 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. Along historic Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, lies an oasis of plant life at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden. I went to the garden's desert collection to check out the large variety of desert succulents and cacti. Desert collections gardener Catherine Annetta started the tour with the brilliant Claret Cup cactus. When grown properly, it'll produce a lot of flowers in the spring. It likes a little bit of shade, but does well in full sun. Very beautiful. You have all your apuntias. The prickly pears. The prickly pears. And one nice thing is you can take the tunas and make jellies and jams from them. And we even have the cholla cactus. It's a close relative of prickly pear. In landscape situations, it can take up a lot of space, but it's easy to grow without irrigation. And so there's a wide variety of cacti we can use. They're not the only thing you can grow in a zero-scape. Oh, no. But they certainly do have a place there. Yuccas, which are succulents, not cacti, can be an accent to the landscape. Palm yuccas do better in warmer regions of the southwest. Yucca Tomsoniana, with its narrower leaves, does a little better in cooler areas. The agave, which is similar to the yucca, is also easy to grow with little irrigation in southwestern landscapes. Although it's called a sentry plant, it can mature and flower in 20 years or less depending on the species. It's a nice plant. It's a sharp point. You don't want to put it next to a sidewalk, but it's a good plant and looks like it belongs in the desert. Yes. Okay, and you've also got okatea. That's another one that'll bite you. That is. Long slender stalk with lots of spines on it. And the interesting thing is it is leafless until after it rains. And it leaves out? It leaves out and it blooms at the top. Bright orange blooms. Yeah, it looks like a dead stick with beautiful blooms. It does. Cacti and succulents can add interest to a zero-escape. Desert collections like the one here at the Real Grand Botanic Garden can help gardeners choose plants for their home landscape. 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.