The biggest differences I've found through a little web research were: it appears Prescott gets almost exactly twice the annual rainfall that Albuquerque gets, and instead of the nice sandy/basaltic soil that I'm used to, Prescott is granite based and rocky.

What I'm wondering is if they're really that similar? Anyone have experience with both locations to make any comparisons? I'd try in the AZ forum, but they're pretty clueless about high-desert gardening being focused mainly on the Phoenix and Tuscon metro/valley areas. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks!

One thought I had though, in terms of differences between the two, is their climate relative to surrounding areas. Abq lies in a narrow finger of milder zones surrounded by cooler, higher terrain, whereas Prescott is a mountainous area at the edge of an incredibly mild part of the country (the Sonoran Desert). Even though the two are in the same zone, I would bet that climate data would show Prescott to be milder overall (yes, it may get down as low on average each year as Abq, but it may not have as many freezing nights, or as many nights in the single digits. Average daytime highs in the winter may be different and of significance for growing as well. In any case, you will always be able to drive a short distance and be in the balmy low desert, something you could never do from Abq.

I can't remember if you're one of the folks who has chimed in on all those postings about palms in Abq, zone pushing, etc., but if you are, you might be interested to know that there is supposed to be the northeasternmost occurring native fan palm (w.filifera) grove somewhere between Wickenberg and Prescott (there should be info on the web). Might be neat to visit if you're a fan of fan palms.

Good luck

Hopefully some of the things I've really had to "baby" here won't need quite so much attention, we'll see. I'm gonna hafta change my alias now to something like AZ_Bob or something, LOL. Either way it will be an adventure!