Zone 8 and 9 gardeners?

How many zone 8 through 11 gardeners do we have here? Is it more than 25?

Gardening in these warmer zones is much different than the normal zones 5-7, and I wonder if a gardening forum specific to zones 8-11 would be appropriate. Or, perhaps, the Tropicals forum already handles this need.

Thoughts?

Dave

i'll be the first to answer you, zone 9 here and yes, it is a special zone in itself!

I'm in zone 7-8, and it's not tropical or desert or south or southwest. Many people have published books for Texas gardeners, and some of the authors are native Texans, but there are at least 5 distinct areas in Texas alone. Whatever I read about gardening must be taken with a grain of salt.

zone 8b here and yes texas is an entity all to itself.

I'm zone 8 in rural Ga. and this area is quite different too. A forum to address the problems for different zones might be good but I think we already talk about the different areas in all the other forums. Now if you put one in I will definitly use it.

zone 8 here. i'd happily use the forum

I am in Zone 8a, and Pacific Northwest gardening is completely different from say Texas or Georgia.

We have mild winters, if you can call rain, rain, rain mild, and temperate summers.

I do not think I would use a forum specific to zone 8-11, for the reason that, even though I have banana trees and palm trees growing in my garden, I do have to give them a bit of protection in the winter months, then again I also have fir, cedar & pine trees also growing in my garden.

Pacific Northwest gardening is the best of all gardening worlds. It's the rain that makes it special!

Yes Dave it would be nice to have a special forum. We are in zone 8 & it isn't tropical. Right now it is down right cold but shouldn't last long (I hope)There is 2 puters here thus 2 members.. Greenwood & myself. We are in the FL panhandle close to Alabama.
Thanks,
Sugar_fl & Greenw@@d

Sugar_fl, I have actually been to your town and love it! You are right next to Chipliee(cant spell) Just love that whole area of Fla.

Justmelisa,
We are really in Esto but it is such a small town we don't even have a zip code..I have been here 20 month & really like the area..My brother came to see us Wednesday & said it sure was different for me.. a city girl all my life.. YES it sure is different here in the boonies but I love it *Smile*
Sugar_fl

How about a wantabe zone 9? Waaaaaaaaah, I want to move south. It's ccccoooooolllldddd here in zone 7.
I think one of the best books for southerners is Southern Living's Garden Book. It covers all the different zones for southern garderners, and recognizes that Texas has different climates. I really want to move to Texas and hope to in the near future.

This message was edited Thursday, Jan 3rd 10:19 PM

Calalilly,
Maybe this will make U feel better.. it is 27° here now & going lower before the nite is over. Thank goodness it won't last very long & should warm up soon BUT sure is cold now..
Sugar_fl

Thanks, that made me feel better, it's 28 here!!

Zone 8, Florida Panhandle and would enjoy a forum specific to warm zones.

The way the weather patterns are changing who knows what zones we will be in - not to mention micro-climates. I used to live in a zone 7 and it has now become a zone 8. If I was a zone 8 or 9, I don't think I would want a forum specifically but that's not for me to say :-)

Good point Louisa' Our zone here has changed recently and we are xeriscaping now on the plains' Can't depend on the long ago t-storms anymore' But by the same token am able to grow tropicals with our micro climates and beginning to experiment with alpines too' If we did have such a forum I would enjoy reading what others are growing,even if I can't grow them here' Whatever all decide is good for me'

I remember when that other garden site put up a forum for Texas gardeners, and I went there some, but the truth is that I first went to the general forums, and most people must have. The special forum had low traffic, and a visit every other week was enough to keep me up. We learn more about other zones by having everything in one place, and I have most of the plants others in my zone would have. I'm not opposed to the special forum, but seriously question if it is worth the effort to put it up.

might be spreading the info too thin? I do follow the tropical forum closely. just a thought.

Can we have one for cold zones 3 and 4 too? We have a gardening challenge with the severe cold and short growing seasons, therefore, there's not a lot of perennials we can have. Also much different than the normal zones 5-7. Just a thought.

Aimee, your comment reminded me that the "other site" also had a forum for Southern Gardening, and as I recall it was used mostly for Steve Bender to trawl for ideas for the gardening articles in Southern Living. It wasn't really that active either, and "Southern" gardening encompasses a lot more zones and gardeners than a state-specific forum (even one the size of Texas ;0)

Even though I'm zone 6, and therefore ineligible for the proposed forum, I don't think I'd encourage ya'll to do it. As long as folks put their zones with their personal information, I find it much more helpful (and community-spirited) to have everyone posting their gardening problems and triumphs in common forums. Just my opinion...

I'm inclined to agree, and it's really hard to pin down a zone with all the variations each one includes. I do wish more people had location in with their names.

Good deal, thanks for all the ideas! It looks like we already have this need filled quite nicely here.

Best,
Dave

Hi Dave - would love a forum on zone 8-9 - I'm right on the border. Thanks, Juja

Zone 8 here..
Larkie

Hey, zone 8, too. I would read it and use it, but whatever you think.

Zone 8b here. I have to agree with Aimee ~ it's great to be in a forum with everybody else! But I wanted to say it was a nice thought, Dave. Thanks anyway!

I found this site today http://www.lanset.com/pathline/

I don't know how updated it is - an email to the webmaster came back as undeliverable. But it's fun reading even to someone who's not in the "Deep South" ; and has some good info on which plants do best in your unqiue climate...enjoy, ya'll!

Zone 8...deep south...

although you wouldn't know it by today's weather. I could see my breath again this morning. Brrrrr.

Zones 8b-9a here. Of course on the Island zone 9a is a bit warmer than zone 9a off the island generally.

As is evidenced by the posts, one persons zone 8 is not necessarily another persons zone 8. Having grown up in Texas (Dallas, Houston, San Marcos, and Lubbock), spent a year in Portland, OR, and the last 14 years here in Vicksburg, I can tell you for certain there are a whole lot of plants that I could grow in one location that won't grow in another. It's like the Stark Brothers catalogue saying that a sweet cherry tree is suitable for zone 8. I mean, they will ship one to Mississippi expecting the buyer not to want a replacement every year.

One of the best delineations for being able to grow plants that I have seen is in the Southern Living Garden Book for southern gardeners, and for folks in the western US, I think that Sunset magazine has a similar breakdown and a similar book. They have broken growing regions into a much larger number that try to take into account the "weather", not just the coldest temperature. For example, they have the south broken down into the upper, middle, lower, coastal, and tropical zones.

Having this many forums would probably not be workable, but it would be nice to have one devoted for the south where one of the biggest problems for plant survival is how well they deal with the sun and humidity. Dirr has recognized this fact and is coming out with a new book for woody landscape plants specifically for this climate. I, for one, would welcome a forum along these lines.

Yep, they're all different, so I consider everything hardy until I kill it myself.

zone 8 in the upper desert of Southern Calif., where we have mild winter. although i think the major population of DG members are within zones 8-11, i do not think there should be a separate forum as it might isolate other members from different zones. we are doing good as it is. United we stand, divided we fall! if not mistaken some of us in these zones will agree? zone differ true, but as gardeners we do the best we can for all the plants we grow, the specific zones we are in does not influence the growth of our plants, but by the TLC we provide for the plants we grow. just my 2 cents. ma vie