I would hold off on the banana.....tender perennial there. I just planted a Desert Willow and it was an iffy decision. If we have a hard winter with low temps I may lose it. Depends on the tree really, tropicals like banana I would wait until spring. Doc, I don't know where the university area is in Tucson but there are two nurseries there that I like. Mesquite Valley Growers - Speedway and Pantano and Desert Survivors on Starr Pass near I-10. Desert Survivors is run by disabled vets who start lots of native trees, bushes, plants. Mesquite Valley is very upscale. If you want cactus plants you cannot miss with Bach's Cactus Nursery, Thornydale north of Cortaro Farms. HTH.

Thanks, Dave. Yes, they have been hardened off. I was thinking that they would need some acclimation to our weather, since they came from a shade house and were accustomed to warmer temperatures. I would rather plant them, but I was worried about our erratic temps as of late. Highs are running upper 50's, and lows went into low 30's, but averaging around 38-40. We're going to move up to highs in the 70's this weekend before cooling back off into the mid 60's, which is still warmer than what we've had, and getting more rain. (my yard is saturated!) Low's staying consistently around low 40's. Not sure of my soil temp, but I'll check those tomorrow in the various beds...it's still pouring out there today. I'm outside of San Diego about 2K feet up in the local mountains, so we get a bit cooler here at night, but warmer than the coastal areas in the day. I'll give it a go and see what happens. I have so many plants, seedling, and seeds waiting to come up, that it's a bit like running an experiment at this point. I'm recording what I've done with each one, so I can determine what worked (and didn't) for the next go around.

Hard to say. Looking at the 10 day forecast for my area on weather.com it appears the cold weather is finally over and nights will be in the 50s and days in the 70s so based upon that I would say it is now planting time. Of course frost has threatened a couple days ago so... I planted some bean seeds a week ago and nothing is up yet (also in raised beds). I bet they rotted, but not sure. I am afraid to put much in the ground with how fickle the weather has been, but in a typical year June 1st in SE Wisconsin is safe for putting the warm season plants out. Anyway, I will be putting the tomatos and peppers out this weekend. Supposedly storms are moving in tonite and tomorrow so I will let those pass before my babies go outside.

The only thing I am afraid of on the general forums is when people pop in and say something even I know is totally not true, and they usually pronounce it dogmatically, as if it is gospel. Sirens go off in my head and I think, "Oh MY. How many people are going to glom onto this bit of gospel and run with it?" The phrase "First, do no harm" always comes to mind. That, and what Amy said. And what Dawn said. I bet you can predict what's coming, Bruce! Totally believe that. And what Jen said. Brr today. Since it will be cool for the next few days, I'm in no hurry to run and get raised bed soil. But am looking forward to the present forecast of really warmer temperature in 4-5 days. I shall be prepared. HJ, I had that happen, only cardinals up in Minneapolis (I'd like to think ONE cardinal, and it very likely WAS the same one as they were extremely territorial up there.) The first time I was standing outside after it had snowed, marveling at the beauty, and thinking of Russ while shoveling the driveway. Glanced up when I got out there, and there was a cardinal,stark red against a white background, on the light pole across the street, directly opposite me on our narrow street. My first thought was how beautiful the scene was. As my mind was occupied with thinking of Russ, how goofy he was and how I wished I could be visiting with him, I'd glance up. There he sat, just watching me. This continued until I was through, and then he softly flew away. Then I actually keyed into him when I'd be out in the winter, or spring or summer that year, and he often would be sitting fairly nearby, oh, say 15-20 feet, and just watching me. And so I came to associate him with Russ, after that first time. I never though it WAS Russ, but I didn't discount the possibility that it might be a messenger carrying messages about Russ or from Russ. Or maybe he just found me interesting. haha As we know, birds are no different than humans. Each one an individual, with THEIR own little quirks. Now down here, the cardinals don't appear to be quite as territorial, and further, none of them has shown the slightest interest in me, nor have any of the other birds. :) The ticks and chiggers, on the other hand, they think I'm magic. I suspect you had a riveting movie to watch last night, Dawn. That was OUR deal at sleepovers. Big batch of popcorn snuggled up together on top of the quilt, not under, with our OJ, watching one of the marvelous movies. Beautiful memories. It is proving to be an extra special day here today, full of thankfulness and love for gardening, nature, and people, and the source for it all. The only gardening I'll do today is potting up, no small thing in itself. Hope you all are doing well!