If you plan to live forever - and want thick shade - buy the Chinese Pistache. I *love* that tree but my only hope is to find a house with one already there!

If you want beauty right away, filtered shade, beautiful color green, buy the DMPV. I've got that one and I love it. It more than doubled its size in one year. And with no thorns it is pettable.

What the heck; buy both and find a place for the extra one!

I had no luck with the Chinese Pistache. We put in a 5 gal.(may have been 15 gal. don't recall,) plant. It grew for a while then got some sort of die-back disease. I decided not to try it again.

I've grown both of these trees. Each is unique in its characteristics and has a lot to offer in our landscapes. I have to be brutally honest, though. I had two DMPV at my last house and I was careful not be too generous with the water and apply it deeply and infrequently. In spite of this during an average wind the largest broke off just below ground level. About a year later the second tree did the same thing. I replaced them with the Sonoran Emerald hybrid and discovered I liked this tree even better. Plus they are still standing! The Sonoran Emerald has a deeper green color to the leaflets and bark and the canopy is a little more dense which gives it a more 'lush' appearance.

You can't beat the striking fall color of Chinese Pistache. I haven't had any problems with this one. They are being used as street trees in Gilbert - some that are at least 15 years old are near Val Vista Lakes. Eventually this tree will have a dense canopy which may create an issue with deep shade. Personally, I love its deciduous nature which allows light to warm the winter landscape.

Hey AZTreeLvr,

Does the Sonoran Emerald Hybrid have thorns?

easy

Oops, that's one very important feature.....it is thornless.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sonoran Emerald in bloom

That's a great picture of the Sonoran Emerald. TreeLvr, do you know how old that one is? What growth rate I can expect from the Sonoran Emerald?

Are you familiar with the Dragon Tree? Here's a link:

The website says it grows to 30' in 3 years. Comments?

Here is a link that might be useful: Dragon Trees

Mary,

The Sonoran Emerald has a pretty healthy growth rate. The one in the photo is growing at Arizona Wholesale Growesrs (19th Ave & Pinnacle Peak Rd.) I'm not sure of the age but I remember seeing it when I visited there in 2000. I've planted several of these trees in the last 5 years including the most recent which was a 15 gallon size planted in March or April. Although it looked pretty skimpy at first, it's now larger than a robust 24" box tree. I water it deeply once every 2 - 3 weeks.

I've seen the Dragon Tree and several people on this list have grown it. Beware of trees that grow extremely fast - their wood tends to be weak which can make them vulnerable to winds. They also tend to be short lived. Just think about oak trees....they grow slowly and have very hard, dense wood and live for a very long time. Also, trees with large leave like the Dragon tree, typically are not well adapted to the desert and need lots of water. Large leaves lose tons more water vapor than small leaves.

I hope this helps.

I've always been the type to go for the cheap 5 gallon bucket, but it looks like with this tree I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay for the 15 gallon tree, as I cannot seem to find 5 gallon buckets available anywhere :((((

Life is good! :)
Easy

does anyone know the difference between a desert museum and a sonoran emerald?

So you don't want heavy shade? That's better than gold here. Plus you get mulberries to boot. I have dm palo verde and love it but that emerald variety sounds great. I've never seen it though.

I've grown both of these trees. Each is unique in its characteristics and has a lot to offer in our landscapes. I have to be brutally honest, though. I had two DMPV at my last house and I was careful not be too generous with the water and apply it deeply and infrequently. In spite of this during an average wind the largest broke off just below ground level. About a year later the second tree did the same thing. I replaced them with the Sonoran Emerald hybrid and discovered I liked this tree even better. I planted three more at a new home and they are all still standing! Even through the microburst in Gilbert two weeks ago - not even a broken branch.

The Sonoran Emerald has a deeper green color to the leaflets and bark and the canopy is a little more dense which gives it a more 'lush' appearance. It's thornless and grows to about 25 x 25.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:413480}}

That is beautiful. If it's stronger and thornless I don't see why anyone wouldn't go for that. I have a. DM palo verde as I didn't know about the Sonoran emerald or I might have looked for it. My DM palo verde held up during the monsoons. Palo verdes in general are gorgeous and I don't get tired of seeing them. The bark is so unique. I do have some scabbing on the trunk and don't know what is causing it. I haven't hit it with any equipment. Otherwise it looks healthy.

This post was edited by toucan on Tue, Jul 29, 14 at 22:20

There is a flower fairy lives in each of our 3 Desert museum Palo Verde trees. The tree grows super fast, is low maintenance, big and gorgeous. It produces flowers 4 times a year. It is a pain to clean these blooms. We never water them once they are established.