Thanks all. I had read that peach would work but was "short lived"...whatever that means. And I saw one reference to asian type plums working. Konrad, were those euro or asian hybrid plums that you tried? Good full sun space is pretty precious to us, if I can let it grow up a bit and then use it to host multiple grafts then I am inclined to give it the space. But that is sounded dodgy at best. Obviously I could graft more apricot onto it, but they are such a stretch for us I had not planned to try more. I had also considered no grafts and planting it off on the "edge" where it will get rather poor sun but still be close to the other apricots. Leave it purely for the spring flowers to see (and aide pollination) and to possibly use as a "trap tree" for the PC pressure. But I think it would fruit to rarely to use in that fashion.

Almost any apple can be grafted to your crabs. And, crabs make fine pollinators for them, assuming that they are blooming at the same time. There are a number of different approaches to grafting- you can get deeper into that next spring, when you will actually be able to start. Many people here do it and will be happy to share links to tutorials, videos, and so on, and to answer questions. Often you can get scions or bud sticks from friends or through people on this forum, or you can buy them. Scott Smith has a great list (which I don't have copied on this computer, or I'd give it to you now) and which should be available to you by searching this forum. Lots of good help here too about pruning. Hope this is a start. Good luck, Mark

Mad_gallica and Diane, thanks for the info. about multiflora. It sounds good to me, since I don't have time for suckers on Dr. Huey. I appreciate the conversation between Kim and Michaelg, I learn from you both. Kim, that idea about a brick walkway next to the house is GREAT! I never thought about that before, since I'm stuck in the norm of having plants next to the house. No one here do a brick walkway next to the house, but it's a smart iddea - no more mud splattering up to the white sidings, and less watering into the basement. Laura: My neighbor is wary of utility lines too, and he plants his trees in the weirdest place to avoid them. One time I was too impatient for ComEd Electric guy, I went ahead and dug a hole for the white pine. He came with flags and marked the line right across my hole. He assured me that it's OK to use a shovel to dig, and it's OK to put a tree on top. It helps if the utilities lines were put down before the builder put the top-soil on the lot. Then you have 10" of top soil, then 2 feet of gravel before you hit the lines. I prefer my trees to be on top of utility lines, since the gravel beneath helps drainage. Comcast and cable are different. They bury their lines very shallow into the grass. With them I have to use a hand scoop, or a spoon! LOL!

I have been growing (or attempting to grow) tomatoes in Tucson for many years now. My philosophy with tomatoes is grow sandwich sized tomatoes of good taste and heavy production on disease/heat resistant plants. I have tried Super Souix, Porter, and others with minimal success. The problem tends to be that the plants get very big without much fruit set before or after the main heat of the season. My experience has been that the bulk of my food production from tomatoes has been from varieties that are referred to as semi-determinate (tomato varieties that are determinate in size, but indeterminate in fruit production). The best tomato I have grown in this class has been the F1 Celebrity. It is very easy to come by and does very well with only a little west-side shade after the month of May. 6-12 of these plants will feed a family of 4-6 with tomato sandwiches all through the summer. (As a note I do not use shade cloth and plant my tomatoes FAR from structures such as houses or walls that radiate heat at night). Many heirloom and other open pollinated varieties of tomatoes can produce very nice foliage here in the desert but they often fail to produce any significant amount of fruit. After trialing multiple open-pollinated tomato varieties each year, the best open-pollinated variety I have ever grown that tolerates the heat has been Siletz (see the link below). This variety is parthenocarpic, so it will produce virgin fruit through the summer, then, from my experience, you will be lucky if you can get some seeds from the plant in the fall. (= Neptune is also another good variety but it is a classic determinate, meaning it produces only one crop before its demise. No matter what tomato I grow, the biggest key to growing tomatoes in a desert climate is to put them in the ground or have some kind of insulated container with a water reservoir. Once the plants are established you must wean yourself from the tendency to water every day. Gardeners who water (at most) once every 3 days have much more success than those who water every day. Though this is initially counter-intuitive, flood irrigating or watering for 2+ hours on a drip hose every 3 days enables the roots of the tomatoes to develop 18-24 inches below the surface of the ground where they are well insulated from the scorching summer heat. The main benefit from watering occasionally comes in less plant stress and consequently, much less disease and pest problems. If you are new to this area you might also note some of the considerations to growing tomatoes in the following blog post: http://scientificgardener.blogspot.com/2012/01/few-tips-for-growing-tomatoes-tucson.html Here is a link that might be useful: Siletz tomato trial