Native Plants for New Mexico

New Mexico is high. Even its low desert sits well above sea level, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are at elevations that give them cold winters despite their southern latitude.

The southern third is Chihuahuan Desert, higher and cooler than the Sonoran, with creosote, agave, and desert grassland. Moving up, pinyon-juniper woodland covers enormous areas of the middle elevations. Above that comes ponderosa pine, then mixed conifer, then spruce and fir, and finally alpine tundra on the highest peaks in the Sangre de Cristos.

The result is that latitude tells you almost nothing here and elevation tells you almost everything.

Monsoon and winter moisture

Like Arizona, New Mexico receives summer monsoon rain, generally from July into September, and that is when much of the native flora does its growing and flowering. Winter brings snow at elevation and some moisture lower down. Spring is typically dry and windy.

Plant with the monsoon rather than against it. Setting plants out just before the summer rains gives them natural irrigation during establishment, which is a real advantage in a place where hand-watering is otherwise the only option.

Wind, sun, and thin air

Spring winds are strong and persistent, and at these elevations sunlight is intense. Both drive moisture out of plants faster than the air temperature suggests.

Native species tolerate it: chamisa, apache plume, penstemons, globemallow, winterfat, blue grama, and the many composites of the high desert grassland. They want lean, alkaline, fast-draining soil and very little water once established.

Alkaline soil and caliche

Soils are alkaline nearly statewide and often shallow, with caliche hardpan in many areas. Check for it before planting trees or shrubs, since a layer of it will hold water around roots and drown a plant in a desert.

Do not attempt to acidify the soil. Choose plants that want alkaline ground, which the native flora supplies in abundance.

Water as the organizing question

Water is scarce and often restricted. Native plantings are the practical response rather than a sacrifice: a well-chosen bed of high-desert natives looks better in August than an irrigated lawn and costs nothing to run.

Water deeply and infrequently during establishment to draw roots down, then taper. Gravel mulch suits these plants better than bark.

Confirming what is native to your area

The Native Plant Society of New Mexico runs chapters at very different elevations, and their local knowledge is the fastest route to a workable plant list. New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension publishes guidance organized by elevation zone, and the Santa Fe Botanical Garden displays plants suited to the northern part of the state.

Sources: New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service (elevation zone plant guidance); Natural Heritage New Mexico, University of New Mexico (species distribution and natural communities); USDA PLANTS Database (native status by state).