Same here in the SF bay area...half the time they never bloom if grown outdoors in pots-even when placed where it can get blazing hot on a summers day..I think it IS the cool nights of 60f and lower all through our spring-fall that really doesnt allow them to grow much or flower. I have two of the hardiest-a hybrid and A. arabicum,and they arent encouraging me to add any more.

Sorry for the atrocious spelling...

What a great thread! I'm so happy to have found this wonderful community. I'm Tina, we moved to Castle Pines (south of Highlands Ranch, north of Castle Rock) from Minneapolis three years ago. I can tell you, gardening at 6600' is quite a 'culture' shock as compared to 830' and 10,000+ lakes! Everything did well in my perennial and vegetable garden in south Minneapolis. Not so much here, but, I am committed to learning, experimenting and growing. ☺ Like many of our members here, my roots go back to a very early farming family (emigrated from Norway & Sweden) in MN. My childhood memories include splitting irises with my mormor (grandma), she fancied the old fashioned beautiful blue and yellow (like the Swedish flag, go figure) varieties. She also had a huge raspberry patch in her yard which she carefully covered every season with netting. Rather than pulling weeds, I could often be found hiding under the netting eating the raspberries in the summer. Before my mormor passed away, my mom retrieved the beloved blue & yellow irises and divided them among family members. I have one blue one and two yellow ones that I transplanted from my Minneapolis garden into my garden here in Castle Pines. They are planted in fairly poor clay soil that I've doggedly tried to amend. So far, so good! It makes me so happy each spring that they come up, really warms my heart. Today (Easter Sunday) I can see the green leaves and am looking forward to the blooms soon. Our home is on a corner lot, and is a focal point as one enters our small neighborhood. So, I am thoughtful about making it pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately, I've apparently made it pleasing to the deer and elk as well! So, have been researching and studying plants that are resistant to our four-legged visitors as well as waterwise and full sun capable. I've been successful with native perennials, including columbine, hummingbird mint, colorful yarrow and others. I put in a large coneflower last year, I hope it will return. Also happily visible this spring are my large white phlox and chocolate cosmos that are on the east (front) side of the house. YAY! I look forward to being a part of this group and learning so much! ~Tina

I'm a transplanted gardener from the Midwest as well, and had to get used to gardening in the desert. It was tough at first. Now I'm loving it! The others are right: compost and mulch are your friends. I've added it, along with the proper organic fertilizers, and watched the plants I've inherited come to life! A lot of people don't plant with compost, and use rocks for mulch. That's fine. You can put rocks over shredded bark. It works. Just a little more work to removed the rocks when you want to add compost. The plants will love you for it. I'm slowly turning a dull landscaping into a green and healthy one. Getting the drip system fixed was important too! But don't forget that some plants just do better with a good soaking every 2-3 weeks in the cool months and as much as once a week, or at least every 10 days, in the really hot months. I have some hybrid Tea Roses that I'm coaxing back to health, and they are doing beautifully. I trim about a third off every year -- there's no taking them down to 2 feet in this climate, or you'll kill them. So I'm keeping them shaped, and cutting off dead wood. They were sorely neglected, but have responded to the pruning, compost, fertilizer, and tender loving care with more blooms, and are they beautiful! Hybrid tea roses are a species that will do well down here as long as they are properly cared for. Check out "High Country Gardens", and you'll never again feel that there are no beautiful plants and flowers you can have down here. The place is LUSH with flowers. You just have to get the right kind. There are even plants from the midwest that can handle living on much less water, as long as they have a bit of compost and mulch. And there are many, many plants not at that site, that are both beautiful and hardy here. Check out the local Nursery! Once you've become acclimated to the gardening here, you'll be glad you moved! It's still gardening. It's just different. And in the summer, when it's so hot, and you don't want to work outside, just wait for evening. It cools off then in all but the hottest month. You can garden outside until 9-10:00 PM, and NO BUGS. That's big when you're from the Midwest, I know. Best of luck to you! MacThayer