Desert Gardening

SS85 writes~ I garden in Arizona in a particularly arid and very sunny location. Can I add to the soil to make it support lots of plants I see in the magazines? What are the best plants which you can recommend for me to grow? Everything I plant seems to wither and die!

A. Thanks for telling me where you live and the amount of sun that the bed gets. You are not going to emend your soil into a lush moist woodsy feeling or even tropical. The heat low humidity and both low and high temperature extremes force you to adapt your gardens to the climate rather than the other way around. Here is what a very fine website recommends:

DROUGHT TOLERANT HIGH DESERT ARID LAND PLANTS

o Whitethom Acacia (Acacia constricta)
o Cat's Claw Acacia (Acacia greggii)
x Arabian Acacia (Acacia ebumea)
o Century Plant (Agave spp.)
o Desert Honeysuckle (Anisacanthus sp.)
o Manzanita (Arcotostaphylos pungens)
o Four-wing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)
o Desert Daisy (Bahia absinthifolia)
o Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)
o Holly Grape (Berberis trifoliolata)
* Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)
* Buffalo Grass (Buchloe dactyloides)
x Cactus (Cactacae spp.)
o Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia sp.)
o Fairy Duster/False Mesquite
ox Slim-pod Senna (Cassia leptocarpo)
ox Senna (Cassia wislizenii)
ox Catalpa (sp.)
o Canyon Hackberry (Celtis reticulita)
x Western Redbud (Cercis occidentalis)
ox Palo Verde (Cercidium microphyllum)
ox Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
o Bush Morning Glory (Convolvulus sp)
o Littleleaf Cordia (Cordia parvifolia)
o Trailing Indigo Bush (Dalea greggi)
o Indigo Bush (Dalea versicolor)
o Sotol-Desert Spoon (Dasylirion wheeleri)
o Hop Bush (Dodonaea viscosa angustifolia)
x Sandpaper tree (Ehretia anacua)
o Ebbing Silverberry (Elaeagnus ebbingel)
o Brittle Bush (Encelia farinosa)
o Coral Bean (Erythrina flabelliformus)
o Meadow Fescue (Festuca elatior)
o Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)
x Arizona Ash (Fraxinus spp.)
x Honey Locust (Gleditisia triacanthos)
o Turpentine Bush (Haplopappus sp.)
o Red Yucca (Hespenaloe parviflora)
x Arizona Black Walnut (Juglans major)
x New Mexico Walnut (Juglans microcarpa)
ox Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana)
ox Crape Myrtle (Lagerstnoemia indica)
o Bush Lantana (Lantana camara)
o Trailing Lantana (Lantana montevidensis)
o Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)
o Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum sp.)
o Myrtle (Myrtus communis)
o Bear Grass (Nolina bigelovii)
o Mexican Evening Primrose (Oenothera)
o Chihuahua Primrose (Oenothem)
x Mexican Palo Verde (Parkinsonia)
o Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum)
* Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
ox Chinese Photinia (Photinia serrulata)
x Pine and Pinon (Pinus spp.)
x Mexican Pinon (Pinus cembroides)
x Border Pinon (Pinus discolor)
x Atlas Mountain Pistachio (Pistada atlantica)
x Mexican Ebony (Pithecellobium sp.)
o Shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa)
x Argentine Mesquite (Prosopis alba)
x Chilean Mesquite (Prosopis chilensis)
x Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
x Western Honey Mesquite (Prosopis)
x Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina)
o Pyracantha (Pyracantha)
x Arizona White Oak (Quercus arizonica)
x Chisos Red Oak (Quercus chisoensis)
x Emory Oak (Quercus emoryi)
x Mexican Blue Oak (Quercus oblongifolia)
x Texas Oak (Quercus virginiana)
x Rosebud (Quercus canadensis)
o Sumac Sugar Sumac (Rhus ovata)
o Squawbush (Rhus trilobata)
x New Mexico Locust (Robinia )
0 Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
x Mexican Elderberry (Sambucus mexicana)
o Texas Sage (Salvia Gregii)
* Lavender Cotton (Santolina)
x Western Soapberry (Sapindus sp)
x Texas Laurel (Sophom secundifiam)
x Mountain Laurel (Sophom japonica)
x Mountain Ash (Sorbus spp.)
* Glob~Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua)
x Rosewood (Vaquelinia califomica)
x Narrowleaf Rosewood (Aquelinia sp)
x Mexican Buckeye (Ungadia speciosa)
x Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera)
x Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata)
x Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)
x Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata)
x Palm Yucca Palmilla (Yucca faxoniana)
x Curveleaf Yucca (Yucca recurvifolia)
x Texas Yucca (Yucca thompsoniana)
x Lord's Candle (Yucca whipplei)
* Sedum (sp.)

Key:
0 = Med. Shrub x =Tree * = Ground Cover

Plants not recommended [too water-consuming!] for use in landscape in Arizona:

Desert Broom Tamarisk Cottonwood Poplar Green Ash Sycamore Az. Cypress Male Juniper Siberian Elm Mulberry Bermuda Olive Chinaberry Tumbleweeds.