If you're still there, Rich, please bring back some cool air when you return!

Hope you're having a good visit, thanks for the trip report. Keep us posted on your hackberry experiment too. Good luck! I've heard Denver has a great botanical garden--if you go, I hope you'll post lots of pics. Safe travels either way! :)

thanks, Arizona Gardeners for your well wishes:

I'm back to the desert, finally. I was there helping my oldest brother who has a beautiful 3 acre property near Denver but doesn't share my botanical hand....

I brought back three plants for experiment: a common hackberry (Celtis); a russian sage (very common in Denver); and a Pow wow Echinecea (beautiful.) I'm most interested in seeing how the hackberry tolerates our blast furnace and limestone soils. Thanks, gardeners!!!

The pow wow echinacea is just gorgeous. I wish you success.

Keep us posted on your plant experiments (and don't forget to plant stuff you KNOW loves it here too, so you're not too bummed if any experiments fail). :)

I've tried Echinacea several times in two different gardens and it always fails by late summer. Several friends and some of our forum members have had the same results, but maybe you'll succeed. We're looking forward to updates both short-term and long term. I've since switched to Rudbeckia instead of Echinacea as rudbeckia loves it here and self sows nicely too.

I do love experimenting with other climate plants too, so keep us updated! Have fun! Happy gardening!

Thanks Grant, other gardeners for the suggestions,

To be safe, I'm keeping my Pow wow echinacea INDOORS on a sunny windy until the outside temps drop to a sane level.....