All things reconsidered

Having gone a whole year now without measurable rain, it gets me to thinking of what I should have done differently. I can't really think of anything. If you want an oasis in the desert you have to water it. Otherwise, you'll end up with what was there before you started, a desert in a desert. Even native trees weren't there before I planted. Granted a few might survive without water for a year or so. Like native hackberry, soapberry, and junipers. Maybe buckeye and persimmons. But the sotol even look dead, so I don't want to chance losing my trees, native or otherwise. And most of what I planted are natives, whatever "native" is.

Does it mean grew here a thousand years ago, or may still be around a thousand years in the future? How long does a plant that has naturalized have to be here before it's considered a native? I never was a purist. I planted what I thought I could keep alive when the inevitable drought came and what I thought would attact the most variety of birds. A few I just wanted the fun of growing. The Chinese Pistachio comes to mind in that category. I knew my cottonwoods and mulberries would be iffy. But so worth having in a desert oasis. No conclusions, just thoughts. Enduring things like this record cold winter, record hot summer, and record drought change who we are. And what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We'll see.