Hi hinda,

I just google "ed" arid zone plants and then when I ran into something with the correct spelling of mediterean i copied it into the google and added zone plant and put " " marks around it. From there it was all reading whatever looked interesting or relevant(sp).

This is the third time I have tried to reply to this post so I am really hoping this works.

Did you know your zone is suppose to be good for lavender and most of the common herbs?

Also palms, and scrub everygreen, as well as the sucullents(sp)? (I need to go back to school can't spell anything.)

Did you get the post where I mention a type of thyme that is a good ground cover and might work between your flagstones so you don't have to worry about weeds popping up there?

I'm crossing my fingers and punching the reply button. I hope this works.

Hey Hinda,

I must have made a booboo when I wrote that post lol.

Not lavender between the flagstones but thyme it's a ground cover.

I get discouraged from time to time too. I am disabled so I garden in 15 minute intervals because that's all I can handle. I have an 80 X 8 foot patch of overgrown weed and pest infested ground that has no water running to it.

I am clearing the weeds one square foot at a time. I take a bucket of water out to the place where I want to pull weeds soak the ground and then using a spade dig up about one foot of ground going as deep as the spades blade maybe 8 inches deep. Most of the time I have pure clay to start with. Very very hard to dig up.

I am on a fixed income and there really isn't money to do anything to the garden but the people here come up with all kinds of ideas for amending the soil and getting other things for little to no cost.

I was researching a vine called an arabian jasmine a while back. It is considered to have a marvelous smell and alot of cultural significance. I'm curious if it would grow outdoors in your area? Sometimes planting just one plant can motivate me to do another 2 or 3 feet of weeding/amending the soil.

See if you can find some moss rose seeds, portulaca and plant them. They are a succulent that requires almost no care and that blooms in profusion. It is a plant that I really enjoy. If you can't find the seeds I will try to pick some up for you in June when I do my next shopping run.