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HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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Posted by DianaNJ z6A (My Page) on Wed, Aug 18, 04 at 7:14
| Hi All. A dear friend moved out the NEw MExico a bit ago and is just sick over not being able to keep many of her favorite shrubs and perennials from back East. (duh) She has remediated her soil, but it is still mostly clay. She has a drip hoses installed but the dry heat is quite oppressive without any shade.
ANd so, she needs recos for blooming plants (shrubs or perennials) that will do well under these conditions. I recommended rosemary, which eventually will make a nice hedge, but she wants things like lilacs, butterfly bushes, rose of sharon ... and I just can't imagine any of them being strong enough to weather the arid conditions out there.
Would any of you local pros please give me suggestions for her? Is there anything non-succulent, preferably tall, that will give her the blooms she wants? She has seen butterfly bushes and oleander out there, but I'm wondering how really tough it would be to keep them ... She is just so homesick for something familiar ... Thanks in advance for your help, DIana |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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| I live in Sedona Az. and I've got both lilacs and butterfly bushes. I beleave I've got almost the same weather as Albequerque. Roses also do well here, how about a climbing roseon an arbor or the side of her house. Tell her to get the Sunset Western Gardening Book. It's a great resource for out here in the wild west. |
RE: HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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| New Mexico State University(Ag school) has a a recommended plant list that I generally follow for plants here in albuqeurque: http://weather.nmsu.edu/AbqPlantList and here is a more comprehensive list(pdf) from the city of
albuquerque: http://www.cabq.gov/waterconservation/pdfs/xeriplants.pdf Hope this helps. |
RE: HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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Have your friend email me at kns1313@aol.com. I live just east of Albuquerque but grew up in Illinois. Tell her two things:
1. Forget about what she wants, the weather here ain't gonna' let her have it. Don't go roller-skating in a buffalo herd, don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger, don't plant "back East" plants out West. Mother Nature works 24/7, she can't.
2. There is a remarkable selection of native plants that will outshine anything she is used to.
I'll have her over to my house, she can poke around and see what things can do, then she will be off and running. Scott |
RE: HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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| Thank you all so much! I have forwarded all your responses to my friend, Jen. I really appreciate your responses to my cry for help! Bless you all, Diana |
RE: HElp Need Advice on PLants Hardy to Albequeque!!
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| I live 20 miles south of Albuquerque and have a dozen different Butterfly Bushes and several Rose of Sharons. They do beautifully here, bloom all summer. Rose of Sharon is especially beautiful if planted on the north side of your house so it gets some shade. These shrubs do as well here as any I saw when I lived in NYC. I don't have any lilacs but my neighbor does and they are gorgeous in the spring. If your friend wants to see some superb lilacs, she should go to the University of New Mexico campus--north side of the Engineering Building. As a matter of fact, the UNM campus is a national arboretum and has tours. Lots of ideas there. |
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