If you love gardening, stay where you are. AZ is disastrous on plants in the summer time. Not to mention your water bill. I'm used to GA weather, and farm water where its cheap to water regardless of the seasons. Here in AZ anything green will hurt you!! Yes, they do grow spines, no matter what tree, what bush or what flower you decide you like. Hostas will not grow here, neither will moss unless you live in Williams, Show Low or Snowflake, some 4 hours north in the mountains. I love the hot weather!! It's better to be boiling than putting up with tornadoes and hurricanes. Once in a while it will get to 125 in the shade, but it cools off to a lovely 109-111, late July - Aug. Monsoon season is the best in summer, especially with the thunderstorms. However, if you are a gardener and value your lovely gardens, AZ is not a place for you. Retiring here - it's expensive - water is high, electricity is high (can only wash clothes at certain times for 1/2 the normal charge), trash is high, HOA dues are high, taxes are extremely high, food is out of sight tax wise and depending on where you call "home", there may or may not be services close to you. Here's an updated link for Cost of Living in Phx AZ

I'd try Grassy Cove. It is between Crossvile and Spring City.

Thanks. Kitchen isn't too big so there's not a lot of places to put the thing. I'm going to readdress the issue with GC. The builders seemed to pick the worst places to put the vents. This one is in front of the garage door. The one in the den is in front of the sliding glass door--I have to have my rug shifted over so it doesn't cover the thing and so we have to step in sideways to step on the rug rather than the vent when we enter--that one is getting moved to the right to get out of the door entry.

Hi Marsha, Welcome to RMG! About the soil in the Metro Denver area, there are a few members who have a sandier soil, but almost all of us have nasty clay--and I suspect what you're calling clay back east is a joy compared to the Rocky Mountain Clay! You're right--you just keep adding organic matter year after year after year.... I DOES get better--eventually! And if you pick the "right" plants, you CAN grow things in it! Some of our members build raised beds and fill them with "store bought" soil to give them better soil quickly. Lots of advice around here for raised beds if you decide to go that route. And lots of sympathy for your soil problems if you don't! ;-) I'm going to link two threads from when others were moving out here and asking for advice. I think you'll find pretty much all your questions answered between the two threads--and probably a lot of info about stuff you haven't even thought about yet! The first is a 2014 thread from somebody who was moving here from the UK! http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2131647/an-intro-and-questions?n=9 The second is an old thread from 2006 from somebody moving here from New York and, in addition to other info, is talking about drought! The good news is that virtually ALL of Colorado is now officially out of drought conditions, though it's still always a good idea to try to get some sort of an idea about what watering restrictions could be imposed in the future for any property you're looking at--maybe ask about what restrictions were in place when we were still in drought. The first thread has more info about xeric plants than this one--this one has more "general" info about living out here. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2139011/gardening-around-denver-drought-question?n=10 I know there was another thread from someone asking about the different areas to live in the Metro area, but I sure can't find it! There's some info in the above threads about the different areas, and if you have questions about a specific area, just come ask. About the views, you can get good views pretty much anywhere in the Metro area, it just depends on the individual lot. The "olde" Denver areas generally have lots of established trees and you'd be less likely to have a view. If you're hoping for something on a greenbelt you'll need to look at the newer subdivisions since that's a relatively new concept. I'm on the north end (Thornton) and there's a lot of new subdivisions north and west of me where I'm sure there are views, and there are neighborhoods just east of me (120th & Colorado Blvd.) that have greenbelts running all thru them. (I used to live down on the south end just north of Parker and had a view from Pike's Peak almost the whole way up to Long's Peak. Oh, how I miss that view!) When you come out I recommend you start with a drive from one end of the city to the other--just to get the Big Picture about what the different areas are like. Also want to let you know that we have two plant swaps out here each year. Where they are is determined by who volunteers to host them--they've been held everywhere from the extreme south end to the extreme north end of the Denver Metro area! It's a fun time getting together with Gardening Folks, and is a good opportunity to pick up some free plants--even if you don't have anything to bring yet! When you get moved out here just keep an eye out for the swap threads! We'd all love to meet you! Welcome to the Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in the West, Skybird