Hello from Arizona

Hi all!
Just joined and wanted to say a quick "hello!" from the Arizona desert.
It's nice to be here!
DD

Howdy, Neighbor!

What kind of gardening interests you?

Welcome DD from another neighbor!

Well howdy, neighbor!

I like just about everything, but really enjoy tropical-looking plants and varieties that attract hummers. Mostly, my garden consists of palms and easy keepers like yucca and ferns, etc., with a small variety of hardy patio plants. (I'm still in the planning stage for 2 little side yards and have creating some shade and attracting more hummers in mind.)

What type of gardening do you enjoy?

Hi kimaz! Thanks for the welcome!

hiya Desert_Dew,

Welcome! you'll find the most amazing people and a wealth of helpful knowledge here. Good gardening

Don

I've got different things going on in different areas. I have an "enhanced desert" outer area, a "planned desert" front yard, a cactus garden, a pool area, and a just-begun courtyard that I'd like to think looks a little tropical. My plants are listed here: http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/sj/TucsonJen/0/

Are you listing your plants somewhere? I don't have a computer program for it so I'm just using the journal here - it prints out great! I'd LOVE to see your list if you have one. I'm always looking for ideas.... ones that survive our heat in particular! :P


Hey, Kim? You have Blue Hibiscus 'Swan River' (Alyogyne huegelii), right? I have a few 'Santa Cruz' and one is looking poorly with yellowing leaves. How wet are you keeping the soil? How much sun is yours getting? Could a windy spot be hurting mine? Should I just send it to you to fix? Kidding!

Jen. I am not a Blue Hibiscus expert by any means but I planted one last January. It was only in a 1/2 gallon pot and it did nothing for a year. I had to water the sh*t out of it last summer to help it get its roots established but now its thriving and beautiful. They all drop leaves. Thats a good thing because where the leaves drop they generate new leaves. I bought another in a "big" (two gallon) pot and planted it on my east facing wall and its already taking off. I have mixed feelings about buying plants which we stick in the desert. My own personal experience, the more mature the plant the better they survive the summers here.

Hi Don,

Thank you for the warm welcome. In the little time I have had to browse, I am just amazed with the community and thrilled to be here. I mentioned this fantastic site to someone yesterday and told them it feels like discovering treasure!

Jen, your areas sound wonderful, and thanks so much for the link. My time was limited right then but I really enjoyed what I was able to view. You have beautiful varieties. (It was after clicking on your link that the realization of the depth of the journal feature hit. Wow.) I don't have a viewable list yet but I'm excited about starting a journal to share. I re-landscaped a couple of years ago, so much of what is here is immature...and it's still a work in progress, lol.

Thanks all for the warm welcome!

DD

DD - Mine is all very new as well. We moved in 2.5 years ago and pretty much all that was on here was 2 African Sumac trees, 3 rose bushes, a row of lantana, and all the creosote your heart could desire. We worked on the inside of the house for the first year and a half and just recently started on the landscaping. I think we should have done that the other way around so the plants could have grown - and the carpetting not already be worn! I'll be on the look out for your journal. :)

Kim - My smaller ones are getting lots of water and a fair amount of shade. The big one I left in it's pot in case the spot I choose was too hot and sunny. I'm wondering if being in a pot is part of the problem. It's losing a lot more leaves than the others.

hello from new york state. enjoy

HEY! A newbie from our beautiful state! I'm down here in the San Pedro Valley...at 4500 ft.....with the mountains around me at 7500 ft! We get frost in the winter and even some snow...What I REALLY would like to have is a Red Mexican Bird of Paradise that would survive our winters....we have a few in town, but I WANT ONE! I love to see them in Tucson. I've bought two and killed them...or the frost did

Well, welcome to the very best site on the web...you'll make wonderful friends here...please number me among one of the first ones. Jo

My computer crashed so I'm just now able to post again...

Jen, I sure can relate. We had the house built about 5 years ago and the builder's landscape packages did not allow placement input. We lived with their landscaping for a few years, leaving the backyard bare by choice, planning to relandscape everything when it was time for the backyard project. When ready, everything was removed and I started over fresh...all over again with baby plants and trees, lol. Between the backyard project and the relandscaping, we were under construction for about 4 months, and it does take its toll on carpeting!LOL

Hello Herbie, thanks so much for your welcome from New York...it's a pleasure to meet you!

Hi Jo, your warm welcome is much appreciated! It is a beautiful state. And it's nice to know someone who enjoys a 4 season area in AZ. As a child, I lived for a while in Flag and Williams, among other AZ cities (a short while on the Hopi reservation along the Little Colorado -- gorgeous!), but after 40-something years in mostly the Phoenix area, I tend to envision its weather for everyone statewide, lol. And hey, we share a fondness for the Red BoP -- wish they could winter for you!

I'm looking forward to getting familiar with the site, and thanks again to everyone for the warm and friendly welcome!

DD

Welcome to Daves. I don't know how I missed this thread before. LOL! Hope you are enjoying yourself.

I'm so glad that you joined our garden family here. There is always something going on - things to learn, new ideas to try out and of course, lots of plants and seeds to swap. I hope you like it as much as I do.

