New Mexico gardening?

I didn't know which forum to post this in so I am starting here. A good friend of mine just moved to NM, and is there anyone out there that can tell me how to garden there? What is the soil like? They live in a town not too far from Alamogordo, which is more south. I just drove through NM on my way back from CA, and from what I could see, there isn't too much there, and the soil looks very sandy. Any information anyone could pass my way would be appreciated. What kinds of flowers can you grow there? Do you have a long growing season, and how cold does it get there? It was pretty cold when we were there, which was suprising to us, but I don't even know what zone y'all are in. Anyway, you get the basic idea of what kind of info I am looking for.
Thank you for your time.

Grayse2

Peppers. Lots and lots and lots of peppers grow in NM ;o)

I'm sure you'll get some good advice here, but have your friend contact the Univ. of NM's extension service agent in that area - they can undoubtedly provide factsheets and information on what to try to grow.

Terry....thanks, I will do that, and pass on the information to my friend.

I found out they are living in the National Forest area, in the mountains, around Cloud Croft, a small village at 9000ft. They are in zone 6a maybe 5. Thanks for the help.

It will be arid, short growing season and very sandy soil. Water rationing in the summer may or may not be an issue. Probably alkaline soil. (I'm going off memory of living in SE Colorado for 9+ years, and assuming the conditions are going to be fairly similar, as we were at just 6,000 feet above sea level, but further north.

It's 8,000+ above sea level there. They can grow Csmos, oses, Irises, raspberries, Hollyhocks, Zinnas, Bachelors Buttons, Poppies,Morning Glories, Peunias, Nasturstrums, Water and Winter Cress. Broccoli. Snow peas planted now. Cabbage, Valerian, Mexican Hat, and Peppers started indoors and brought back in to ripen. Cukecumbers, Dill, Garlic and Onions. Tomatoes with walls of water around them. My roomy and I used to take trips up there and were going over a list of plants we remembered.
Many beautiful Rocky Mountain Indigenous plants are there. It is a wonderful place.
Sidney

Thanks Sidney. What a great list. I'll pass it onto her. About the walls of water around the tomatoes?
How is this done, exactly? Not sure I understand it. Here's a link to this area where they are living in, if you'd like to take a look at it: www.cloudcroft.net Interesting little site. If you look under Village Info, it gives what they have there, the population, etc. Very sweetly done. Thanks for the info.

Wall of water can be bought on-line several places, Burpee, Parks, etc or you can make them with a "Press and seal" food sealing machine.
I don't have one.

This might be a dumb question, but what is the purpose of this wall of water? Helps keep the plant cool or something?

sugarweed...I looked it up, and now it makes sense. I didn't even know such a thing existed, probably because I wouldn't need one of these because our growing season is so long in LA. Interesing invention, I must say. Cool idea.

Yes, when Frank, a 35 year New Mexico resident was telling me everything that he wanted to put on the list, he was specific about those. He lived at 7,300 to 9,400 elevations over the years.

I guess maybe I'm ignorant when it comes to living in the mountains, but I'm guessing they have shorter growing seasons? I have a friend, here, whos sister lives in the mountains in Tennessee, and she's said that there's not a lot she can grow because of how high she is and to be quite honest about it, I've NEVER given it any consideration...never had to....but I guess the higher you are the shorter the season, and the more difficult because of how thin the air must be? Interesting. If I ever move to the mountains, which I hope to do one day, I'll have to remember this. I'd be in trouble if I coudn't garden, though. Have to have a greenhouse or SOMETHING. Gardening is my therapy, and I would miss it terribly. Know what I mean?

Frank says have them seek out Horst Kunsler (sp?) at New Mexico Cactus Research, Belen, NM.
Horst has a cactus named after him from the Sacramento Mountains.
One of my all time favorite nurseries is on the hiway to Riodosa. It was HUGE. Been half of my 58 years since I was there.
Frank says the limestone areas are ph 10.5. The potash is real high in these areas.
The Dakota sandstone areas are about 8.5ph. High elevations have monsoon seasons there.
You sure have got me thinking about the past.

Is thinking of the past a good thing? Hope so. I'll pass the info onto my friend. She's suppose to call this evening. Appeciate all your help. It's nice to hear about this area. It's quite beautiful there.

Yes, reliving my twenties is a good memory.

I lived in Albuquerque for 4 years in the early 90's. With water you can grow everything you would grow in a matching zone. Its extremely dry throughout the year so even in the dead of winter the roses need a drink or three. The growing season is long enough to start annuals outside, such as marigolds, from seed. I never had any difficulty growing anything, as long as it got properly watered. Some plants such as the Yucca really can become a focal point of a nice landscape. As for the soil type I don't recall it being a problem. Snow was rare as were hard deep freezes but all plants had a dormant period. I miss the deep dark blue skies of New Mexico now that I'm in New York and growing season is 2 +months away. I wish your friend well.

Thanks for the info. They live in the mountains at 7200ft., and she is really liking it, although she says it's so dark at night, and it's kind of scary because they are surrounded by tall pines and trees, and she can hear critters out there, and she's worried about the bears, but they have a very tall fence around their property to keep critters out, I assured her she'd be fine. Her husband grew up there, just down the mountain, so this is familiar territory for him, so he's a big comfort to her, which is nice.
They moved there so they could be closer to his father, who is getting up in years, and needs someone close-by to watch over him a bit, so it's a good move for them, esp. her husband. I could live in the mountains so easily, and hope to, one day.

Get her to get a putter and join us here. DG is a God send for those of us that are challenged to meet people in new locations.

I've mentioned it to her before, so maybe she will soon. She could learn so much, and meet so many wonderful people. This is really a fun place to hang-out and chat with friends.

I partially grew up not far from Cloud Croft. Beautiful area. Not far from Riudoso for racing, and White Sands, and Carlsbad Caverns. Lots of sightseeing and exploring to do!

Much of her gardening will be similar to ours here, dry; shorter season due to altitude. But she should be able to grow anything there that I can grow here, which is most things. About the only thing that really is difficult are things that require moist or soggy soil all the time. One of her best resources would be High Country gardens. www.highcountrygardens.com.

Thanks for the info, and I will let her know. It is pretty country there, and waking up to the site I saw wouldn't hurt my feelings at all ;~)