I've never been to Ohio and I don't know what the average yard looks like there but I did live in Phoenix for fifteen years. I live in Oregon but I miss the desert. My kitchen, laundry room and dining room are very Southwestern. Didn't think of doing the yard..... I think your idea of using a dry stream bed, large rocks, ornamental grasses, Russian sage etc. will work in giving that Southwest feel. There are also pines in AZ so a pine tree would not be out of place. I personally, detest Italian cypress which are the columnar evergreens you see around town but agree that a tall columnar evergreen might give the feel of a Saguaro. Hollywood junipers are very common in Southern CA and would not be out of place. They are very twisted and gnarled. If you build up some mounds from the dirt dug out for the dry streambed that will help too. Most good desert landscapes have them. Decomposed granite is the rock most commonly used in the Southwest as a mulch. I don't think I would use it in Ohio, I think I'd use the wood chips someone suggested above. The rock would just be too out of place. I'm not familiar with Ohio weather so forgive me if plants I suggest aren't going to make it through winter. Lavender and Rosemary can combine with the Russian Sage. Caryopteris too. Flower Carpet roses would be a great substitute for Bougainvillea, especially the magenta ones. Homestead Verbena can double for Lantana and will cover a lot of ground so there isn't so much mulch. I think you should go for a lusher look than many do in the desert. Many just don't realize how much they can really plant or try to plant the wrong things. Lowe's and Home Depot are just as guilty there as having plants that won't grow in the desert as they are having desert plants in colder climates. You need something for accent. A wagon wheel. Drift wood. Pottery. Please not a cement donkey or sleeping hombre.

Hello Everyone, I couldn't stand not jumping in to see how all of you were doing!!! First of all is was so surprised at the lady who had to find homes for her mamy Plumeria,,OMG It a good thing that i didnt know anything about this lady or man for that matter,,, wonder what he had to sell! LOL... Hope u dont mind me stopping buy to say hello to some of my friends as well as some of my new ones too! Hi Toni, Hi Mike Goodnorning to Marquest,,,i love those pics of the chimmneys..i wonder the ages of them? I find them very lovely and you could really have a beautiful area there in the back garden :The Secret Garden!!!) they are so facinating to me and i would love to know what the story is...could it have been a old cooking area away form the original house? Hi Stush!!! Nice to see you .. Sounds like those years in the yard worked on your back and legs... I understand..my DH father worked for PPG in Ohio and they went so far undergound with all of these earth movers and such..his health was not that great either form that type of work..I hope you are feeling better now that your have retired!!! I also picked up on the Plumeria!!! You guys are killing me!!! I am an addict to these babies and to hear that someone was making their wife give them away? REALLY? OMG.... sound like you made a great deat... I love these babies. I will try and help you to get them to bloom if you want Marquest? Just let me know..i will be glad to help you!!! Take care everyone, Laura

Thank you Brooke, Royce - I'll have to bookmark Melanie Mason's site - I saw QUITE a few of her introductions that I really like, and to visit her farm would be a long day trip for me. Perhaps next year - our lives got thrown a curve yesterday, courtesy of a left turn where I stopped and signaled to turn (waiting for oncoming traffic to pass), and the large pickup pulling a trailer behind me didn't stop at all and hit us at 30MPH or so. . . . SO, we're recovering from that (thankfully just a very bad fright, and bruises and pulled muscles galore for the kids and I, nothing worse), but the car is toast, and we're not going anywhere out of town any time soon. On Melanie's website I really like (of her intros): Angus Pride (dark crimson-black, orange eye - very bold) Candlelight and Cabernet (dark red/rose/cream, white edge) Eva Janine (pastel pink, green throat) Longlesson Ballad (soft orchid rose, pale cream eye) Longlesson Liberty Belle (bright rose-gold polychrome) Mrs. London's Apricot Tart (apricot, round & ruffled, rosy eye) Pince Nez (very dark black-red) Rescue Me (lemon/amber, soft cinnamon eye) Tiger On Stilts (tall, late, soft orange w/red eye - I'd like to breed for taller/later varieties someday) Laurel

It is humid, windy and very rainy here in Southern CT but my hummer is still here - feeding every half hour! Also have a chicadee who thinks she is a hummer and tries the feeder every now and then..fun to watch. Other friends still have theirs also. Amazing how intelligent these little ones are..with some uncanny ability to know just when to leave. I have tried to get a hummer for years before they started to come about 3 years ago. This is the first year I have had any luck having one stay. Thanks for all the tips from everyone - next year I plan to have a lot more plants - and will try to winter some of my gardenmeister fushia and maroon salvia - they seem to really like these plants. I am enjoying every second watching my hummer and hope it flys safely and comes back next year. I just wonder when they will leave... Carol