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It looks like 4,500 ft is about the max elevation.
Downtown Alamogordo is roughly 4,350 ft.
Yep, I would say that in a proper climate (warm generally, sunny, etc.) 4500 feet is just about right.
However, there are always in gardening some slight exeptions to a rule. Where a saguaro would have no chance in places like Flagstaff or Santa Fe or Ruidoso, most folks don't believe that one could survive in Albuquerque. Yet, as ABQ-saguaro lovers know, there almost legendarily has been a 10+ foot high very healthy saguaro that has been growing next to a house in a yard on 2nd and Rio Bravo for well over a decade now. People are often amazed at how well it does, but every year, it just keeps chugging right along.
However, I would never try a saguaro in Albuquerque, and this is coming from a guy who successfully landscaped with palm trees in ABQ. Saguaros are very, very sensitive to ANY periods of temperatures below freezing...especially for younger saguaros, temps below 32 degrees for even a few hours can kill them. That is why they really are at best suited for NM to the 'Cruces-Alamo-El Paso range...you'll get some freezing temps occasionally in this area, but not nearly as much as up in ABQ and not nearly as long.
Yes, you can grow both mexican fan palms and saguaros in Alamogordo, California fan palms (Washingtonia Filifera) do better though as they are more cold hardy than Mexican fan palms (Washingtonia Robusta) ...as for Saguaros ....I've seen a number of them nearby in Las Cruces ....there's a huge one with arms in the Picacho Hills area....they are not native to the area but can be grown ...they can handle freezing nights but if temps stay below freezing more than 24 hrs it can kill them ...there is even one growing in Albuquerque (south valley) ...it has lights on it (to keep it warm in winter ?) ...following areas in southern NM with suitable climate are ..........Deming /Truth or Consequences / Lordsburg/ Hatch /La Luz /las Cruces /Tularosa /Alamogordo ....southeast NM Carlsbad /Jal /Hobbs can grow them but the area is more susceptible to prolonged cold snaps ....Alamogordo is actually one the mildest areas in NM ...contrary to what you might think the "higher" elevations in Alamo are slightly milder at nite as colder air sinks into the valley (cold air drainage) ...nitetime temps are milder along the rim than in the lowest part of the Tularosa Basin (elevation 3,900 ft near White Sands)
...contrary to what you might think the "higher" elevations in Alamo are slightly milder at nite as colder air sinks into the valley (cold air drainage) ...nitetime temps are milder along the rim than in the lowest part of the Tularosa Basin (elevation 3,900 ft near White Sands)
LRUA's post is dead-on, spot-on great advice. All of it. Better said than any even of my ramblings. The above is actually a great point too...altitudes are very important, but in a city itself, it is important to know the microclimates. Just like in Alamo, in Albuquerque, some of the lowest altitudes points (along the River / Bosque in the North and South Valleys, Corrales, etc.) are actually some of the coldest due to plunging overnight lows.
EnjoyEP: If subfreezing temperatures are deadly for saguaros, how does the one in Albuquerque manage to survive? It's below freezing there a lot, and for more than a few hours!
EnjoyEP: If subfreezing temperatures are deadly for saguaros, how does the one in Albuquerque manage to survive? It's below freezing there a lot, and for more than a few hours!
Couldn't quite tell you...that is why many are baffled!
I can say that as saguaros get older and more established, they are more hardy to freezes. While surely places like El Paso, Las Cruces and even Tucson (and even Phoenix) do not get as many freezes as Albuquerque or for as long, they do get freezes every year...especially Tucson will always have periods of temps that drop below freezing...so most saguaros can take it - a little. It just depends on the age of the saguaro, its adaptability to the climate it is in, etc. I do know the one in the South Valley of ABQ has been there for over a decade now (so it is aged and established to ABQ's higher altitude climate), it is planted against a house (which probably protects it somewhat from the freezes) and has large old-school lights wrapped around it (which I imagine the owners use to turn on as a heat source on the coldest of nights).
Don't get me wrong though...I would never plant a saguaro in ABQ...indeed, I would imagine that very likely one would die in its first winter.
I grew up in Alamogordo a long, long time ago. Saguaro were not common but they were native. I used to play under them as if they were men with their hands up.
I grew up in Alamogordo a long, long time ago. Saguaro were not common but they were native. I used to play under them as if they were men with their hands up.
I hate to dispute your memories, but this is incorrect. Saguaros have never been native to the Tularosa Basin and do not occur naturally anywhere in New Mexico. In fact, their natural range barely extends further east than the San Pedro river valley in southeastern Arizona. Maybe you are remembering one in a botanical garden somewhere in Alamo?
Tucson, yes, Alamo, no. I know because I lived in Alamogordo for 2 years and near Tucson for 3 1/2 years. Phoenix/Tucson yes, though, for saguaro cacti.
I hate to dispute your memories, but this is incorrect.
Not only is this incorrect, but I can't for the life of me recall where I've seen a living saguaro in southern New Mexico. Perhaps in Old Mesilla? Various types of palms I have seen plenty of, but severe cold spell killed off a lot of them several years ago.
You might think that the saguaro is the "state cactus" from all of the New Mexico illustrations/adverts containing depictions of the saguaro, for example:
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