~Carla

Thank you, Brugie and Carla! There's so much to learn and explore...it's just great to be here!

DD

Hi all,

Just to let you know you have one more AZ neighbor! =D

Hey, that's great -- welcome, Graydawn!

This community is just wonderful.

DD

Bienvenidos, Graydawn! Welcome aboard!

Welcome, Greaydawn...this is a great place...we'll probably have a get together this year like we did last year...meet, greet, eat and trade/talk plants!! Jo

Welcome, DD! I've been looking forward to chatting with someone who knows gardening in Arizona. Everything is different here! Now that I have some room to play in the dirt (an acre) I am overwhelmed with it. It's coming along. Of course, I have as much lantana as my better half will allow me (he doesn't like it much) but am trying to get familiar with other plants. I have some Royal Blue Potato Bushes, a ficus, and I just planted some Mexican Petunia. Have lived here for almost 10 years now (geez!) but previously lived in a home with a postage stamp for a yard. (you know the type - very prevelent in this area!)

I've posted a question in another chat regarding growing Creosote Bushes from seed. Do you know anything about that?

Welcome and hope to chat soon!

Thanks so much for the welcome, Lantanalover! It's great that you have lots of dirt to play in! Boy, the world is your oyster when you do!LOL It's been several years since I had any acreage...miss it, bad, lol.

I love lantana, too, and have lots of it. :) (It has its moments, lol, but you can't beat it for year around color.) Are your petunias the ruellia brittoniana or dwarfs? I have both of those, too, purple and pink in both and some baby brittoniana pinks that were started from cuttings.

Wish I did, but I have no successful experience with creosote from seed. Many attempts at transplanting it or growing it from seed, years ago, were a flop. As tough as it is naturally, it sure seems tempermental when messed with, lol. The transplants would just wither up and seeds never sprouted. Wish I could help!

Thanks again for the warm welcome -- feel free to chat anytime!

Hello, LL!
I love my Creosote but I failed in my efforts to transplant a few wayward ones. I haven't tried seeds. I also have Lantana and Potato Bushes. :)
Where is Queen Creek?

Jen, so you didn't have any luck with them, either. Huh. Maybe there's a trick to it or maybe they're much like so many of the wild flowers here that grow only when things are just-so. Maybe LL will find the trick to it. :)

Well welcome i'm in oklahoma.. you will really have a great time on here so many things to explore...

Will let you all know how the creosote project goes - I think I actually saw a tiny sprout today, but maybe it was my imagination:)!

My petunias are the ruellia brittoniana. They look great next to my gold mound lantana!

Jen, Queen Creek is in the farthest southeast corner of Maricopa County (Phoenix area) south of Mesa. In fact, I could throw a rock real hard and hit Pinal County just past 2 acres to the south of my house!

By the way, Creosote lovers, I have found that trimming them, even down to the ground, will prompt them to grow thick and bushy. I did that with many of mine and they are so green and thick now, I'm amazed. It takes some willpower to chop them down, I know. But they come back so beautiful. I also did some deep watering as well. That helped too.

LL - My student teacher is from Florence and mentioned just yesterday that she was thinking of moving to Queen Creek if she gets a position in her home town. She gave me a geography lesson, lol!

I've trimmed some of my Creosote down before and the results have been great. Mostly, though, I just leave them wild. A neighbor has had the lower bracnches trimmed off and left the tall ones to make hers look like trees. Not my cup of tea!

And, hey! No throwing rocks! Not even at those people in Pinal!

Jen - LOL!! What subject - grade is your student teacher interested in? I know QC is growing like crazy and having a hard time keeping up with all the new students. My son will be an 8th grader next year in QC Middle School....

PS - nice chatting with you!

I am also from Queen Creek. Well actually, I live in the San Tan Mountains. I live on 2 acres and am just starting to landscape it seriously. I have about 3/4 acre around the house and 1 1/4 acres for the horses. Out in the horses area there is mostly Creosote bushes. There is one Wolfberry. In the yard around the house I have Creosote, Cottonwoods, Citrus, Avocado, Nectarine, Chilean Mesquite, Roses, Globe Mallow, a Wolfberry, and a weird little bushy thing that puts out beautiful little blue flowers all along the stems. Not many leaves, just dark blue green spikey things. lots of long grass(pampas grass type) that I have no clue of what it's called, and I think thats it.

I didn't know that about pruning the Creosote. I'd like them to be more on the bushy side. I believe I will hack them up this weekend. Is there a good time to do this or should I wait until the fall? I have a Mexicola Avocado that is struggling to survive. It wilts during the day and perks up real nice at night. Its suppose to be for our area. I even put up a shade cloth so the direct sun wouldn't hit it. That didn't help at all. I'm really trying with this tree.

I'm glad I ran across this site. It looks very friendly and informative.

Hi Judy, and welcome! Glad you found it, too. This is about the friendliest garden community I have ever known of. Your place sounds nice with the variety and all that space! I've never grown avocado but many in AZ grow the more exotic fruits. Hopefully others on the site will have some info for you. :)

Welcome aboard, Judy!

