I would love to have a chitalpa if they were evergreen...it's gorgeous in most of the photos I've viewed. One site said they "suffer from cracks in its bark caused by its fast growth...susceptible to early frosts in the fall...commonly infested by black aphids and thrips...water efficient, desert tough...pretty flowers that bloom throughout the year..." I heard that they outshine desert willow all around.

Tecoma stans/thevetia grow fairly quick and get to around 10-12' tall. If your planting area is narrow, they can be trimmed to tree form so the canopy blocks the view but still leaves space for you to walk by it between the house and wall. Regular oleander makes a pretty tree that grows fast, too. Both litter. (We planted castors to grow a really quick screen for my neighboring yards.)

You have a nice start on your backyard...I can just envision your seating area all surrounded by lush greenery and vines. :)

Thank you for the compliment. I have just been re-arranging things around the yard to keep myself busy so that I don't go out and buy something that shouldn't be planted yet. I hate to say it but the palm on the right had a major set back when I went out of town and it's dripper wasn't adjusted right. I think it will come back but it certainly doesn't look good anymore. At least it was a free palm. I get baby palms from the neighbor's tree. I was set on getting a Desert Willow but I have been waiting until August to buy it. This week I figured out what a Chitalpa was and read that it had less litter than the willow and I liked the larger leaves. I haven't seen one in real life yet. I have considered oleanders. I am not sure which would grow fastest. The faster the better.

You know, I have never seen a Chitalpa planted here. Doesn't mean it never is, I just can't offer any help.

The Tecoma stans - both Orange Jubilee and Yellow bells are great for kind of loose, fluffy green plants - they don't look much like the tough, sun loving plants that they are. But the one thing that they don't handle well is cold - they survive it, but there can be quite a bit of die-back. Were you going to put next to a wall that would help keep them a bit warmer? Another fast growing bush and also evergreen is the Hop bush, Dodonea viscosa. Also very xeric and also pretty leafy. No showy flowers, but a lot more cold tolerant.

Vines are probably a quicker solution than the bushes. Depending on your finances, it might be easiest to stick some of those kind of fan shaped or square wooden trellises up - but of course, getting creative is always an option - pieces of fencing, cane, wire, rebar, wood - take a look at the "garden art" or "garden junque" forums and see if they inspire you!

P.S. Unless it's a very small tree, a 5x5 planter isn't a great place for a tree to thrive - those extra two feet will be gained in a season by a fast growing tree.

HTH, good luck!

The Chitalpa is becoming a popular tree for common areas and streetscapes here in the metro Phoenix area. I've seen them in Surprise and Gilbert and there is a lovely (approx. 10 yr. old) tree in downtown Phoenix near the municipal court buildings in a landscape Carol Schuler designed.

It is grown by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery who says "This medium size deciduous tree grows rapidly to 20-30' high and as wide, producing long, pointed, deep green leaves. Upon these leaves grow the pink to white trumpet shaped flowers with purple markings. Over a long season, these flowers will appear in showy clusters."

Here's a link to photos of the entire plant and close up of flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chitalpa

Thanks for all the great advice! Thanks for the picture of the Chitalpa too. I am going to look for it in Tucson but if I can't find it I will have to buy it in Phoenix. I looked at Home Depot yesterday. They didn't have anything I was looking for. Not even a Trumpet Creeper or Tacoma stans. They had plenty of Snail vines and honeysuckle. I guess I need to go to a real nursery.

I am still tossing around the idea of buying a trellis. What are the best vines for a privacy screen? Money is definitely scarce but I am trying to find creative alternatives. I will check out those other forums. I don't think I have seen a Hop bush before. Do you have a picture or link?

Thanks again.

LOL - there's plenty of pics on the web, but I must admit, this is not the worlds most photogenic plant. That, or there's an awful lot of really bad photographers out there!

There's a really nice hedge of them facing Northern Ave, I'll try to grab a shot of it while I'm out and about today. My little purple ones are too short to give you much of an impression and my tall, green one is totally mixed in with other plants, a little difficult too.

Keep in mind that some vines don't need trellising - I only mentioned that because of the idea of getting height above the CMU wall - it is block, right? You probably want to take a walk (or slow drive with the A/C on, LOL!) around your neighborhood and see if you see anything else interesting around there that thrives - I have no idea how cool it gets in your area and that can make a difference in what you select.

One that would take an investment in some cash is the Tombstone rose - they're very heavy, quite thick and gorgeous - they love the Southwest. There's a few rosarians here who can help you better than I with actual requirements, but it's a great plant. White or yellow flowers, pretty xeric, too. There's other vines that you could probably get cuttings of (free! yay!) and then your investment is mainly time - Campsis radicans, Passifloras, Pandorea, Cat's Claw, Queen's wreath.... there's tons out there. This is a situation where you might want to think about Bougainvillea as well - I don't usually recommend them, but half the dropping blooms would be on your neighbors side, let them cope with it. Doesn't sound like the type who'd care much.

I think we should do a vine FAQ, it's a question we hear a lot... oh, Susie....

Here is a link that might be useful: Hopbush

Okay, here's the promised pics... I'm sticking with what I said - either these plants are not photogenic or I'm a really bad photographer! Daizy, you'll have to see these on Gardenweb, they won't show up in e-mail.

Here's the hedge on Northern - I've added a yellow line so you could see where they end:

{{gwi:410352}}

And here's mine, out by my silk oak:

HTH!

Is a chitalpa the same as a catalpa?

Chitalpa is a hybrid of the Catalpa and the Chilopsis linearis (desert willow). It has larger leaves than the willow and less litter. Supposedly it is sterile so it doesn't produce large bean pods. It is supposed to get a little larger than a willow too.

Thanks Pagancat for the photos of the Hopbush. I think I will add them to my landscape plan.