Not every landscape plant qualifies for the Recommended Plant list, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in your landscape. Some common low desert landscape plants have aesthetic value, but perhaps not so many benefits to native bees or pollinators – these plants are organized under this page.
The list of plants that grow in the Southwest and can serve as host or nectar plants can be overwhelming. Selecting plants for your garden is made even more difficult by the dizzying array of plants sold at box stores.
If you’re serious about supporting pollinators, you can whittle down the list by removing plants that have been hybridized for color, plants that take a lot of water to make it through the summer heat, and plants that have been treated with pesticides to increase their beauty and shelf life.
Regarding pesticides, ask a store attendant if they can definitively say that their plants are pesticide free. Unless, of course, the label on the plant explicitly states that no pesticides were used. Neonicotinoid pesticides are especially harmful, and can stay in the plant for a season or more. As an aside, this also means that you shouldn’t use pesticides in your pollinator garden either – here is a list of common pesticides.

New, Plant tags!
Plants featured in the list below have, or are slated to have, aluminum plant tags available. For more information, see our Garden Tags page.

“Most cultivars, including nativars, are propagated by cloning, so that each plant has the same genetic makeup as the parent plant, and so on. A cloned cultivar has a set genetic package. Sometimes these clones go on to participate in the natural reproductive cycle by cross-pollinating with other true natives, sometimes they do not.”
Note: I’m still creating a detailed web page for some of these tags- it will take some time before they’re all completed, but let me know if you’re interested in a plant that’s under construction and I’ll bump it up on the list.
MPPH – Maricopa Pollinator Pathway Host Starter Palette
MPPN – Maricopa Pollinator Pathway Nectar Starter Palette
* – Coming Soon
- Agave spp – MPPH
- Aloe spp
- Angelita Daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis)
- Arizona Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii)
- Arizona Foldwing (Dicliptera resupinata)
- Arizona Milkweed (Asclepias angustifolia)
- Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina)
- Arizona Rosemallow (Hibiscus biseptus)
- Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californica)
- Arizona Wrightwort (Carlowrightia arizonica)
- Baja Fairy Duster (Calliandra californica)
- Baja Ruellia (Ruellia peninsularis)
- Bear Grass (Nolina microcarpa) – MPPH
- Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) – MPPN
- Bladdermallow (Herissantia crispa)
- Blanketflower (Gaillardia spp) – MPPH
- Bottlebrush (Melaleuca viminalis, Callistemon viminalis)
- Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) – MPPN
- Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)
- Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia Acanthocarpa)
- Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa)
- Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis)
- *Carrot (Daucus carota) – MPPH
- Cascalote (Țară cacalaco)
- California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus)
- Catclaw Acacia (Senegalia greggii) – MPPH
- Chain Fruit Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida)
- Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata) – MPPN
- Collectable Succulent Tags
- *Coreopsis spp – MPPN
- Chuparosa (Justicia californica) – MPPH
- Citrus spp – MPPH
- Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii) – MPPN
- Colorado Four O’clock (Mirabilis multiflora)
- Cowpen Daisy (Verbesina encelioides)
- Creosote (Larrea tridentata) – MPPH
- *Crossvine
- *Damianita
- *Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia spp) – MPPH
- Desert Bluebells (Phacelia campanularia)
- Desert Broom (Baccharis sarothroides)
- Desert Ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii)
- Desert Cotton (Gossypium thurberi)
- Desert Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) – MPPH
- Desert Hackberry (Celtis pallida) – MPPH
- Desert Honeysuckle (Anisacanthus thurberi) – MPPH
- Desert Lavender (Hyptis emoryi) – MPPH
- Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata) – MPPH