There's information on Creosote here http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/69621/index.html but I don't know about "best pruning time" other than I've seen it done in the Spring and Fall - and we did two last Fall.

The avacado sounds like it needs a big drink. I think it will do *okay* without the extra water but may have trouble when things heat up. Shade should have helped some, though... That said, I don't know a darn thing! I'm new to gardening!

Thank you for the warm welcomes! I will click on that link and see what I can find out. As for my avocado, the shade seems to be working a little bit. I water that tree every other day yet it still wilts during the day. Nice and perky at night tho. BUT, since I put the shade up it does seem to wilt a little less. Maybe it just has to settle in some. Personally I think it just wants to freak me out. lol

Hi Judy! Welcome to a fellow Queen "Cweeker"! On your Avacodo, have you tried deep watering it? I don't proclaim to know much about Avacado trees but I have learned that deep-watering is good if it is a deep-rooted species. It helps them to grow their roots down to the water instead of up toward the surface since watering from the surface tends to evaporate when it's hot out. I bought our deep waterer at Home Depot and it seems to help. I know that Italian Cypress are deep rooters too.

Another thing that might help retain your water is to cover the ground over the roots with mulch, so the water doesn't evaporate so much.

Would love to see your "garden"! Sounds wonderful.

Hi everyone. I just joined a couple of days ago. Still learning my way around the site. I see that there are lots of other people here from Az. I'm not a fan of a cactus garden. I'm more interested in finding out what kinds of flowers grow well here in Tucson. Any suggestions?

Howdy, Piggy!

Short answer: Salvia :)

Typical Jen answer (long!): I've got a ton of color in my still-in-progress courtyard. Lots of Salvia, Periwinkle, Lavender, Sky Flower, Lantana, Fairy Dusters, Santa Cruz Hibiscus, Hibiscus (real, lol!), African Iris, Potato Bush, Purple Coral Pea, Sea Lavender, and Bat Face Cuphea (a definite favorite!). I just bought something called 'Blue Mist' which is out at HD and Lowe's now. It looks great! I also have lots of "green" to make the color of the blooms stand out better. My color theme is blue, purple, and red but there are great plants with yellow and orange blooms, of course.

What kind of area are you doing? How big? Are you going to plan it all out meticulously or just buy on gut - or a combination of the two (that's how I do it!)?Got a color theme? Got drip? :)

Hi PiggyPoo! Welcome from another new member who is still finding my way around, too -- there's just so much to see and learn here!LOL

As Jen alluded to, knowing a few more details on what you are interested in will be helpful since there's so many different types to choose from. Are you mostly interested in annuals or perennials...landscape, bed or container plants, shade or full sun? So many questions, lol. ...Vincas, zinnias, sunflowers, roses, canna, cosmos, lily, marigolds, passion and trumpet vines, ruellias, penstemon, red or yellow bird of paradise... (Also, visiting public gardens in Tucson would be a good way to see combinations of many varieties.)

DD

Hello...and Welcome to any of the new members that I failed to say HOWDY to!! You will all love this place...and make so many new friends, and I hope to be among them. Jo

Hey Jen, DD... thanks for the responses. Hmmmm, plan? Not exactly. Color scheme? Hmmmm, not exactly LOL I like purples and reds, but for now, I'm just winging it with what may or may not work. I just finished making 3 large raised flower beds. I do have a drip system, but it's still in the works. The Trans something or others. Mitters, sponders, missions, whatever I don't know. That's not my department. I have one huge bed in the corner of my yard that I had wanted to plant with all sorts of daisies. I got part of the way through and changed my mind. Added some vincas. I've got some verbena, and some salvia, and some petunias, and some heliotrope in another bed. And then in a small bed under a window, I have some bouganvilla (which aren't doing so well) I would have loved some lavender. Didn't realize it would do well. I have been to the botanical gardens, but it's been awhile. As for HD, I think for now I've been forbidden to go there for awhile LOL j/k, but I did quite a bit of damage last weekend there. As far as if I am interested in annuals or perennials? Beats me...I'm still trying to decide.

I'm going to look into the suggested flowers that you two mentioned, look at some pictures to see what they look like :)

Thanks bunches :)
PiggyPoo

My drip is still "in progress" and likely will be for awhile. Unfortunately, it's my department. For now, I enjoy the relaxing task of watering. Plus I am a professional procrastinator. :)

Congrats on your new beds! And it sounds like you're off to a great start with your plantings! If any of my plants interest you, I have some (not many yet) pictures here: http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/vbc/TucsonJen/23590/ The ones that have Entries (column on the far right) are the ones with pictures. Almost all have links to pages on Dave's that have nice pictures and all the information you'll need.

Thanks for the pictures, I really enjoy seeing them. My new plants are not fairing so well. Not sure if they're not getting enough water, or what. Maybe still in shock :( I probably tried to plant too much, too fast, but after getting my beds finally all put together, I was anxious as all get out to see some color in my yard. I don't have a lot of space in my yard, but I think I'd like to get some individual pots for individual plants as well. I still don't even have a front porch done, it's all still dirt, but in time, I'll get there :)

Thanks again :)
Piggy