El Niño desert orchid is a tough, unique hybrid

Get it growing

New woody ornamentals don’t come along as often as annual bedding plants. So when El Niño desert orchid hit the market, LSU AgCenter horticulturist Jason Stagg was excited to see the flowering shrub’s potential for Louisiana gardens.

Something else about this new plant intrigued Stagg. El Niño is a hybrid of an unusual pair of native plants: catalpa, a tree we are familiar with here in Louisiana, and desert willow, a plant that’s common in Western states.