Thanks guys. The yucca was just installed in March so it has not yet seen an MN winter. It will get the same protection as the trachies even though it is way hardier. Just easiest to cover the whole planter... Weather here is wierd. First week of May (except for last Tuesday at 82f) has been cool with upper 50s/low 60s highs and mid/upper 40s lows. Makes the basjoos just sit and do nothing! We look to be back to normal by Sunday/Monday though. 70s to 80'ish highs and low/mid/upper 50s lows which is average, is indicated past this weekend. I hope Accuweather is correct... We had an awesome March and April though. We have not had even a light frost since mid March. Jim- I ended up moving the other trachy out. I should have listened to my gut and cut it back when you made the discovery on yours. I think I missed my second chance to save it. Lessons learned along the way... I'll tell you about my findings in more detail when I have a little more time. Sorry for not following up sooner.

Kristine, Palm Desert counts! I heard they had a club there too but I'm still trying to find out more info on the club. Do you know what kind of plumeria they have? It's too late for this year but I;m sure well be going there next summer on our way to California. Mickey

Thanks, everyone, for all the wonderful advice. I have crossed the border from Nevada to California and was never stopped and asked questions about what I had in my truck. I had no idea they were that strict about bringing in plants. I also did read that during the summer months geraniums in PS need to be placed in an eastern exposure with only morning sun. But during winters in the desert they can be moved to areas with more sun during the day. I just wondered if other people had personal experience with them. I've been in Palm Springs in August when it was 120 degrees. I know what it's like personally. But at the time I wasn't paying attention to the plants. I was in Palm Springs this past March and saw properties with flowers like snapdragons and alyssum in the landscape. I asked about that and was told they are their "winter" flowers that don't survive the summers in that area. I thought that was kinda funny since I'me from the Midwest and have been used to the opposite my whole life. :-)

LOL! The "wimpy ones." The photos I provided above are of plants I brought with me from Seattle that I kept as indoor plants. Many of them will not tolerate the extreme sun and temperatures here. But under the shade fabric they have all done very well here for the first summer in my garden. Looks like your pic is of the octopus agave. Those grow here, I believe. The pics I provided above are from my backyard area. I was talking about the damage to my plants in my front yard which gets south and southwest sun all day. It really bakes out there. Here is the damage done to my plants: I have two of these Mexican fire barrel cacti in my front yard. One that gets sun all day turned nearly completely yellow. It's not going to make it: The yellow you see above is the area of the plant that gets southwest facing sun for most of the day. Here is a photo of it from behind where the sun doesn't hit it: The photo below is of the same type of cactus but because it gets shade from 4pm until evening it looks perfect: A few of my solid green artichoke agaves will need replacing. But it's the lower leaves that are closest to the gravel that are burned: The photos below are of a variegated artichoke agave called kissho kan. I thought I lost so many of them as they were bleached out almost entirely on the area that faces southwest. But surprisingly and thankfully the yellowing is gone. But there are still some dead leaves on the bottom. Two of them will need to be replaced: And I have two pencil cactus plants. The branches closest to the ground were very bleached out. But today I noticed they are looking better. I don't mind as I will trim off the lower branches as they eventually form trunks and grow to 12 foot tall trees. They look amazing when they get big. My pencil cacti actually look a lot better than they did just a week ago. But you can still see the branches near the ground are yellow. They were almost yellowish-white a couple weeks ago. They have improved. My theory is that since I went with a very dark gravel that it's absorbing and therefore retaining a lot more heat and the succulents and cacti can't take it. I say this because I have neighbors down the block who have identical plants that are doing perfectly. The only difference is that they have a much lighter gravel. I'll be better prepared for next year with some shade fabric to protect them. This is what my front garden looked like when I planted it all in December of last year. All the plants looked perfect until July/August of this year when it got really hot. Nothing seems to be hurting my bougainvilleas. They're indestructible and the color is so eye catching. At dusk when the landscape lights come on. The pic below is what the yard looked like when we moved here: