It's all I can do to keep the native stuff hanging on. We get 3-4 year draught cycles that kill all but the hardiest and best established natives and I learned a long time ago that if it didn't volunteer, it probably won't make the long haul. We had a black walnut and mimosa pop up from some leaves Dad hauled in to his garden plot (flood washed the seeds downstream a bit), both made beautiful 8" trees and both croaked the same year. I've sucessfully transplanted some thin-leaf and twist-leaf yucca, some mountain laurel, and redbud trees. I have to laugh at the stiries I hear about these super-invasive plants like trumpet vine and morning glory (honeysuckle and Jasmin are some others). In this hard caliche you have to grow that stuff in a pot, with garden soil and fertilizer and water it all year long if you want it to live. Even bamboo has a hard time, spreading at glacial speed and always looking yellow and sickly. Boy can we grow some cactus and juniper, though!