The other is a scene from the Sierra Ancha Mountains of a rocky slide strewn with Dudleya, Agave toumeyana, hedgehog cactus, some grass and flowers -a scene so lovely and perfect I would think I had invented it if I hadn't been there so many times; a scene I have imagined as a model for a desert rock garden countless times.

The preacher is too common, in my opinion, in the discussion of the use of native plants in our gardens. Ardent enthusiasts rarely are content with the merits of the plants themselves, or the type and style of garden they can define, but seek to elevate the natural distribution of selected plants to the sublime without any further qualification or understanding. I am always repelled by such zeal, it has continued too many misunderstandings and too many holy wars (truly the ultimate oxymoron).

But the mountain scene reminds me that native plants - like no other single group - can establish a vivid and extraordinary sense of place. Wise gardeners remember the maxim - Garden where you live - and without doubt native plants recall that idea effortlessly. In an area so difficult for new gardeners to understand and adjust to its requirements, native plants can offer success and beauty with considerably less effort.

One of the best reasons in my opinion for using a steady infusion of native plants in the garden is the strong regional flavor which they bring to a garden. Repeating the plants which are seen wild around us offers a visual tie to the desert landscape in which we live. It offers room for us to share our gardens with a host of birds, reptiles, insects and other life - making the garden richer and ultimately much healthier. It is a way to compromise on the needs and demands of urban living, and the needs and demands of the natural world.

The best performance in a garden in this low desert region comes from plants inherently suited to the arduous growing conditions here. That genetic combination is typically found in plants native to the region, as well as plants from highly analogous areas.

Plants which have derived in an area with its soils, insects, birds and other wildlife usually do not succumb to the diseases and infestations as readily as plants brought in from outside the region. Most low desert agaves are not as susceptible to the agave snout weevil as the ones from higher and cooler areas - native or not. Cotton root rot rarely infects desert trees such as Palo Verde, mesquite and ironwood. The hard leaves and waxy surfaces of many desert plants repels whiteflies.

But what are native plants? This debate rages especially among the devoted. To some, it is plants only within a 10 miles or so of the garden. One noted author in her version of the native debate even suggests that gardeners must go and seek these plants from the highways and byways within this zone and relocate them to the garden. Not only is this a ludicrous notion on the face of it, but it strikes me as somewhat at odds with those provisions of the law meant to protect native plants on their home range.

Under that definition we are confined to gardening with creosote, l0 or so species of cactus, both palo verdes, ironwood, mesquite, a couple of dozen annual wildflowers, and 4-5 species of perennials. While every one of them is lovely, it is just too restrictive for me.

Others think more geographically - the Sonoran desert for example as a working definition of native for gardening subjects. This opens a much wider world ranging from the foothills of the rim to the edges of the Sinoloan thorn forest. There are as many as 8000 species of plants in the Sonoran desert - here a gardener might be unable to whine about limited choice. But whine I will because this kind of native plant definition leaves out Texas ebony, Salvia greggii, all the Texas rangers and Texas mountain laurel.

A meaningless definition - from a gardening perspective - is the political boundaries of the state - any state. These boundaries have no relationship to plant distributions and often cut right through associated regions. So organ pipe (Stenocereus thornber) and senita (Lophocereus schottii) are in because they are just barely across the border - but Agave parryi v. truncata and red fairyduster (Calliandra californica) would not cut it.

However, just because a plant is native, regardless of how one defines it, does not mean it is an instant garden success. To be a really good garden plant - just like being a really good desert plant - the plant must grow vigorously and successfully in garden conditions. That means it is fairly easy to propagate and grow in nursery conditions, it tolerates at least some container growing, it can survive and adjust to multiple transplants, and it thrives to grow and bloom in the garden after such treatment.

There are already a host of successes to report: palo verde (Cercidium spp.), mesquite (Prosopis spp.), ironwood (Olneya tesota), lysiloma (Lysiloma watsonii), creosote (Larrea tridentata), jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), rosewood (Vauquelinia californica), hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa), and many others are already in fairly common cultivation. Some of us remember when creosote was very hard to find ornamentally - its seed culture thought to be nearly impossible and terribly difficult. Many people solved that riddle, and now creosote is happily a good steady crop. The same can happen to others, with attention, research, care and work.

All garden plants started out their lives as a native plant somewhere. The long process of collection, selection, breeding and cultivation brought them into our gardens. By singling out 'native plants' so rigorously we do them a disservice - they are just good garden subject which happen to be native.

Years ago a dear friend called me up to talk about the impending renovation of his yard. He envisioned a luscious planting of native wildflowers and small perennials, only native plants in this new garden he told me. But when he told me that the Mexican fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) were destined to go, and the autumn sage (Salvia greggii) would be staying, I had to tell him that the palms were the natives and the salvia was not. Disconcerted and upset, he felt his entire scheme was ruined, but he planted regardless and created a wonderful, lively garden which he revered and cared for intensely. Ultimately the palms stayed because they were just too large and expensive to move, and the salvia stayed because he liked it and it attracted hummingbirds. And that to me was the lesson of that garden, it pleased him, it satisfied his need for color and a strong native presence, included lots of birds; the origin of his plants was secondary.

That is how I believe natives are best used, as the anchor and bones of a good regional garden complimented and enhanced by other plants - regardless of origin - which suit the idea and needs of the gardener. Plants which tolerate and thrive in our conditions, and which are moderate to low consumers of water and still look wonderful; plants which delight our senses and create the garden we want are our best choices.