[skisickie]

I know palm trees grow but what else?
Anything edible is good

[aqualung8705]

Check with Moonlight Nursery.

[Kalbo]

Check Star Nursery also.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by skisickie

I know palm trees grow but what else?
Anything edible is good

Go to any local garden shop and buy the most recent Nevada Gardener's Guide, by Lynn Mills (Southern Nevada, works at Springs Preserves, writes gardening column for the RJ) and Dick Post (Northern Nevada). If you run into Lynn at the Springs he'll probably sign it for you.

[Yeti]

I'd help, but I am busy this weekend? Maybe Next Thursday?

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by skisickie

I know palm trees grow but what else?
Anything edible is good

You are probably too late to grow any vegetables until the second growing season starting in August, but you could plant fruit trees for next season fruit. I have two foot high peach tree that is loaded with peaches, and I put two tomato plants in a pot on the patio, and have a ton of green tomatoes now.

[aqualung8705]

I've also seen that upside down tomato planter at the store.

[WestieJeff]

I've been attempting to do vegetable gardening for about two years now and I'm no green thumb but it definitely seems difficult, but not impossible.

The extreme temperatures are hard on most plants. Many vegetables won't pollinate when it is above 90 degrees which leaves a very small window of time between the last frost (which I believe is officially early March) and when it starts getting above 90 degrees during the day (which usually happens around early May). You really have to be aggressive about getting vegetables in the garden as soon as possible in the season to let them get established.

Star Nursery has some information on good varieties of vegetables to plant for Las Vegas at Star Nursery (http://www.starnursery.com/note.php?id=13 - broken link) and Star Nursery (http://www.starnursery.com/note.php?id=12 - broken link)

I've had my best luck using EarthBoxes. They aren't cheap, but they work well.

[Buzz123]

Ideally we should plant in early February in Las Vegas. I don't remember ever doing a second planting, but it's sometime in August. Most books I've seen about desert gardening are about the Sonora Desert...Arizona...which is different from the Mojave Desert. I'm sure there are other gardening books about our area, but the Nevada Gardener's Guide is the only one I know of. Plus there are regular columns by local master gardeners like Lynn Mills in the Review Journal. I've cut a lot of those out for reference over the years, but have still never been very lucky with gardens. Like a true West Virginia mountaineer, I mostly grow a few tomatoes now. We'll be doin' up some green fried termaters here purdy soon. Squash grows pretty well here too. I've never been able to get corn to grow but I know people who grow corn and green beans and do well. I've had a few peppers and carrots in the past too.

[Buzz123]

You can get a lot of free advice at the Springs Preserve,
Springs Preserve Experts Directory (http://www.springspreserve.org/html/gardens_experts.html - broken link)

and also the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Service.
What is University of Nevada Cooperative Extension?

The USDA is a good source too. USDA Rural Development in Nevada--Las Vegas Area Office (http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/nv/offices/vegas.htm - broken link)

They helped me get rid of critters in the pantry one time. Did you know your flour products probably have critters that will spread in the pantry, and you can get rid of them by putting your flour in the freezer for a few days (or maybe weeks, I forget), or you can heat it in the oven on the lowest setting for a few hours. Since it doesn't take as long I use the oven method, but my default temp seems to be 250º, so I lower it to about 175º.