Chihauhan desert? Cold. Know your elevation. Short season. Greenhouses and row covers. I'd look up any "local" nurseries and garden clubs. Definitely be some farms and ranches out there. They can recommend varieties and share scions. Of course scions are only good if you have something to graft onto. Yes, pomegranates and figs are grown from cuttings and there are cold hardy versions of both. Know your Co. Coop Extension and Master Gardeners. They may or may not be very active. Online publications can be quite helpful. http://extension.arizona.edu/ http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/mgs/mg-broch.htm As for the USDA scion program the application ended Nov.1st. Try this year. You have to hunt for what is available. And we mere taxpayers are at the end of the request list in priority. You cannot get what is already commercially available. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/site_main.htm?modecode=53-06-20-00 AZ Rare Fruit Growers meets every second Thursday of the month in Phoenix. I know that is along way to drive. http://azrfg.org/ You can do a lot with 2 1/2 acres and water. This post was edited by Fascist_Nation on Sun, Feb 9, 14 at 17:14

Elvas is safely home and resting on the kitchen counter while I rest with my email, then off we will go to pot him up! I set to work on my photos last night and on getting them on photo bucket so I can post them here. Maybe something to work on while I am recuperating. My PT this morning told me all about knee surgery...she is the one who referred me to this Dr as she says his patients all do the best of any she takes care of. He does the quad sparing surgery and the minimal incisions...we are going to try to get me sent to rehab afterwards until I Can walk on my own. I am only 61 but inherited the bad knees from my dad, so have have been having trouble with them for about 15 years now, Just learned to ignore the pain and keep on trucking to do what I wanted to. I just know I will do far better now with the new ones. I was waiting until they would last longer then 10 years and I hear they are up to about 25 yrs now. I figure a couple of sets of those should see me through, LOL. Gee, maybe I will need a whole new set of Bulbs to keep me entertained through the healing process! I hope to hear from the Dr tomorrow or Friday, which are his paperwork days. Lets see how many AMaryllis I remember that I have growing from this years orders.... Black Pearl, Angelique, Lilac Wonder, Furore, Honeymoon, Rembrant Von Rijn, Exotica, Apricot Beauty, Royal Velvet, Pink Surprise and a fairly healthy looking La Paz and Papillio from last year. Just got an answer from Amerillis Bulb Company that they had never received an order from me, so have redone my order to include: Pasadena $11.00 $30.00 (- $3.00) DR Double Record $11.00 $20.00 (- $2.00) BOS Orange Sovereign $9.50 $25.50 (- $3.00) CYRM Cybister Ruby Meyer $14.00 $12.00 (- $2.00) GIR Girafe $13.00 $26.00 LL Lemon-Lime $14.00 $36.00 (- $6.00) THat would be 3 each of all the first orders, but fewer as noted here. So guess these will be the ones to cheer my recovery! I also have some from last year that have lost their names but need the bulb to go into rehab along with me, LOL. As to my greenhouse, During the winter I use my garage workroom, and about March I use a cheap collapsable plastic "flowerhouse". That is where I set out my started garden seeds in about March to harden off. This is my second one of those and a great improvement over the first one, where the screening all rotted out, as did the stitching on the zipper.

Thanks Karyn. I went out yesterday after I posted that and saw I do have a couple buddleai sprouts, and a couple other things that are a mystery because of course the writing wore off the labels. Argh! Hopefully they will make it. Kristy, quick kill those buggers!! I just found long-tailed mealy bugs on my poet's jasmine yesterday when watering. I started examining it, cuz some leaves were browning near the base, and there they were!!! Where the hell do these things come from for cryin out loud! I have to examine everything now today. Daniella

Yep, they're peonies. I love them in bouquets. I'd just make sure that you cut them young...open, but not fully open. They'll last longer. And cut them the night before you use them, and submerge them for the night in water (hold them under with something heavy on their stems that won't bruise them). They'll last a long time that way. These were cut short, because I wanted a tight arrangement. Thanks for all the kind words!