I have fall planted most of mine. It is an excellent time to do that here in Oklahoma. There in Albuquerque the temperatures should be fine, seems water might be more of an issue. Your wet season would probably be best for establishing new plants but as long as you keep the ground reasonably moist, its a good time. I do best with the 4" pots from Santa Rosa Gardens online, not so good with the more expensive gallon or larger sized which are often root bound from the local nursery's. The 4"pots are gallon sized by the next spring and the plants establish much faster.

I'm in Albuquerque and I've planted OGs from spring through to fall. IMO fall planting is less risky as long as you get the plants into the ground without delay, i.e. NOW. For my area, average first frost is around 3rd week of October. The ground won't freeze for another month or two. There is enough moisture that you don't have to fuss over new plants, and little chance of sudden heat waves. I don't mulch OGs but I also haven't tried marginally hardy or temperamental varieties.

I second the recommendation for Santa Rosa. I got a big shipment of plants this spring, including several OGs and they are doing well.

Dolores57, your profile says you're in Z5. Where in Abq are you located? I'm in the foothills of the Sandias where I'm technically Z7, but given the harsh winters of 2011 and 2012 I think we're borderline Z6/Z7. I can't think of anywhere in the city that is Z5. Even Santa Fe, an hour north and higher in elevation is Z6.

Cheryl

You guys messages make me feel reassured about fall planting.
TexasRanger thats were I ordered my OG from, Santa Rosaâ¦..could not resists those prices.

jadeite I am in the valley near old town. No I really don't
know my zone but your right its been colder than it used to beâ¦I never trust those zone things cause here in Abq we have hundreds of micro climates and pockets.

dolores, I'm working on a fall order from SRG too. I've fall ordered and planted from SRG twice in the past and the plants all did marvelously well, I have volunteers that I have been transplanting to create mass areas and these are about the size of the grasses in the 4" pots so that is more fall planting. All the grasses are very cold hardy for the most part. I'm also sowing seed for some cool season grasses this fall, that worked well last year. I'm making a prairie garden on the whole property.

TexasRanger What cool season grasses are you sowing?
I love OG but don't have much spaceâ¦.thats an understatement.
I saw a beautiful OG at the Abq Botanical Gardens in May.
I'm thinking it must have been a cool season grass as the plumes, which were stunning, were in full force.
The Abq Botanical Gardens is the worst for labeling so I don't know what they were. Been doing some searches off and on all summer and have come up with what I think may be possibilities. I'll find my notes and post them later. Should I start a new thread or continue on this one?

It might have been Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'? Lots of people in NM grow it. Its not at its best here in zone 7 due to our extreme heat in summer, I had to remove mine. All of the Calamagrostis varieties are cool season (I think) I had also tried the Korean Feather Grass but it did badly in summer here too. A waste of money. I notice SRG added a note that it does badly in Texas, Nevada and Oklahoma. This is true.

These are warm season but I like the Texas Muhly grasses -----All of them----- and with one exception of one that is only winter hardy to zone 8, they do very well here so I am happy about that. I like them better than any of the Calamagrostis and they bloom very early in summer.

Cool Season:

Blue Fescue does well here if its in shade and summer and kept dry. I have an area that gets full sun in winter, spring and fall but is shade in summer and dry so it will do well there. It likes cooler temps but so far its done well in that spot. I'm planting seed for more.

Koeleria glauca (Blue Hair Grass) in another area that I'm planting more seed of too to make a mass planting. Its a cute little tuft grass and does really well.

Mexican Feather Grass is another, I am sure you see that everywhere there. Its a self seeding one but I love it and use a lot of it here.

Purple Three Awn is another, its a lot like Mexican Feather Grass with fine blades and same height and it blooms purple in spring, these turn nearly white and then it blooms again in fall so its in bloom all season.

I am going to order Sesleria autumnalis from SRG and I am also ordering Juncus inflexus 'Blue Arrow' and Juncus pallidus 'Javelin' they carry. I have some kind of wild juncus thats so cute that I found out in the country. Its about 4" tall, unbelievably fine blade with tiny brown seeds on top. Its doing so well that I decided to get a couple of the big ones.

Another cool season grass I was considering for part shade was Deschampsia cespitosa but I backed off of it, I don't think it will do well with the many 100+ days we have in summer and its probably too dry here as well, Its a very pretty cool season grass with ethereal seed heads, your nights are cooler I imagine, it might make a difference.

dolores, I have my order all ready to send in. I finally settled on these but wanted to give you a heads up on further discounts in case you haven't checked:

12 Sesleria autumnalis
3 Panicum 'Dallas Blue'
2 Juncus 'Blue Arrows'
1 Juncus 'Javelin'

I looked online and found 2 coupons that will give me an additional $10.75 off. One is -- monkey -- that gives a $5.75 discount and the other is -- my5 -- which gives you a $5.00 discount. I got another one from SRG for $3.59 off for ordering more than 8 Sesleria. That one was a surprise. What a deal!

jaedite--- Are you ordering any this fall? I just heard on the news "deluge headed for SW". I hope you get deluged on.

TexasRanger Thanks for the heads up on the discounts. I already placed my order and signed up for their newsletter and got a discount.
I ordered Karley Rose, & panicum Rotstrahlbush.
Still going to find the names of some grasses I'm interested in that are annuals I thinkâ¦.but ornamentals not regular grass.
Yes its been raining here all day, which is odd for Abq but its very refreshing.

Dolores57 - have you ever gone to Plants of the Southwest? They are on 4th St NW, possibly not too far from you. They sell "starter plants", small sizes of many plants including OGs. I got NM feather grass and Indian rice grass from them this year. They were $2.50 - $3 each, 2.5" pots, a nice size to transplant. No root shock. Around now they usually discount these small plants a lot. I discovered them last year around September and bought tons of stuff. A fair amount didn't survive the winter, but lots did including some Sacaton Wrightii, Sporobolus Airoides, Big Bluestem. I think they were around $1-$2 by this time, so very affordable.

If you're interested in NM natives, PoSW's starter plants are a great way to go. I'm embarrassed at the huge numbers I've bought from them, I have giant stacks of small pots lying around.

Tex - I'm trying desperately NOT to place yet another order with SRG. It would be my third or fourth this year. My winter order was huge and I think I will place another one this year for spring planting. It's not an easy time to plant, because it's the driest period in the whole year, but I know I'll be eager to get going by then. Right now I'm pretty tired from everything we're doing. I still have rooted cuttings and seedlings to plant out, and I'm taking cuttings to keep over the winter (lantana, tender salvias).

We had a whole day of gentle rain today totalling 0.12". It's pretty pitiful, but better than nothing. Forecast is for more rain the next few days. While working in the open space I did see that the seed balls have started to break down. Instead of being hard round balls, they look semi-melted. I can only hope for something to germinate by next year.

Cheryl

jadeite Oh my yes I have spent many a happy hour at Plants Of The Southwest!
Its just down the road from me. Love that place
Their main building is so lovelyâ¦..so New Mexican in its architecture.
Thanks for the heads up about the deep discounts for fall, will check it out soon.