The Arboretum Tomé, A Living Laboratory, Is Open Year Round

The Arboretum serves as a living laboratory and is available for school field trips, students, home gardeners, researchers, and individuals. The Arboretum is a great place to observe mature native trees, to study, to be inspired, or to see the great variety of native landscaping trees the southwest has to offer. If you're in the area, call us, for access!

During Fall, The Arboretum Tomé, presents a great variety of colorful fall foliage,

a visual sensation for the eyes!

The Arboretum Tomé is a collection of trees endemic to the desert Southwest. The collection includes a huge collection of Oak trees, the genus Quercus, along with Redwoods, Giant Timber Bamboo, and Maples, including a Western native sugar maple called the Big Tooth Maple, Acer grandidentatum.

The Arboretum also contains the production nursery for Trees That Please Nursery and is the proving ground for Soil Secrets products. All plants on the Arboretum grounds and Trees That Please Nursery are fed exclusively using the products and protocols developed by Soil Secrets.

Learn more about the products of Soil Secrets by following their blog at: http://www.soilsecretsblog.com

The Arboretum is open for tours by appointment only by contacting Trees That Please Nursery at

Phone: 505-866-5027
Email: treesthatplease@comcast.net.

Photos & Narrative By:

Stephen Sain
Staff Plant Physiologist

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Weed Identification: Goatheads or Stickers

Goatheads ( Tribulus terrestris ) are native to Southern Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Goatheads are also called stickers, sticker weed, bullhead, devil’s weed, and puncturevine. Goatheads are easily recognized by their prostrate growth form, leaves with leaflets, yellow flowers, and stickers (Goatheads). If you miss’em visually then they will stab you painfully in the fingers as you work your garden, or stick to your clothing and shoes. Goatheads are the primary reason local bicyclists must get “thorn proof” tires for riding on area trails and streets. Goatheads have prostrate stems that radiate outward from one central point. Leaves are compound with smaller leaflets. Lemon yellow flowers form along the stems and fertilized flowers form fruits. Fruits consist of several attached structures called nutlets (Goatheads). Each nutlet is a single seed that becomes hard or woody when mature. Each seed has two sharp spines that easily penetrat

Weed Identification: Sand Bur

Sand Bur ( Cenchrus longispinus ) is native to North America. It has other names like sand spur, long-spined sand bur, hedgehog grass, and bur grass . Sand Bur is an annual grass usually growing with a prostrate growth form. It is similar in appearance to other grasses prior to seed formation. Individual plants may be 3’ in diameter, sometimes larger. Sand Bur is a common weed of sandy soils but also grows well elsewhere. Sand Bur will often root at stem nodes that are touching the ground. The root system of Sand Bur is shallow and fibrous making them easily pulled (when immature). Sand Bur produces a flowering spike. As seeds begin to form Sand Bur is easily recognized by its numerous sharp or burred seeds or long spines. As the burred seeds mature they are easily separated from the mother plant and their sharp spines stick to virtually anything. Sand Bur can disseminate its seeds long distances because its sharp spines will hitch a ride on skin, animal hides,

Western Soapberry Tree

The Western Soapberry tree ( Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii ) is native to New Mexico. It grows wild from Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana westward through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Mexico. The fruit of the Western Soapberry tree is a drupe. Mature fruits are translucent, amber colored, and contain a black seed. The mature fruit without the seed will produce a good lather with water and has been used as a soap substitute. Fruits persist on the trees through winter. T he Western Soapberry tree can grow 1′-2′ annually reaching 25′-30′ tall and wide making it a good sized shade tree. Fall leaf color is an attractive golden yellow. Currently, there are no improved varieties of the Western Soapberry Tree. It grows well on the alkaline soils of New Mexico and is very tolerant of heat and drought once established. This tree is rarely affected by disease or insect pests making it an ideal specimen tree for your yard or landscape. S

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