As mentioned, plant small flowering plants that can stand some less than ideal water conditions. Hens and Chicks is often mentioned. Spring flowering bulbs...the mini and dwarf varieties are liked in a rock garden. Don't attempt the larger (taller) varieties. Put any that are taller in back of the shorter ones. Where water might be a problem, put containers in the garden, plant them into the ground - just make sure the pots drain well because a pot can harbor a lot of water the plant within might not be able to stand up. Let them spill over the edge. Ornamental grasses do well in rock gardens....sedges in particular. Blue Fescue (festuca ovina) does well and can dress up a border.

Thank you all so very much for the input and ideas. It's very helpful. I've seen a few photos here of what some of you have done, and they are breathtaking. Any good sources for all of the suggestions? I am glad sagos are pretty hardy because I love them! I would gladly go for large ones if I thought I could keep them alive. I am not familiar with the sizes of planters, but the ones we have are some of the largest ones you can buy at the garden centers. Dimensionwise, maybe 26-30" high and 20+" across? I can get larger ones for the palms if need be. (I did forget to mention we have 2 cats and 2 dogs who all spend a lot of time out there, so something that is safe and non-toxic to pets is very important to us.) What we are trying to accomplish is a bit different, because the only place we really have to put our tropicals is around/on our pool deck. Our house is on the edge of deep woods, and the pool is raised, so we don't have anywhere back there for planting - ergo the plan to have potted tropicals. We have a large garage where we wintered a 7' rubber plant in front of a window. It was on a rolling cart that we could put outside on nice days. The plan would be the same for the palms. That plant goes in the only area that is in shade or partial shade for a lot of the day. I've enclosed pics of the area we'd like to put the tropical palms plants in. A large portion of the deck - on the right - is not shown. I also plan to put in an outside shower in the area of the pool deck to the extreme left (difficult to see - it's between the wooden deck and the left edge of the porch), and would like to put potted plants in that area too. I don't have to worry about privacy as we are on acreage with no nearby neighbors. We cut the trees back since this pic was taken, so it is almost full sun all during the day. What do you think of some long, low planters in between the columns? The porch is very large, so there would be room for something there that maybe trailed over the edge of the porch down to the deck? Suggestions for something like that? Any more ideas on how to dress this deck and porch area up with tropicals would be super! Thank you. :) Here is a link that might be useful: Pool area

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

I like the blueberries. I think I'll put them on the other property line. Doesn't entirely solve my current issue, but it still helps. They're typically 3-4 feet, and tolerate a higher Ph than other blueberries. I would still like to do a raised bed for them. I could have 4-6 feet with a raised bed. I rarely drink tea, to be honest. I think you may be correct about the Viburnums. Some seem like they are tasty, but from my little bit of digging, most of those don't appear to be evergreen, however, they do work in my zone. There is V. Pragense, but I am unable to find a definitive answer if they are human edible. Some said it was, most said it was not. And even the ones that said it was edible said it was not...that tasty. Some people claimed that not even birds or deer would eat some of the Viburnum berries. It seems the further away you get from "normal" plants, the harder it is to find solid answers. I like Unedo. I think I will make a place somewhere, probably near the hedge, but not a row of them, if that makes sense. I have looked at Elaeagnus Ebbingei quite a bit. It has it's own set of issues, though. It's invasive in some states. Although, I did not see it as being invasive in mine. Additionally, it doesn't appear to fruit reliably. There is also a fairly large seed inside of it. Fortunately, it's supposed to edible as well, from my understanding. I wonder if I could plant something like Ebbingei since it will still fruit and is evergreen, and then maybe plant something like huckleberry (vaccinium ovatum, similar to a blueberry?) supposed to evergreen, but quite small, or maybe sea buckthorn (not evergreen) in front of it. Sea and Huckle are supposed to be smaller than Ebbingei, so it would not shade, and both could get sun. I'm not sure if that would work or not.