Pacific Northwest Gardening: WA: Zone 9?, 0 by PhilsFlowers

PhilsFlowers wrote:
Thank you for all your very useful information, AuNatural, and thank you for your welcome to this group. I have been finding it very informative. I finally found a good Canadian zone site and with the changes that have been made to the weather categories, based on the assumption that we are in a period of global warming, I am now a Zone 6b and I'm sticking there. I think I have jumped from zone to zone in my thinking three times now. I only wish I had been wide enough awake to remember to get its web address. I was telling my garden lady, Reggi, when she was here this afternoon about finally knowing what zone I am in and she said she would be interested in looking at the site because some of her other clients are confused now too. I had to admit that I couldn't tell her the web address and didn't even know where I got the information except that it was from one of the Canadian on-line nursery places, I think.

You are absolutely right about drying winds. When they come funneling down the Fraser River Valley at us, my sinuses really begin to act up and I can just imagine the poor plants going through the same thing. I have asbolutely no idea about what to do to increase the moisture level for these plants. Watering, the usual way to ensure they have adequate moisture, is out because it is so cold when that happens the poor plants would freeze and heave themselves right out of the ground.

I do mulch plants I think are too tender to survive, then nothing happens and, as there is no cold weather to kill the slugs and snails, I find they have made themselves a happy little home in the mulch and have used my tender plant as the fridge.

In my yard finding shade for these little darlings is no problem as no matter which direction you look there are tall cedars providing shade. At one time this area used to be a rain forest. Although in built up areas much of that forest is gone, for example, about a hundred years ago a raging forest fire swept through this area so the trees we have in our yards now are only about 70 years old, but I digress -- as usual! Although the trees are gone Mother Nature forgot to turn off the water-works. We have spring rains, we have summer rains, we have autumn rains and boy do we have winter rains. However, thank God it isn't snow or kids would be tempted to tobbogan off the roof as mine did once in Quebec. So, there is no need to worry about an adequate supply of moisture in late-autumn, Mother Nature does it for us.

We do get a lot of roof-rotting winter wet too, as you say, but most of the plants can take it. Our nurseries here are pretty good about weeding out plants that can't take the rain before we ever lay eyes on them.

Reggi and I refer to the Sunset Western Garden Book as the ultimate authority when we have differing opinions about plants. It is an excellent reference book for our area and we use it often.

I have been to Minter Gardens and I love it. If someone picked it up one night and settled it down around my house you would not hear me complain at all. I am so glad that you got to see it and enjoyed it too.

The next time you go to Vancouver on holiday, conference or whatever, go out to the University of British Columbia. They have a good Botanical Garden there and I get a lot of good ideas from these gardens. Also at the U.B.C. is the Natobi Japanese Garden which is so peaceful that when I leave there I am a much less stressed-out person than I was when I went in. The beautiful VanDusen Gardens is on 37th and Oak in Vancouver and Queen Elizabeth Park is just across Oak Street from it. If anyone who ever came to visit us when we lived in Vancouver expressed an interest in plants and/or gardening, they got dragged out to see them as I am so pleased with them all.

Now I live very close to the border and it is about a 30 mile drive to see them so I rarely get to see them any more. We did get to Vandusen in April as they have an excellent plant sale and neither Reggi nor I would think of missing it. The U.B.C. Botanical Garden also has a plant sale but its date this year conflicted with prior commitments so we had to pass.

You say that when all else fails, go native. I do buy a lot of native plants as they are old friends that have been with me all my life.

As our yard seems full of red oriental poppies at the moment I am sending you a picture of one. They are my DHs favorite flower. Why? Because it's red, of course. Is there a man who doesn't like red flowers best?

Happy gardening!

Phyllis