Hi all. Some of you know me as I've been around for a while & some of you don't know me, I'm sure. I need some help please in order to help a friend. She lives in New Mexico & claims not to have the greenest thumb. Poor thing ~~~ her so gave her a rose bush & within hours the leaves were browned & parched by the sun & winds. I really don't know much about the plants that grow well in the southwest in your desert conditions. The only thing I really knew to recommend to her was adeniums. I don't think she will be into cactus. Maybe we ought to stick more to native plants for the area & she'll have a better success rate. Can you guys give me some suggestions please?
Thanks!

Gee, it might have helped if I told you she's in Albuquerque.

Roses grow beautifully in Albuquerque!! It's a wonderful growing climate there! Some people in Albuquerque go the native plant route, but many have yards and gardens that look straight out of the midwest. The soil is alkaline so there are some plants that don't work well, and you do have to fertilize and water more often than the other areas of the country. A really good resource for her would be the Sunset Western Gardening book. It gives specific advice on what plants you can use in that area as well as very good guidelines to turn her brown thumb into a green one!

Beautiful pineapple guava blossom, btw!

Thank you Crista for that info. I will tell her about the book. I have also sent her some links to native plants of the area & she has located a nursery that grows such.
Thank you for the comment on the pineapple guava blossom. They remind me of fireworks. Isn't nature awesome?

Albuquerque can have lots of stuff .... I saw a gorgeously landscaped yard there once, with nothing but sloping rocks and lavender. It was amazing.

Ooooooooooo! Lavender............I didn't think of that.

Mediterranean, and able to handle both hot and dry and some cold. Couldn't ask for better, I don't think!

Unfortunately, mine here are struggling. I've lost so many plants this summer, it's such a drag.

Yah, I need to get some lavender here too. I have never grown it ~~~ it wouldn't grow where we were. You guys are in another drought aren't you? And I know the temps. have been miserable!

Nope, have been getting rain in scattered parts of the valley all week - got an inch (or two!) last Saturday, with a lot of fall out, but no real danger. Now the dark clouds are just teasing me!

Oh, so water isn't the problem. Why are the plants going belly up?

That weekend of 117º really set a lot of plants back - it was really early in the season, too. And my favorite place to plant happens to be too hot for a lot of things - that old "don't plant the first year" advice has really gotten pounded in to my brain, lol. I have never lost so many plants in my gardening life in once season.

But my one last tiny little lavender is still just hanging on - a Grosso that I want badly to move (in that nasty area) but I don't dare stress it more....

Oh, and #@%* bunnies. I have never felt this way towards any animals in my life. They are amazing. They even chew on my agaves.

I hate when the critters eat stuff.

Keeping my fingers crossed for your lavender to hang on until winter when you can safely move it.

I never heard the don't plant the first year saying. But it's very good advice I would say. I am itching to do things here but I know better. I'ts going to take several years to really & truly figure out the "plan".

The only thing that I don't regret planting were my trees. I got 7 right off the bat, but mainly because I was able to pull in a Superb Deal. But, too - they were boxed trees and I won't ever do *that* again - I have since been told that boxed trees never regain any of their large roots, only the tiny feeder roots, so strong winds (of which we can see a lot of) can knock them over very easily. At least the only two that were anywhere near the house are smallish trees anyway - a desert willow hybrid (named Bubba, who could resist?) and a Cordia bosserii.

BTW, the willow is a flowering tree that would do great for her, if she would like a tree. They are pretty fast growing but don't typically get huge and the newer cultivars don't have the persistent pod hang-on the older ones had (made it kinda ugly in the winter time unless you tried to pick them off - a major pain....) Bubba's flowers are much darker pink than the original species and stand out better.

Thanks, I will tell her. She had a bunch of trees - I don't know what kind - & the roots were spreading out & about to undermine the foundation of the house. Yikes! So they have let them die & have to start over from ground zero.

Hi
What vegetables can I grow in los lunas new mexico clay like soil.

to ATP Tim!

I can't answer your question but I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can.

Hi Tim!

Clay soil has its ups and its downs. The bad news, it doesn't drain well, and it's hard to dig.

The up side is that it retains water for plants in our desert environments. That, of course, is huge, but has it's own challenges.

I do know you can grow chiles, but I'm sure you know that! My best advice, not being in that specific area, is to find out from your local extension office ( http://valenciaextension.nmsu.... ) what does well in your area, as well as a good planting calendar.

So many of us in the Southwest try to adapt our gardening schedules to match what we brought with us from other places. That is the perhaps the toughest part of gardening in the S'west - adapting and leaving what we once knew behind. The good news: there's plenty for us here. Please let us know if there's other info we can help with and best of luck to you!