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Five landscape species, Baccharis pilularis, Fallugia paradoxa, Juniperus sabina `Tamariscifolia', Leucophyllum frutescens, and Nerium oleander, grown in 3.8-1 containers, were planted in a loam soil and mulched with pecan shells or rock. Plants were irrigated weekly at 25, 50, 75 and 100% of estimated potential evapotranspiration (PET) determined using mean canopy cover at the beginning of the experiment. Growth was measured every two weeks and aesthetic, flowering and fruiting evaluations were made weekly. Leucophyllum and Nerium grew rapidly at a constant rate throughout the season. Baccharis and Fallugia grew rapidly in May and June and slowly thereafter. Juniperus showed a continued, moderate growth rate. In addition, there were few differences in overall plant quality, flowering or fruiting across irrigation rates. The equation for determining the irrigation of ornamentals appears to be flawed. For Leucophyllum, at the 25% rate, it predicted 980 1/plant would be required during the season while only 22 1 (2.4% of PET) was applied, producing excellent specimens.