Specialty Gardening: JUNE 6TH, 2007 Photo of the day, 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
C-Patch, I would have made my screen name D-a-G for hire, but that is too many letters.
We call Angelonia, summer snapdragron. They have hybrids for about 5-6 different colors, but, the locals only grow 3.

P-Cat, I am pretty sure that you can have great success with with rainlily up to Z8. Marginal in Z7 (the old south facing wall story) and very iffy in Z6. Keep in mind that most sellers of plants have the ethics of used car salesmen-they are in the business of moving plants off the plot. I have seen many 'recommendations' that were just wishful thinking. A good plant person can grow species outside that species normal range, but, we are not those people (usually). Give me a plant that takes care of itself, I got enough things to take care in an average day.

I see many people, even here, try to grow Z11 plants. Wake up folks, this is Zone 10.

If you go 3-4 miles inland it is Z9 and I don't know how many times I have heard people from inland say 'It grows in Tampa, why not here?', the answer 'Frost' and they buy the plant anyway. My favorite retort is 'I will cover it on cold nights' - yeah right, once or twice, but 10-15 times a winter, not likely. Inland gets a lot of radiation frost-clear sky, calm winds and the temps drop fast in the short days of winter. I am a block from the bay and on those kinds of nights I can feel a slight breeze off the water. It can be 33* at the Airport weather station and I am 39*. That is a huge difference to some plants.

Enough already-where's the photos>