 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. The Rio Grande Botanic Garden is a gardener's delight on the banks of the famous Rio Grande. It boasts an excellent collection of water, conservative trees and shrubs adapted to the soils and climate of the southwestern high desert. Catherine Annetta, a gardener here at the Desert Collection, agreed to show us around and give us some recommendations. Catherine, it's nice to meet you. Hello, Curtis. You've got a lot of pretty plants here. Thank you. And what would you suggest that people consider growing? Well, one of the very colorful plants people can consider is the Budleia. The Budleia. It's a nice, low-water shrub. It comes in various forms. You have your upright variety, dark purples, two lavenders. And then you've got this one that we see here, this arching, firing all along the stem, very beautiful, fragrant. And then you've got Chimisa. Chimisa, very nice plant, very low water. Once it's established, you could just stop watering it, except in years of severe drought. And we need to be careful when we use the word Chimisa, because there's Chimisa and Chimisa, depending on who you talk to. One of them is the rubber rabbit brush. The other one is the four-winged salt bush. A little confusing. The rubber rabbit brush is a better ornamental. The four-winged salt bush can be used in really difficult locations, but it has a lot of problems. It's kind of a ranked grower. It is. So we want to stay with the prettier ones. Yes. And you've got red buds. Of all things, a red bud tree. Red bud. And one of the nicest is probably the Texas red bud. A very waxy, thick leaf with a cerise-colored bloom that will just knock you out in the springtime. And it likes the temperatures and the conditions. It grows well. It grows very well here. And you've got Horry Rosemary Mint. I like that one. It smells good. It does. And it does very well in sandy areas with very, very low water and cute little blue blossom zones. It's got a wonderful pepper-mini fragrance too. And, oh, of course, the creosote bush. It's really important if you buy that that you buy it from an area. The seed we're collecting from an area near you. Yes. The Mojave and the Chihuahuan does very well here. The Sonoran probably would not make it through some of our colder winters. So you need to get the right types. It's spectacular. It's a beautiful plant. Just a little bit of water. It makes an excellent flowering plant. And it smells nice too. And I know people who left New Mexico had always told me about the smell of the rain on the creosote. And so that's a wonderful plant to have in the Zero Escape. And you've got Mahonia. Mahonia. Relative of Barbaries, but it's not a Barbary. It's a Mahonia. That's correct. Sharp, spiny leaves. Sharp and spiny. Good place. Don't put it near the pathways. Don't put it near the pathways. Put it under the windows or in a place where you don't want people walking through, where actually it's a deterrent to traffic. But it has a nice fragrant flower in the spring. It can produce an edible fruit. And the fruit can be made into jellies. The birds are going to like it. But it's an excellent landscape plant too. It can be grown as a shrub or as a tree. It makes a beautiful dark bark. And then a mesquite. Mesquite. Very nice. We have a number of different varieties. And there are some that are more weedy. Some which are actually a nice ornamental tree. The screw bean mesquite is very nice. And nice flowers, nice fragrant flowers. Nice fragrance. And then we've got the mesquite beans. We're not going to eat them. But it's going to make the beans. And the Mexican elder. The Mexican elder. Tends to scorch out in the summer. But it starts greening up early and flowers early. And so it fits into the landscape very well. It does. And you can trim it so that it has a gnarly appearance. Or you can let it just stay in its natural form. It fits in the landscape extremely well. It makes a small shade tree. Shades. Patio areas. It's a good plant to have. And if people want to know more about these, you've got the desert collection here at the Botanic Garden. Then come see it. This is a good place to come. And we recommend that you come see it. Catherine, thank you so much for the tour. Oh, you're quite welcome. Thank you for coming. The preceding was a production of New Mexico State University. The views and opinions in this program are those of the author. And do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the NMSU Board of Regents.