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Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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Posted by desertgirl108 Utah (My Page) on Mon, Oct 5, 09 at 14:11
| Hi desert gardeners,
I am just joining this forum as I am about to move to Ticaboo Utah. For those of you who are not familiar with this thriving metropolis it is 10 miles north of Bullfrog Marina on the north end of Lake Powell.
I am just learning about gardening in this area. While I am somewhat familiar with xeriscaping my concern is our freezing winters where it can occasionally hit 19 or 20 degrees F. We are at about 5300 feet. Fair amount of wind, less than 6" precip a year including snow. Sandy soil.
I realize most xeriscape plants tolerate the heat but am not so sure about how they really tolerate the cold. For example bougainvillea, oleander, Mexican grass, star jasmine, and orange pincushion.
Any thoughts? Thanks.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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I live in the furnace, but I went to college in the mountains, and southern Utah is one of my favorite vacation spots (Viva Canyonlands!). Without generating a huge list, my best advice is to get a Sunset Western Garden Book, and look in the encyclopedia section for plants listed for both zones 2 and 12. The Sunset Plant Finder at plantfinder.sunset.com could also be useful, though it still has a few glitches and omissions. There is a lot bigger plant palette than you would think!
Good luck! : ]) |
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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| High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, NM is good source of plants and plant info. Try their website. The more cold tolerant varieties of oleander should do ok there, along with star jasmine, Mexican feather grass. Bougainvilleas will need to be kept in pots, wintering over inside in South facing window. If you are a solid zone 8, you should have lots of choices for a beautiful drought tolerant, yet lush garden. Have fun. DL |
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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| Except for the elevation, Ticaboo sounds like my neighborhood. (I'm at 2900 ft.) I second both tugbrethil and desertlvr's suggestions. I've purchased stuff from High Desert Garden and it's done fine with my climate (my rodents are another story). There seem to be a lot of websites and books about desert gardening in Phoenix and Tucson. It can be downright depressing -- low desert stuff can be really beautiful. Sometimes you can get some of the less cold hearty stuff to work where it's blocked from the cold some. I've also observed that it may get real cold sometimes, but it generally warms up later in the day. (It's only 17 for about 2 hours.) However, I lived at rental once where the owner had put in iceplant. It lasted for two years before we had a wierd three days that it never got warmer than 45 degrees. That killed it all off. I've found that web sites about gardening in Las Vegas are of some help to me. Although I don't think the valley floor there gets quite as cool as where I live and they don't seem to have the wind issues. They do have plants they recommend. Best of luck!! |
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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| Xeriscaping does not mean a certain group of plants. It means using plabnts that are adapted to survive on little or no extra water wherever you happen to be. What is "xeriscaping" in Florida uses a different plant palette the we do in Phoenix. Get a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book and find the low water plants that thrive in your new location, surviving the freezes and the summers. |
Here is a link that might be useful: xeriscaping explained
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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So many high country salvias that will do well there. Desert willow Tree, hesperaloe, Nolinas, Many plants from Northern mexico are good for zone 8. I love the salvia regla. It is a Big Bend (7b) salvia. Salvia dorrii. My girlfriend orders from this place and says it is great. I think they are in Utah. I have a lot of seeds that could work for you. I would imagen things like Sphercalcea ambigua , snake weed, and several others would work for you. Plants of the Southwest and Southwesternnative seeds are both good sources.
http://www.plantsofthesouthwest.com/
http://www.southwesternnativeseeds.com/ |
Here is a link that might be useful: Great Basin Natives
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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| I would run not walk from High Country Gardens. They put their plants in very tiny pots which have so few roots the plants often do not establish and die. I am at about 50% mortality with the plants I bought from them and will never buy from there again. Word to the wise. Great idea for a nursery. Poorly executed. |
RE: Extreme heat summer, freeze in winter
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| Read my experience in Dallas; we can get down to 20s in winter, and it is HOT and DRY in summer |
Here is a link that might be useful: Lush but Xeric in Dallas
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