My favorites are agaves! For your area some of the best would be agave havardiana, parryi,and neomexicana. I also use various yuccas and ornamental grasses. There are cacti that are hardy but tend to be smaller that I bought from yuccado and high country gardens. My favorite cacti do require some protection in winter. Usually no more than a bucket turned upside down onto of it.

Thanks! I love agaves and will look into those. Do you think I will need to amend my soil at all? It is very dry sandy soil. It does not hold moisture well. In my tropical beds I have to add peat moss, compost and mulch to retain moisture. I was thinking with the natural soil, which gets hard and cracks and you can actually sweep straight sand off the top I may not need to do much, maybe just add a little gravel on the top?

Hi there. Okay this is the deal, I am looking for books for you, I think if you send more information people will post. Can you keep them dry. Cactus and succulents cannot tolerate cold an wet, this is why they are grown in pots. I know they can be grown in New Jersey, there are books available on the subject. We need to know if they are going to be on rocky hillsides. Raised bed, what is the averge temps. where live, and what about you rainfall, are you inland, in the Eastern States etc. Have you done a Google search. Rainbow books try used book stores where you live. and do you have a Cactus and Succulent club or a Major Botanical Garden, do you live near a major city they may have a cactus club that can help. I have a friend in Georgia who is a Master Gardener who will respond to question, J & J Nursery Okalahoma 1405 73-1831 will help you . Rainbook store has a lot of books on cold hardy catus plants 1866 577 7406 she welcomes your call. NOrma
Here is the book store phone number as well 1866 577 7406

Norma, Thanks! Very Helpful

More information...

I live in Salt Lake Valley UT, we are considered the high desert. There are many cacti that grow naturally in the desert just outside the city.

My elevation is 4100 feet we range from 0'-50' in the winter months and 70'-110' in the summer months it has been about 10 years since we got below 0' or above 110' but it can happen on a very rare occasion. It is very dry here. I think we get less than 16" a year of rain fall. We do get a lot of snow, but it is very dry snow and does not saturate the ground much. Utah is the second dryest state in the nation next to Nevada so as you can imagine the air here is extremely dry. If it wasn't for the irrigation (channeling of snow melt from the mountains into the city) Salt Lake valley would be a desert.
We also get over 230 days of sun here, which is far above the national average. The winters don't seem that bad because they are bone dry and sunny. A 20' day here seems warmer than a 40' day somewhere humid.

I have managed the tropicalesque garden only by amending the soil well and relying on the irrigation ditch that runs through the yard to keep the ground moist.

As I mentioned in the first post the area where I would plant Cacti and Succulents is an area that the water doesn't reach. It is bare dirt at this time and stays dry almost all the time.

I hope this helps provide a little more background.

Thanks again for all the information and help.

BTW, I have seen Joshua Trees growing wild about 3 hours south of us at about the same elevation.

This is where I would put the bed. It faces sout west and would be where the pile of wood is in this picture.

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As you can see the natural dirt is very dry.