First, you need to throw away all your concepts about landscaping and plant choices from living back east. Arizona is an arid desert climate and the plants that did well and that you are familiar with at your previous location are very unlikely to be even slightly appropriate in your new location. Drought tolerance and climate adaptability are going to be your new guidelines :-))

Second, you need to familiarize yourself with the plants that ARE recommended for your area. Visit any public gardens, parks and local nurseries to get some ideas. And drive around the nearby neighborhoods to see what others are growing and what you like. You can take photos and post them in the Name that Plant forum for identification or just knock on the door and ask........most folks are more than happy to talk about their gardens, especially to any admiring onlooker :-)) And there are a number of very good online sources as well - try Arizona Landscape Plants.

Evergreen flowering vines recommended for your area include bougainvillea, lilac vine (Hardenbergia violacea), primrose jasmine, cat claw vine (Macfedenya unguis-cati), orchid vine, Cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria) and Lady Banks rose (Rosa banksiae).

Finally, there is a Landscape Design forum here on GW where some very generous professional designers will typically share their expertise but be prepared to provide extensive photos of the property and answer a lot of questions......landscape design by remote is not an easy task!! And watch for a lot of eager amateurs that participate on that forum - some are quite knowledgeable and can be very helpful but most don't have a clue about design considerations.

Thank you! I know nothing that grew back home will grow here. There are a few houses around me that have this beautiful green vine growing up the side of their house. It doesn't flower. Just looks really lush. I tried jasmine and it smelled amazing, but died once it got super hot. My bougainvillea out back is doing pretty good, so I might try that out front too. I posted in the design group. I think that is more of what I"m looking for...ideas on what other people would do with the space. Thanks for your input! =)

My jasmine seems to love the heat, it dies back in a hard winter for me but comes back in spring.

I too am facing a landscaping challenge. I found a good book at the library then ordered it from half dot com....it's a hardback, coffee table size book. Priced at .75 then shipping was $3 and change. Total for book less than $5.

Native Gardens for Dry Climates. Exactly what I was looking for. Now I need a creatively minded person to put a plan together for me. ;-|

Native-Gardens-for-Dry-Climates-by-Sally-Wasowski

They still have some copies for seventy-five cents listed as 'good condition'. That's what I bought and I think its condition is 'excellent'. There is a partial sticker still on the cover but the book is fine.

Edited to say that bougainvillea is VERY messy and if you have a pool anywhere nearby you will rue the day you planted that beast. And cat claw, make sure you want *that* beast before planting it too. Lady Banks rose is a beautiful shrub but it needs plenty of room to spread out.

"I know nothing that grew back home will grow here. "

Most things that aren't native here actually will grow here if you really wanted them to but definitely not as easy as they'd grow in their native locations. For example if you wanted to grow a vine that can't handle our middle-of-the-summer sun (like most passiflora vines), you'd need to grow it in a location that has afternoon shade or grow something else that shades it above it (or set up a shade structure for its first few years, not very appropriate for front yard though), which takes planning and time.

Also, you may need to water non-native plants a little more their first few years than you would a native plant. My 3-4 yr old Bananas still need lots of water in the middle of summer, but in spring and autumn, they are fine with just a little occasional watering. They are great for quick summer shade, but need a lot of cleaning up to keep them looking good (probably one of the highest maintenance plants I know of out here).

I have a few 3 year old blueberry bushes and I'd only recommend doing those if you don't mind taking care of big containers :)

OTOH, I'm pretty sure Figs aren't native here but they grow really well here.

"I tried jasmine and it smelled amazing, but died once it got super hot."

Jasmine is an example of one of those ones that won't handle our sun very well its first few years. I have a 4 year old Arabian Jasmine and now it can grow anywhere it wants and not have trouble. In fact there's a ton of blooms on it right now. It even keeps all it's leaves in the winter. I started it up against an east facing wall so it got western shade in its early years.

Iandyaz - I have a small rectangular bed in between the walkway (where the aloe-things are) and the house that gets about 4 hours of direct sun every morning, do you think an Arabian Jasmine would do well climbing up a trellis there? The Jasmine I had before got morning shade and afternoon sun, but I'm wondering if it might survive the summers with afternoon shade.

Go get a copy of Sunset's Western Garden book and go through their plant listings. You are in Zone 13. If they say it will grow in Zone 13, it probably will.

Is there a different zone map other than the USDA plant hardiness? Or am I going by the wrong one? I always thought I was in zone 10a in Yuma..that is what the website says.

Lazy_gardens is talking about sunset zone. It's generally more specific than the usda hardiness zones. The hardiness zone only describes the avg coldest temperatures through the year.

I think the arabian jasmine would do really well in that spot. I gave mine a fairly good amount of water it's first few years, then I switched to automatic watering about 2 years ago and it's really taken off since then. It really responds to minute amounts of blooming fertilizer too.

Thank you! and for the info about the sunset zone too...is that what everyone on here goes by?

I think it depends on who you are talking to. Most people still refer to their zones by USDA zones so I don't think many people know about the sunset zones as they are relatively new.

I wouldn't rely too much on zones though, most areas are more governed by their own micro-climates and soil types more than anything. The zones give you a general idea of what might work well and what things you will probably have to put in some work to grow.

The USDA zones put Phoenix AZ and Tampa FL in the same zone. That's kinds useless.

The USDA zones don't take summer highs and other important factors into account.