Some plants that would do well in a dry, full-sun, sandy area? (Albuquerque: home, upkeep)
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I have a couple of books by Judith Phillips. She is one of the gurus of New Mexico xeriscaping and her books are just beautiful ... loaded with pictures in full color.
I have New Mexico Gardener's Guide and Natural by Design. I have been studying them all winter ... and planning. I would highly recommend both of them.
IntheDesert - I would 2nd the Judith Phillips books - I have the NM Gardener's Guide and it's quite good. Here is the website for Plants of the Southwest. Although it's in Albuquerque, it's very informative and is a good place to generate ideas.
A south-facing yard is going to hot and sunny. When you are looking at plants on this website, I would go with ones that are classified as "full sun" and "very low water." Those should be basically maintenance-free.
Also look around at what grows well in your area. There are some plants I see often around Albuq that are really gorgeous, and healthy-looking because they belong here. For instance, snakeweed, winterfat, sideoats grama and purple threeawn [grasses], and some of the really drought-tolerant sages, such as prairie sage & fringed sage. Also, a few shrubs like fourwing saltbush, new mexico olive and apache plume would add character. These plants are all superstars and you could have quite the beautiful, southwestern backyard.
Try not to plant during the heat of the summer if possible. The plants may need a bit of help the first year, but once this crowd gets established you will be amazed at their resiliency!
South facing? No shade? Sandy soil? Low water useage? C A C T U S, my friend!
you can cut them now...many types of paddles or stalks of cholla etc. but be sure to mark which side faces the sun when you cut. Replant with the same solar orientation. I usually make a magic marker X facing south and plant that way.
Let them dry and harden for at least a few days or a week, then dig a shallow hole, stick em in, pack the earth around them with your foot and water them every week or two so they get established. Before you know it you'll be skulking around coveting varieties you don't have and taking cuttings. Most people will share, because some cacti can grow pretty fast, believe it or not.
I took a bunch of Cow Tongues that had been cut out of an irrigation ditch and stuck em in the ground near my house. That was 3 years ago and the biggest is over 5 feet tall and I cut stuff from it every year to rein it in. I have great luck with cholla as well. They also will get tall. It's nice to do a high/low thing when arranging the varieties.
Have fun and watch out for dem stickers!
Jade plant. We have one that is 30 years old and does best when we water it every couple of months if it needs it or not. These things will sprout from a dropped leaf and prefer sand and no or little water.
As for cactus, when can you dig them up and transplant them? Do you have to wait until winter or does it not matter?
Cacti are some of the most unbelievably easy, versitile, and hardy plants in the desert to transplant - by far.
You don't even have to dig some up and re-plant them (although you can easily - say, with an agave / etc...with the original cacti owner's permission of course! ). However, with a common central NM cacti like a prickly pear, cow's tongue, cholla, etc., you can actually just cut off / clip off (wear rugged, thick gloves for this! ) various pads / growths and stick THOSE with one end into the ground - walla...they will grow!
(Yes, it is really that easy. You clip off one pad of a prickly pear - it'll be a roundish, green thing that doesn't have any areas that look ready to go into the ground, but you stick it a 1/3 of the way in on one side...maybe water it once or twice just to give it some establishing...and in the fall you'll have yourself a well-multiplied large prickly pear situation).
And in Socorro by now, you surely can do this now. Frankly, for many common cacti varieties to NM, you can do it year-round in a spot like you've got especially.
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Also, if you wanted to really have fun, you could do a Trachy Fortunei palm tree (eg: the Windmill palm tree) - a fairly cold hardy palm tree that does well in ABQ; would be perfect for your spot. Once established, it needs very little watering and good drainage like you have with good sun. Could probably plant that now. Or if you wanted to get a little adventurous, you could do a California Fan palm tree (commonly found in Las Cruces and a few in Truth or Consequences) - the Washingtonia Filifera. These actually can be found in some spots in ABQ doing well...they need a nice microclimate area in a place like ABQ, but it sounds like you have it by you potentially. Again, very little water once established and it'll grow beautifully as it ages. Could also plant that probably by now.
