I have sent you an email. Susan

Hi Bev, Found the following- Carex buchananii - own, (it survives Zone 5 in the right spot and people comment on it's look!) Francoa sonchifolia 20 very small seeds from England 2008 (not hardy here in Zone 5) Ornamental Millet from 2005  own Saxifraga x Ardensii ÂPurple Robe Own, saved this summer - seems to be dust like seed (a very small amt.) What do you think? IÂll email you about a trade?

Jay ----I have gravel mulch (medium sized river rock pebbles) on the entire property, front and back. We hauled in tons. It comes with pros and cons. CONS---- digging is more difficult + you have to push the gravel away if digging up a plant, otherwise you bury the gravel. I am in the process of thinning out some grasses and I don't use a shovel for this reason. I'm using a hori-hori knife so I don't do too much disturbance to the gravel. A hoe like woods tea described wouldn't work either. You have to get down on your knees and pull stuff in gravel, often working your fingers into the space between the pebbles to grab hold of the weed. It gets washed down or buried under soil if on a slope or sometimes just during a heavy rain even when not on much of a slope. Gravel can work itself down pretty deep over time. Seeds come up very easy in it, that can be a pro or a con. It works both ways for me Your knees get sore if you garden like me and like to squat down with your knee or knees on the ground. When you rake leaves, you also rake gravel and I really hate leaves on my gravel. I have to sort out what I rake up so I don't toss my "we paid for that gravel and I ain't tossing it" gravel. PROS----It looks great and of course never breaks down. Its kind of the same effect you get when it snows and the garden looks neat with all that consistent layer of white around the plants instead of dark soil or leaves etc. You can go out right after a rain and walk around. It melts the snow off fast in winter and keeps the ground warmer on sunny winter days which we have a lot of. Its also good for drainage or plants that don't like wet feet or suffer crown rot on winter, it wicks away water rather than holding it around the plant base and it keeps the soil moist down low and provides a good sponge on top so water soaks in fast compared to compacted dry soil where you easily get runoff when it gets dry. We put in a deep layer of coarse sand under the river rock which also helps with good drainage. I keep it well weeded but weeds are easy to pull in that sandy soil and I like weeding so its not a problem for me to keep the parts clear that I want to stay clear. I do a lot of weeding in the gravel. I agree with woodstea, you don't need (or want) to add nitrogen. I don't think wood chip types of mulch look right around prairie plants myself, its too artificial and urban-flower-beddish looking. I've seen some yards where people leave swaths of trimmed grass creating defined areas set off by large, usually curved areas of prairie or tall grasses that grow pretty thick. It looks very neat, well defined yet still natural and in a case like that you wouldn't need mulch of any kind, the plants would shade the soil. Just cut it back in spring (easy). I have to trim everything by hand, one plant at a time, because we tossed the mower and besides, you wouldn't want to mow over or around the area with small pebbles that could fly out, those pebbles have a way of escaping from where they were put. We have several large rocks among the gravel and I like the way they look, especially in winter but they tend to get a bit lost in summer.

Mike, it may not be necessary for you to go all out like Jim does, especially since you're in a zone 7. There are a plethora of species you can grow without protection. At one point someone posted this list of species that can grow in zone 5. Desert plants for zone 5 and above Yucca baileyi* Yucca glauca* Yucca elata Yucca harrimaniae Yucca baccata* Echinocereus fendleri Echinocereus triglochidiatus* Opuntia polyacantha Opuntia basilaris Opuntia phaeacantha* Cylindropuntia whipplei* Cylindropuntia imbricata* Cylindropuntia kleinae Cylindropuntia spinosior Agastasche sp (check HCG for a buttload of varieties) Stipa tenuissima (now Nasella I think) Bouteloua gracilis Muhlenbergia torreyi Chrysothamnus nauseosus* Chrysothamnus greenei Artemesia filifolia* Artemesia frigida Artemesia tridentata* Sarcobatus vermiculatus Forestiera neomexicana Penstemon strictus* Penstemon barbatus* Parryella filifolia Cowania mexicana Purshia tridentata Fallugia paradoxa Atriplex canescens Penstemon jamesii Coryphantha vivipara* Delosperma cooperi (might not be so ok in 5b east, its fine in 5b NM) Nolina microcarpa Hesperaloe parviflora* Agave parryi* Agave neomexicana* Agave havardiana* Agave utahensis ssp kaibabensis* Mirabilis multiflora Agave utahensis ssp. kaibabensis Agave parryi var. couesii Agave parryi (anything from over 7000') Agave neomexicana Off the top of my head, hesperaloe, sedums, ice plants, many trunking yuccas, many western perennials and others can be grown in a zone 7 with little or no protection. You should check the Yucca Yucca board, there are many people there who do similar things. http://members6.boardhost.com/yuccayucca/ Here is a link to a book which has a lot of good info. Click on book preview, you will get a ton of info, save it as a favorite for future reference, the previewable pages do change over time, so keep checking back. http://www.timberpress.com/books/cacti_succulents_cold_climates/chance/9781604692648. Also check out High Country Gardens. They are a great mail order nursery from New Mexico that has a ton of desert plants at good prices and is an easy to use website that gives good info about the plants. Many of the "Western only" plants can be grown as well if you provide a sheltered location or moisture protection. http://www.highcountrygardens.com/ Hope this helps.