Jen, I hear you about growing native plants. I live in the Chihuahuan Desert and will plant only things that are native to our area. Even though we live in the city, wildflowers still make it into our yard, with some wonderful surprises. Insects like my cacti, and both hummingbirds and hummingbird moths (in this case white-lined sphinx moths) like my desert willows. The city has give us multiple notices saying they don't like how our yard looks, (it does need trimming more often than my husband does it), but after one of the early notices I explained to the employee who came around what I was doing. The only "gorgeous" yards around here are the ones with astroturf, albeit with the ubiquitous bermuda grass growing around the edges.