Thanks guys, I am keeping my eye out for some plants. That Plants of the Southwest site is amazing and identified some of the plants I was looking at around town and wondering what they were called. I am a little hesitant about trying to do some of those from seed but I'm going to go plant hunting and see if I can get some cuttings.
Not too many cacti around my neighborhood, I don't know if it is the age of my neighborhood (mostly homes from the 60s) or what but it seems like most of the homes are very traditional landscaping of grass, cottonwoods, bulbs, and sprawling rose bushes. We are right along the river so there are a lot of huge cottonwoods in people's yards, oddly I only have one in mine.
Our house is actually the only house on the block that is landscaped more modern and New Mexico friendly in the front with xeriscaping and low water native trees and shrubs. It's interesting once you start looking around and noticing how landscaping has changed over the years. Our house is also the only one on the block that has had an update of a pro-panel roof, stucco, and a wall of south-facing windows, so I am guessing they did the more modern landscaping in the front around the same time.
OK I have a question I was wondering about, is it against the law to take cuttings off plants in the BLM? Am I going to get a huge fine if I go for a little drive in the Quebradas and slice a few cacti? I know they allow people to take flagstone out of the Quebradas here but you have to pay like $5.00 I think.....
BTW, I did decide AGAINST the oleander after doing some research and reading about their root systems and destructive nature, plus I am not sure that a young plant would survive the winter here but I did pick up a DWARF oleander to sink into a large pot on my patio. I don't have any kids and the dogs only eat grass so I don't think it should cause any problems. Noticed that Raks carries just about every plant I could ever want for xeriscaping but at $24.99 and up for a small yucca I think I will look around for free plants before I go that route....
Explore a bit more...outside your own neighborhood. Cacti can easily be gathered alongside roads, etc. though I'm not sure about BLM rules. Yucca and agave (especially) will send out volunteers (new plants) near the mother plant and they need to be dug out or separated at some point anyway. I have an old Army entrenching tool, a folding shovel, that's in my van all the time for just such situations. If I drive by a yard with likely candidates and there is someone out working I just stop, chat and ask, with about a 75% success rate. Sometimes I bring back things to trade with folks.
Your neighborhood sounds like the 50s/60s developments, when folks wanted to reproduce their water-plentiful yards when they moved to the desert. There's a nice area near me called Mesilla Park that's that way...big beautiful trees, hedges, big lawns and all that. Not any more!
Like others mentioned I would go with Cacti (afterall you're in NM not Ohio!).....Prickly pear is very hardy...spreads like crazy ...it'll grow anywhere ....just stick a piece in the ground ....I would do a desert mix ...barrell cactus ....ocotillo ...and some yucca ... giant dagger (native to Big Bend area of Texas) ...torrey yucca ...some cholla ... all low maintenance ...then just to freak out the neighbors ...perhaps a Cardon Grande (Argentina's version of the Saguaro ) it's hardy to zone 8a ...but is do-able in ABQ's zone 7b area ...I agree with EnjoyEP ...a palm or two might just do the trick ....Windmill palms are super hardy ...they're grown literally around the world including unlikely places ...west coast of Scotland ...Switzerland (Canton of Ticino) ...Canada (Vancouver & Victoria) ...and George Clooney's beloved Lake Como in Italy ....all have frosty nites in winter ... you mentioned it's a south facing area ...so you could try a California fan palm ...it's "native" to the southwest (found in Moapa, Nevada /Kofa Mtns. Arizona) ...there is a Texas Fan Palm too ...it is even hardier (it's the palm you see alot in Austin,TX /San Antonio,TX)
I've seen Russian Sage on here, and all I can say is no. I'm not sure if anybody knows this, but when it dies, it tirns into tumbleweeds.
I have Russian Sage and it has never done this. I had some that died and I had to pick it up and throw it away -- it was quite straight and totally unsuitable for tumbling. I suspect that is why nobody knows it.
You may be thinking of Russian Thistle?
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). However, with a common central NM cacti like a prickly pear, cow's tongue, cholla, etc., you can actually just cut off / clip off (wear rugged, thick gloves for this! 
None of mine does
I had some that died and I had to pick it up and throw it away -- it was quite straight and totally unsuitable for tumbling. I suspect that is why nobody knows it.
