hmm...I just came across this when doing a little searching. Yes...having ones location is as much or more important (IMHO) than having just a zone. It is most helpful if members put the info into their Member Page Profile. That way it will also show on the Member Page, and will automatically be filled in when one posts. Additionally it is best to have an email link on one's member page too, so they can be emailed privately if the need arises..... which I see someone in this thread doesn't have one....hint, hint. The state abbreviation (or something similar) goes in the one box provided for the garden zone. See I am zone 5/6 S IN and it is on my Member Page as well. Once can update their profile info by clicking on the Member Pages link, found in the green banner at the bottom of all pages here. Sue...resident busy body on the main Exchanges

Diane, I'd consider planting a REAL early variety and getting it in the ground perhaps two weeks before your last frost date. I have a friend in NJ who plants his corn a month before the last frost date. Besides this, I'd plant this, or another variety of corn, timed to tassle real late. Or, you could use the same variety of corn and do something like three different plantings. I'll look it up, but Carol Deppe, in her book, The Resilient Gardener, goes into great depth treating this issue. There are some colors of corn, for instance, which will immediately show up a cross with a commerical strain of corn. The off color kernels can then be picked out and discarded. I broke down and purchased a packet of Abenaki Flint (A.K.A. Roy's Calais), one of the earliest known corns. Carol Deppe gave it high marks. I'm going to plant it simultaneously with my Mesquakie Indian corn, as it will be done tasseling and be drying down before the Mesquakie has put out silks. I might add that Carol Deppe has developed, and is supposed to release, this year, a couple of varieties of early flint and flour corns. Finally, I might mention that I have experience with landraces, from when we lived in Mexico. The Calabaza de Castilla, which we had down there, is a landrace. In different towns one might observe variations, but it is basically an irregularly shaped c. moschata, very similar to Old Timey Cornfield Pumpkin. A true land race, as I understand it, consists of a population with much more variability than a regular open pollinated variety, but those variations are usually still within some kind of parameter. For instance, the Calabaza de Castilla never comes in the form of a neck pumpkin, nor is it anything but tan colored. I still have and grow and landrace bean, a black seeded half runner called Mecatl�n Black. All of its seed are small, rounded and black. All the plants are non-climbing half runners. But there is tremendous variability between individual plants in regard to pod color, strings and maturity dates. George Here is a link that might be useful: Abenaki Flint corn

Oh no!! You said the "T" word......topping. In the wrong hands this word can lead to permanently damaged landscape plants, especially trees. You could agressively trim, but why go to all that trouble? Just choose plants whose mature size will fit into your space and save your free time to enjoy your pool and landscape. As for vines, there are several to choose from. Forget wisteria here, but perhaps Lilac Vine (Hardenbergia violacea) would work. Lady Banks rose (thornless in white or yellow) grows fast as does Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana). You don't want Bougainvillea with your pool or you'll be constantly fishing out the colorful leaves/flowers. Heres a link to Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert which has over 200 low water use plants with photos and descriptions. You'll need to water your new plants correctly for the first few weeks so refer to page 14 of Landscape Watering by the Numbers. Page 9 shows how much water to apply based on the size of the plant. Most of the valley cities have free landscape classes offered by their water conservation offices. Of course folks on this forum always have great advice. Good luck!

If you take out the hedge, your patio will be fully exposed and become part of the public view. So unless you want this as public space, you will want to leave the hedge except for one or perhaps two plants nearest the garage and the start of the path. Near the garage, take away at least the first shrub (cut to ground level and either paint the cut stumps with a brush killer that doesn't remain in the soil (my favorite is undiluted glyphosate) or remove every new leaf that tries to sprout at least twice a week until the plant stops trying to regrow, most likely for at least a growing season. Replace the shrub there with a low plant with bright blooms so that it draws attention without blocking the sight lines to the path. Until the shrub is for sure dead, plant them in a low pot. That will make the opening to the path visible and the house will feel less barricaded while still maintaining privacy for the front patio. The mandevilla grows by twining stems, so it won't grow directly on the arch. I would plant it to the left of the arch so visitors don't have to brush through it and provide it with a trellis to climb. I don't know how large it will grow in your area since it isn't hardy outdoors here.