- Desert (Rush) Milkweed (Asclepias subulata) – MPPH
- Desert Senna (Senna covesii) – MPPH
- Desert Willow (Chilopsis spp) – MPPH
- Dill (Anethum graveolens) – MPPH
- Dogweed (Thymophylla pentacheata)
- Eastern Mojave Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium)
- Emu Bush (Eremophila spp)
- Engelmann’s Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii)
- *Euphorbia Xanti
- Evening Primrose (Oenothera spp)
- False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa)
- False Tansy Aster (Dieteria asteroides)
- *Fennel (Ferula vulgare) – MPPH
- Frost Sensitive (see Specialty tags below)
- Four Wing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens) – MPPH
- Grama Grass (Bouteloua spp)
- Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii, Eupatorium greggii, Conoclinium dissectum)
- Guayacan (Guaiacum coulteri)
- Heart Leaved Hibiscus (Hibiscus cardiophyllus)
- Hooker’s Evening Primrose (Oenothera elata ssp. hookeri) – MPPH
- Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) – MPPH
- Hopseed Bush(Dodonaea viscosa)
- Ironwood (Olneya tesota) – MPPN
- Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis)
- Lantana spp
- Littleleaf Ash (Fraxinus greggii)
- Mastic Tree (Pistachio lentiscus)
- Mealy Cup Sage (Salvia farinacea)
- Mesquite Trees (Prosopis spp) – MPPH
- Mexican Bird of Paradise (Erythrostemon mexicanus)
- Mexican Elderberry (Sambucas mexicana)
- Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)
- Mexican Tree Sunflower (Tithonia fruticosa)
- Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnifera) – MPPN
- Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera)
- New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum)
- Oaks (Quercus spp)
- Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) – MPPH
- Odora (Porophyllum gracile)
- Orange Jubilee (Tecoma X ‘Orange Jubilee)
- Oreganillo (Aloysia wrightii)
- Paleface Hibiscus (Hibiscus denudatus)
- Palo Verde Trees (Parkinsonia spp) – MPPN
- *Pam’s Pink Honeysuckle
- Parish’s Goldeneye (Bahiopsis parishii) – MPPH
- *Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – MPPH
- Passion Vine (Passiflora spp) – MPPH
- Penstemon spp – MPPN
- Perennial Rockcress (Boechera perennans)
- Pesticide Free Zone (see Specialty tags below)
- Pineleaf Milkweed (Asclepias linearis)
- Pink Fairyduster (Calliandria eriophylla) – MPPH
- *Pink Muhly Grass
- *Poppies (Eschscholzia spp) – MPPN
- Prairie Acacia (Acaciella angustissima)
- Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp) – MPPN
- *Purple Threeawn (Arstida purpurea) – MPPH
- *Queens Wreath
- *Red Bird of Paradise
- Red Push Pistache (Pistacia X ‘Red Push’)
- Rock Penstemon (Penstemon baccharifolius) – MPPN
- Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa)
- Rue of the Mountains (Thamnosma texana)
- Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) – MPPH
- Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)
- San Felipe Dogweed (Adenophyllum porophylloides)
- *Sand Verbena
- *Scorpionweed (Phacelia spp) – MPPN
- Seep Willow (Baccharis salicifolia)
- Shrubby Deervetch (Acmispon rigidus)
- Shrubby Indian Mallow (Abutilon abutiloides)
- *Snapdragon Vine
- Sonoran Kidneywood (Esenhardtia orthocarpa)
- Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens)
- Staghorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia Versicolor)
- Sunflowers (Helianthus spp) – MPPN
- Superstition Mallow (Abutilon palmeri) – MPPH
- Sweetbush (Bebbia juncea)
- Tahoka Daisy (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)
- Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)
- *Texas Olive
- Texas Sage (leucophyllum spp) – MPPH
- Tree Morning Glory (Ipomoea arborescens)
- Thornbush Wolfberry (Lyceum exsertum)
- Triangle Leaf Bursage (Ambrosia deltoidea)
- *Turpentine Bush
- Verbena (Verbena spp) – MPPH
- Western Goldenrod (Euthamia occidentalis)
- White Sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana)
- White stemmed milkweed (Asclepias albicans)
- Wild Petunia (Ruellia nudiflora)
- Wildflower Area (see Specialty tags below)
- Willow Ragwort (Barkleyanthus salicifolius)
- Willows (Salix spp)
- Wolfberries (Lycium spp) – MPPH
- Wooly Butterfly Bush (Buddleia marrubifolia) – MPPN
- Wright’s Buckwheat (Eriogonum wrightii)
- *Yellow Orchid Vine
- Yellow Rabbitbrush (Chrysothammus viscidiflorus)
- YourName Pollinator Garden (see Specialty tags below)
- *Yucca spp – MPPH
- *Zinnia