

Grows well in: The desert Southwest.
Good for: Drought tolerant and pollinators
Leaves: Drops its leaves in winter
Native to: Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts (Texas to California) and Northern Mexico

Spacing

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Ocotillo, that’s about 10 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.