I want to thank everyone who took the time to post such detailed and wonderful advice here! My renovation is finally done and I am getting ready to plant. At last! I have been closely reviewing all the suggestions and advice and have come up with what I hope is a good plan. I had 6" of sand removed, added an equal amount of compost and have irrigation going in as soon as I finalize my planting scheme. I have been using Pinterest to gather images of all the plants you recommended and narrow down selections. The San Marcos Growers site as well as some of the other links posted have been invaluable as a resource for what is available in my area and in helping select appropriate plants. I am attaching my plan. The house faces the ocean but there is a parking lot & a lot of tourist foot traffic in between so we put up a 4' wall with another 2' of semi-open wood fence on top. Also, just to the south west of the house is a large lifeguard station / maintenance area that isn't pretty to look at so the tree is placed to soften the view of that. Finally, the sides of the house remain sand in this plan. On the north side, there is only 16" to our property line and on the south side, the same plus another 3' that belongs to our neighbor. That area is needed for access and I'm not sure what else to do with it. I am imagining gravel would just get mixed in and covered with sand soon anyway? I guess we could pour concrete?) I am also including a link to my Pinterest page with the plant selection. There are a couple extras as I can't quite decide which Leucadendron & which Protea I prefer. I would love to hear any thoughts or comments before I start buying plants! Thanks again!

I've only been working on my current collection for 2 years now 'cause I keep having to leave behind my collections 'cause I used to move alot, but this is what I've got so far. x2 Sansevieria trifasciata (one regular, one laurentii) Spathiphyllum wallisii Chlorophytum comosum variegatum Cereus peruvianus Hoya carnosa Podocarpus macrophyllus Dracaena marginata x2 Codiaeum variegatum pictum (one regular, one Golden Star) Ficus diversifolia x2 Howiea (some say Howea) belmoreana Hypoestes sanguinolenta (had 3 colors, red, white and pink but for some reason the red didn't make it) Dieffenbachia picta Exotica x2 Zygocactus truncatus (one with white flowers, the other with salmon) African violet (grew from a cutting) Schefflera actinophylla Citrus paradisi (grapfruit tree from seed ^_^) Echinocereus pectinatus Lobivia famatimensis Lemaireocereus marginatus An uknown cactus that looks kind of like a Lobivia but yet not...but I call it my snowman cactus 'cause they way it's shaped it looks like a snowman without a head. Philodendron scandens Sedum morganianum Saxifraga sarmentosa Beaucarnea recurvata Aglaonema Silver Queen Tillandsia cyanea Kalanchoe tomentosa A succulent whose leaves are bluish green and fuzzy and slightly pointed at the ends. Thought it may have been an Echeveria setosa...but those leaves are waxy...not fuzzy. Sedum pachyphyllum Aphelandra squarrosa louisae Sempervivum arachnoideum Coleus (just a little seedling) Araucaria heterophylla x2 Hedera helix (one Glacier, one sagittaefolia) Coffea arabica Gasteria liliputana (one of my personal favs) Lavandula heterophylla Radermachera sinica Dracaena deremensis x2 Pteris (one ensiformis victoriae, one cretica albolineata) Zamioculcus zamiifolia (the infamous ZZ plant, another one of my favs) Crassula perforata (probably not a good reason to buy a plant but I bought it merely for it's common name...string of buttons!) That's it, that's all. 14 of the plants on that list were added just this month! >_I have a few seeds I'm waiting on too though. Fuschia, Cactus, Salpiglossis, Strelitzia, Passiflora, Musa, Dracaena (forget exactly what it is), Lithops and a Succulent.

Thanks for the leads Goldenpond and Coffeemom. UFL is awesome with all the info they provide! Tom - That desert rose is gorgeous! My SIL in Sarasota grows them, but we didn't get to see them in bloom. You have a great garden - I've been looking through the posts, checking out your pix. Gary - I had the most trouble up here at planting time, making sure we passed the last hard cold. We waited till Mother's Day to put anything in the ground with spring being so iffy. Yeah spring - all 3 days of it lol. And the 9 months of winter.

Jean, thanks for your reply. I've been keeping them plenty watered, so I don't think it'd drought stress- unless the water just isn't reaching them somehow? I've been using the Dr. Earth "Liquid solution" fertilizer that the nursery reccomended, and at the strenght (or very close) that they suggested... about 2 Tbsp/Gal. It hasn't been very hot here at all... lower 70's maybe on our warmest day. A litle wind, but not much. I took a couple leaves over to the bursery today, and the tomato person there said too much light... Temps are going to start dropping again this week to under 50 at night, so maybe not ready to go in the ground just yet...?