Two Pinal County Master Gardeners are helping Maricopa residents learn which plants can handle Arizona’s desert climate and which ones are better left out of the yard, according to InMaricopa.
Harriet Phelps and Wende Gehrt both said gardening in Arizona required a major adjustment after moving here. Phelps said she and her husband lost a number of plants during their first two years in the state because they were planting at the wrong time of year.
The pair write a gardening column for InMaricopa and say their goal is to help local gardeners succeed. Gehrt, who lives in Glennwilde, said they are happiest when they know others are doing well with their gardens.
Phelps, who moved to Arizona in 2010, now has 20 years of Master Gardener experience in both Illinois and Arizona. Gehrt joined the program after moving to Maricopa in 2017 and said gardeners should focus on native or desert-adapted plants. Both women also emphasized that trial and error is part of the process, as long as people keep Arizona’s extreme conditions in mind.
Among the plants they highlighted as easier to grow locally were prickly pear cactus and agave. They also pointed to plants such as petunias and hostas as examples of plants that may struggle in the Arizona heat, depending on the season and conditions.
