Torreya There's natural hybridization and artificial hybridization... Surely, there are natural hybridization between montezuma and bald cypress in Texas but there aren't really any information on that subject. At this point, I don't know how to tell whether they are hybrids or not. There are many variabilities apparently from what I've read. Some don't have knees. Some have smaller cones. Some retains their foliage round year (Montezuma is evergreen in zone 9 and warmer). Montezuma has darker green leaves compared to bald cypress that I've seen up close. There happens to be possible montezuma cypress in another subdivision a mile away. it is very rare that they are sold so I wonder how they ended up with that tree but I like it better than bald cypress which doesn't look all that great growing in area with caliche/limestone base soil. China has done major stuff with montezuma, bald cypress and pond cypress breeding program for quite a while, probably 20 years or longer, i forget the exact numbers but it's a big thing going on over there. They are literally growing millions and millions of cypress seedlings to plant across south area of China. Those trees are not native to their land. They were brought over there from USA in 1800s if I recall correctly. One hybrid that they came up is between Montezuma and bald cypress called 'Nanjing Beauty' that I have 4 at my house. A professor at my college went to China in the early 2000 to provide some help regarding taxiodium trees and he brought some 'Nanjing Beauty' back from here and I guess he started propagating them since then for evaluation program at 50 different locations across USA. China has since come up with more hybrids. They tend to classify their hybrids such as T-101, T-20, etc like that and do some testing on how they do over certain period of time. It's pretty interesting what they are doing over there. It might be a while before you see 'Nanjing Beauty' being sold anywhere if it gets that far. It is relatively new brought into USA in the early 2000s.

People should quit minimizing the Isleta Hill population of creosote as disjunct, outlying, etc. It's within its natural range, tho N part...see link. Marginalizing creosote from Abq ignores many square miles of urbanization and removal of so much natural. Including reports as recent as 1980. I'm glad to now live where such things are a non-issue, though El Paso is at the edge of other plants' ranges. Travel NE from here and creosote bushes are few, but loads of sand sage, broom daleas, black gramas, dropseeds, etc...familiar? Disjunct, out of range, etc for creosote? That's Santa Fe, Edgewood, Farmington, Amarillo. Disjunct for Abq = aspens, green ashes, potentillas, etc. Guess the location of the below photo? Here is a link that might be useful: Creosote Bush monographs This post was edited by quercus_abq on Sun, Feb 8, 15 at 20:11

Some of these trees grow along the west side of Washington Street NE in the first block north of Central Avenue, old Rotue 66. They are mature but in need of care. Apparently they were planted by the original owner of the De Anza Motor Lodge, an adjacent historic motel built in 1939. The trees are big enough to suggest they're as old as the motor lodge. They are very sculptural.

fROM fabaceae_native NM zone6 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 9, 07 at 10:29 Hi all, With the amount of zone pushing that folks are into (I'm thinking of all the "palms in Alb" threads)... ME: Punica granatum is hardly pushing any zones in ABQ, unlike many fan palms, oleanders or pittosporum. The hardiest of palms growing OK in ABQ is far less of the "amount" of "pushing" by trying to grow aspens or nandina / photinia, etc. (Abq too arid, wet, and/or warm, soils are too alkaline, etc.) BTW, many hardy palms are from semi-arid areas of higher elevation, so not too far out when used in an oasis in ABQ compared to 9000'+ along streams or SE Asia and trying to replicate that here...neither would be Punica granatum. as I thought I might get some information about pomegranate hardiness and success in zones 6 and 7 here in NM. Specifically... ME: Pomegranates, some over 15' tall, are QUITE common in Abq, but mostly in older neighborhoods and in rear / side yards. Regrettably, like many landscapes here, pomegranates are poorly maintained, if at all. They were once more fashionable to grow, like big shrubs in general once were; now, other plant species are more popular. I have never seen freeze damage anywhere in town; but they flower fine and do like regular irrigation in ABQ. I am even told that pomegranates have grown fine in central China for centuries with little to no protection, where it is colder than here most winters substantially, though like here, winter is short and summers are hotter than even Las Vegas / Tucson. Anyone out there who regularly gets a harvest from their pomegranates? ME: I see ripe fruit on plants throughout Abq, though on plants I know of, I do not see them eaten...they just dry up on the plants. Maybe people here are not into them like in Cal...not part of the culture's fruit preference? What is the true hardiness of the species, and what about so-called hardy varieties? ME: I think standard pomegranates are hardy into USDA Z 6 (so, I would expect them to grow fine to at least as cold as Espanola - Velarde, warmer parts of Santa Fe, Grand Jct CO, Amarillo, Wichita KS, etc) It seems the dwarf pomegranates are a little less cold hardy, though they have been grown without a problem in ABQ for many, many years. BTW, on USDA cold zones, only the valley areas of AQ / Central NM have experienced much USDA Z 6 long-term; most of Abq and central NM is USDA 7a-b, with quite a few spots of USDA 8a in thermal belt areas of NE Hts and West Mesa, based on NUMEROUS experiences and temperature reports I see. Only the East Mountain areas (E of the Sandia-MAnzano chain) have lots of USDA Z 6 and even some sizeable USDA Z 5 in the basin cold air drainages. If figs are successful in an area, wrapped or not in winter, would it be safe to assume the same for pomegranate, given similar treatment? ME: Figs seem a little more cold-tender than pomegranates, though many figs are unprotected throughout Abq and are fine. Surely, there are some hardier and less hardy varieties, so those may be the exceptions. Hope that helps!