Beginner Gardening: Acid Loving Plants, 1 by DaleTheGardener

DaleTheGardener wrote:
ecrane,

The differences between nurseries in CA and TX are amazing. My favorite way to spend some of my free time was to go shopping for plants. In your area you can buy Redwood trees, CA incense cedar, rhododendron, fressia (& other S.African bulbs), campanula, etc. If you went into a nursery in TX the only plants you would find in both areas is Juniper. Of course most nurseries carry plants with the lowest common denominator-plants that are hard to kill (:-).

dp,

I used to drive north, up I-35 , and was always amazed at the changes in Live Oak trees as you go up out of the Brazos River Valley. Live Oak get a lot smaller and stressed looking the further north you go and it seems to happen within about 20 miles of Waco. I always wondered why the folks in Dallas/Ft Worth would plant Live Oak, they are always full of dead twigs and look small when compared to the trees of Austin.

When I was working in TX it would take me 20 minutes to dig a hole for a 5 gal shrub. Here in FL, which is just like Houston (but warmer in winter) I can do it in a couple minutes (and I get paid more here). I do miss having some winter weather, Austin has a great climate in winter, just enough cold to kill off the bugs but not the more tender plants. The Hill Country is beautiful scenery, too bad you have to import soil to grow a decent garden.

I don't have any photos from my days in Austin, when I go back next Spring I will have to add some to the album. I have lots of photos of SF (and FL) & a few of Napa>