Has anybody besides wynative e-mailed me? I ask because I apparently can't get e-mail forwarded to me through GW. If not, carry on as you were, but if you did, I will be checking back here after all, so please let me know that you tried and I'll try to reach you instead. Apologies to the group for bumping the post again.

Hi Sonorablu, Your agave is the Agave americana, often called the Century Plant and a stunning example of a widely diverse group of succulents. They require deep, infrequent watering (so that the moisture soaks down at least two feet) once every three to four weeks in the summer and not at all in the winter. If you are using a spray head to water this plant, switch to a drip emitter so the water does't fall on the leaves. You may need to run your drip system for several hours to push the moisture down that far into the ground. Although these plants normally live a long time, in southern Arizona they are very vulnerable to damage from the agave snout weevil. This beetle lays its eggs in the maturing plant, usually 1-2 years before it's due to bloom. The larvae munch on the tissues introducing a bacteria which causes collapse and rotting of the plant. Pups aren't usually affected. Your yucca (it looks like Yucca elata or Soaptree Yucca) will live to bloom again. The flowers are pollinated by the yucca moth, who hides in the flower during the day, emerging at dusk to pollinate the flowers which bloom at night. The flowers are edible. The roots of this plant were used by native people to make a frothy soap. Be sure to leave the dry lower leaves on the stalk as they protect the plant from heat and cold. Try and resist the urge to prune your citrus. They are really large shrubs and do best if the canopy is allowed to grow nearly to the ground. Citrus are extremely vulnerable to sunburn. If you must prune, do so carefully, always removing a branch where it intersects with another branch or stem. Do not use sealants on the pruning cut - allow the wound to remain open to the air. Don't prune in the fall as branches left on the tree will protect it from winter cold. The best time to prune is in March. I've included a link to the U of A website in Maricopa County. They have a wealth of information that should work in La Paz County as well. I hope this helps. aztreelvr Certified Arborist Master Gardener Here is a link that might be useful: U of A Publications on citrus and more

They make great shrub plantings as they're evergreen. In my neighborhood you don't see them too often except around nicely landscaped offices and malls, and the houses of the apparently well-to-do. They are very expensive here, a yucca sold in a 10" pot is usally about $20-$30, the larger the yucca the more expensive they are. Yuccas are very choice plantings for xeriscape gardens, once they're established you don't have to water them. Every year you can remove the browned leaves at the base of the plant whcih doesn't take a long time and makes it tidy looking. Sometimes they make new "pups" which can be snapped off and transplanted with high success rate. I agree that they have die-hard roots and will come back from small root pieces, so do choose your site wisely for them. Other than the spring clean-up to remove the browned leaves, and cutting off the spent bud stalk, they're practically maintainence free. T

mytime, Sorry to not follow up. Gardenweb was not forwarding responses to this post (and for a while all my posts) so I was not aware that anyone had responded to it. I had some bad luck propagating earlier this year and then got sidetracked. Fuchsia boliviana Alba cuttings started to root but some sort of fungus caused problems and killed them. The Correa cuttings I first tried did not root. I will start some new ones now, with bottom heat (which I did not use before). Pretty commonly even without bottom heat factored in a lot of plants propagate poorly in winter. So we'll see. I started a bunch of Deppea cuttings a week ago. That plant had some bug problems earlier in the year and I was reluctant to take a lot of cuttings until it fully recovered. I may or may not start new cuttings of the F. boliviana Alba soon; I'm not sure where that ranks on the list of things that I need/want to propagate. However, that plant has done really well and should produce a steady crop of berries in the near future. Here's a photo of the plant from about 10 days ago: And here's a closeup of the berries on one inflorescence: I find it amusing how the berries get long, and then get fat. So mytime, maybe I should contact you when things start to root. As far as the berries, I might try one batch of seeds, but in general I don't have a use for them. I guess I could eat them... If anyone wants a berry for postage (then they can clean out the seeds) I can send one for postage. They can get a bit soft when ripe, and the berry may end up smushed. I'm guessing that's not a problem. Andrea, thanks for the propagation advice. I do enjoy trying to see how many cuttings I can get from limited material. I didn't realize the stems can be split like that. If the seeds are easy, maybe I'll try some. I generally don't like growing things from tiny seeds, especially if they are easy to root. However I've never tried Fuchsias. I see the Fuchsia forum has no exchange site, so I'll mention it here. I'm looking for the variegated F. procumbens, which I believe goes by the name 'Mary Miller'. In trade, I have a lot of things, but only a few Fuchsias and none of them propagated at the moment. The other Fuchsias I have are the regular procumbens, denticulata, 'First Success' (F. paniculata x F. splendens'), F. x baccillaris and of course F. boliviana Alba. I may have access to F. splendens as well; my old plant went to a friends house in the area. Perhaps I'll try start a F. procumbens thread when my new F. procumbens opens another flower and repeat the question about the variegated cultivar. I thought I'd mention that an interesting source I've found locally for small inexpensive plants is Lone Pine Gardens, which is a wholesaler for succulents and bonsai plants. Their little Fuchsias are just a few dollars, and are often found in the bonsai section of nurseries (in N. California at least). I got 'First Success', procumbens, and x bacillaris from them. The plant on the right, of course, is Fuchsia 'First Success', which seems to be a really nice hybrid.