I've already chimed in on the Arizona forum, although there it sounded like the question was simply whether a High Desert Forum should be implemented. If that's the issue, then no, there is not enough traffic to support that....

On the other hand, if the question is whether to consolidate these 4 forums, I say GO FOR IT! Though I do have to mention that only one of these (the Arizona Forum) is really active, so splitting it into two (Low and High Desert) may still mean some slow times...

Thanks for your interest!!!! I will continue to push ahead...

I am in North Texas. I would like to have a forum that does not include southern California and Texas.

Thank you.

Did anything ever come of this?

That's too bad. I'd like to see a division as most of the true desert areas are so different from my area, which is why I seldom visit this forum.

The palm springs low desert is highly populated and only 4 hours from Phoenix. Same weather. I think a low and high desert forum is a good idea because they are vastly different. We no longer live in either.

New Mexico, which has no forum, has an average elevation above 4,000 feet, with some areas at 8,000', so a high desert forum would be just our cup o' tea. I'm in the Albuquerque metro area (4,800 - 5,600', on the cusp of 3 zones) which has about half of the state's population; Santa Fe, the capitol, is about 6,500'. As for Arizona, over a third of the state is above 4,500', so I think a separate group would be beneficial for both states, as well as parts of Utah & Texas.

What does it take to set it up?

It may just come down to planting zones. Within each state there are many planting zones. The California forum contains so many. What grows 20 minutes from me will NOT grow up on my hillside. They are zone 9a down there. We are zone 9b, and a 30 minute drive will get us up to a mountain resort, probably zone 7. Drive a different direction for 20 minutes and you will be in "high desert."

No, do not replace Arizona Gardening. If you want to add forums, go for it. Low and High desert would be good ideas, as they are far different.

I like my local forum.

It is quite true that high desert and low desert would be better tailored to the conditions across the southwest, just remember, adding any additional forums would mean less traffic. That's the reason I lost interest with this one.

To me, the Arizona forum is just about borderline in terms of activity. It's one of the better ones, and I like it, but sometimes you want to see more than a few new posts each day, and lots of responses!

I gave this idea up years ago...

The arizona gardening forum was most enjoyable.. learned a lot from it and received a lot of sensible answers. It seems to be gone now. ???

it's still there

I am new both to the Southwest Forum and to Roswell, New Mexico, high desert, fertile Pecos Valley. Looking for antique roses for my back yard, with large blossoms, repeat bloomers, can be climbers or shrub. Any suggestions?