BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cacti and Succulents Moving to Las Vegas in 2 weeks!

Howdy! I'm going to be moving to Las Vegas from New York. I'm very nervous about the gardening aspects of this change. Here in NY, I have a lush garden, full of perennials and I know I'm going to go through iris withdrawls (my favorite flower). Any reassurances that I'll be able to be happy gardening in Vegas???

Marian

Hi,

The growing conditions will be very different than they are here in the east, but there's no reason you can't have a lush looking garden if you use drought-resistant plants for the most part. It need not be all cacti and succulents either. You can grow other natives, such as wild flowers, native trees, and shrubs. Supplement those with a few of your favorites, and you're all set. Careful garden design helps too, for example grouping the plants by their water needs. For ideas you might want to look at some books on desert gardens, such as Secret Gardens of Santa Fe. Good luck.

Connie

Thanks for the advice! I hadn't thought about grouping them by water need! Great idea!

Hey, while I have your "ear", let me ask another question. I had a lithop and it did just fine for years, dividing and such. Then, over the course of just a week, it withered away to nothing, almost like it was disintigrating! Any idea what had happened??? It was the weirdest thing. It just kept getting smaller and smaller, like the Wicked Witch from Oz.

<img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

By the way, why isn't your forum listed in the bella forum list??

Marian

Hi,

That's quite a mystery. These plants are challenging to grow, but unless the growing conditions changed in some way (repotting, change in watering, light or fertilizer) it should have continued to thrive. Normally they don't mind being pot bound so long as the container is deep enough. I'm assuming you left it pretty much dry during the spring and summer months, and watered it mostly during our winter months.

I'll enquire as to why the cacti forum isn't listed. If you click on home & garden, it is listed there, but everyone isn't going to bother doing that.