How to grow cycads in the terrible heat of Phoenix, Arizona

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Yes, you can grow cycads in Phoenix, Arizona, and yes it gets ridiculously hot here. It's 113 as I write this, and that's not unusual for summertime. Temperatures often get over 115 degrees, and the only time there's much mention of it being unusually hot is when it gets over 120. But in my experience, it's not the heat that causes problems for most cycads, it's the light. Or to be more specific, the lack of shade. Shade makes all of the difference!

I developed a taste for tropical plants while living in Southern California, but I had lived in the Phoenix area before, going to ASU, and I knew about the terrible heat. And that's why when I bought a house, I looked carefully at the exposure, and made sure that the backyard faced east. That means morning sun, and afternoon shade. The "prime real estate" in my yard for cycads and miniature palms is in the shade of the house. It's about 5 pm, and while it's the hottest part of the day, you can see that the yard is mostly shaded.


I call the plants along the eastern exposure the Dioon Garden, although there are also zamias and a revoluta. There's a dual watering system hidden in there, one that sprays water (daily during the summer) and the second system is for misting, which comes on every 6 hours. It's a very precise and small watering area, so it really doesn't use much water. The turf is artificial, by the way.



In other areas of the yard that get less shade I also have dioons, but mostly edules, and my personal favorite is variety called a "palma sola". These plants can take more direct sun than any other cycad I know of. We've had some brutally hot summers lately, and I've seen some tip burn, but it isn't as if sitting out in the "fires of ___" has hurt them. They're growing quite nicely. But I really can't recommend planting any cycad in full sun in Phoenix. Find some shade!

Back when I was a member of the non-defunct Arizona Palm and Cycad Association, we used to travel around the Phoenix area looking at gardens and I always made a note of how shade was done. My favorite garden by far had huge soaring trees, beautifully trimmed, which not only gave shade but an overall wonderful effect. One garden had ugly posts with shade cloth attached to it, but as you can tell I don't like look at that kind of stuff. Still, all of these gardens had to have shade! Phoenix gets hot, and cycads aren't cactuses (cacti?)!

I'm not really a serious cycad collector, so I don't have any exotics, like encephalartos, but I have seen them growing quite nicely in the Phoenix area - with of course plenty of shade. The goal I had for my garden was to create a tropical feeling in a very small space, and the cycads that I have are mostly dioons, zamias, and cycas.

I hope this helps. Remember to plant your cycads where they will get good drainage, as much shade as possible, and be sure to water them when they start to flush!

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