Hello fellow Californians....let's introduce ourselves!

Good afternoon, I garden in Sacramento, but at the moment I am sweltering in Claremont. I am starting a garden in a new house, small narrow lot, AWFUL tight clay soil - but I am happy because I have sun for the first time and can grow many things that would not grow in my former mostly shady garden. I love perennials and can't cram enough in my beds, but I also can't stop the container habit I developed from years of apartment living. My ultimate luxury is to be able to walk out to the garden to cut a vase of whatever is blooming at the moment. I help my sister in her southern California garden, and I also attempt to maintain what is left of an old garden in a family home in Utah - as a result I am a compulsive weeder! I have much to learn, and enjoy sharing gardening triumphs and challenges with gardeners everywhere.

Welcome! That sounds like a lot of work trying to keep up all those gardens! I think you'd be sweltering if you were in Sacramento today too...unless the heat wave we had here in the Bay Area the last couple days missed you. You're going to have fun with your new garden, there are so many great plants to grow in the sun.

Welcome nasturnium! I am sitting here eating my 7th popsickle of the day, drinking ice water and trying to figure out why my hubby insists on pouring concrete today of all days! LOL!
I too had a container gardening habit, but now I have a huge yard. Still bought about 15 pots this weekend for plants! LOL! I guess I still like the potted look :o)
Welcome to DG youre gonna love it here :o)

All that heat and then the wind. Boy we're taking a beating up here in the bay area. i'm Lydia, only been gardening for a couple of years but I'm really into it. I love shade gardens, edibles particularly berries, propagation from seed and from cuttings. I've got a small potted suculent garden, I have a thing for flowering vines, but I feel like I learn to appreciate everything in time. I've got a couple nice native plant resources here in Santa Cruz so I've got a bunch of natives. I would love to get to know all the folk from CA who frequent DG.

Hi Lydia! Youre not that far from me and SunnyG is in San Jose! yeah! we have more northerners on here now! whoo hoo!

I hope your not near those fires. I live in fremont but work right around the corner from the Claremont hotel up in Oakland. I hate all this hot weather and winds! My plants dont know if its winter or summer right now! LOL!

Glad to see you on here, and WELCOME!

AnjL

Hi Lydia, I was born and grew up primarily in Santa Cruz (Cabrillo College and UCSC alum and everything)…how fun to see you on here! I too hope you’ve been faring okay with all the extreme weather and the fire.

Hi everyone, I live in the San Fernando Valley. Looking forward to learning how to take better care of my plants. I'm an ex-New Yorker (been in L.A. for ten years now) and still find the plants here exotic and wonderful.

Hi, I'm carri and live in Nevada City on a hot hill side bordered by a wilderness area. I'm interested in high desert plants like agaves , daslyrions and yuccas. Are there other people in the foothills with similar interests?

Hi Carri! Sorry, I'm down south, but I know there are lots of members up north. You might do a search on the plants you are interested in and see who is posting on them and where. OR, you can do a search on the members list and see who is near you. Just start posting here and there and you'll see some action. Lots of people are busy in their gardens with the good weather, so things slow down a little and you might not see a response for a while.

Welcome to the CA Forum!

Hi, California people! I just got back from visiting Roseville. It looks like a challenge growing things in northern California - and some surprises. Some plants that don't do much here in Virginia do fine there, yet I don't see many people growing them. The hotel grew cyclamens outdoors - all year round. And they were beautiful. Here, they would be short-term plants probably. I wonder what it is about the climate there that causes them to do so well.

I saw oleanders - everywhere! It is the northern California highway plant. Miles and miles. Here, you see them lining the streets in Virginia Beach, at the resort area. The plants along the streets in nearby Norfolk are Crepe Myrtles, part of the history due to Roosevelt's New Deal. So the streets of older neighborhoods in Norfolk are lined with Crepe Myrtles.

But in northern California, it is oleanders. At least in the part I was in.

I have a lot to learn and figure out.

Yes, oleanders are everywhere on the highways--they have pretty flowers and get by with hardly any water during our dry summers so that makes them ideal for places like the freeway median. There are bazillions of crape myrtles here too, you just probably didn't notice them because they're not blooming yet--they're used in people's yards or as street trees, but on city streets rather than on the highways. As far as the cyclamen...I'd be surprised if those really grew and looked good in Roseville year round, it gets pretty hot up there in the summer and they're more of a cool weather plant so I don't expect they'd be too happy in the middle of summer.

Well, I wouldn't think so either about the cyclamen, but that's what the motel people were telling me...

BrightStar, I grow Cyclamen in the shade year-round in Sonoma County, so the motel people were telling you the truth. As long as they get enough water, they make it through even the triple-digit temperatures.

We have more Crape Myrtles and Lady Banks roses than Oleanders on the freeways around Santa Rosa.

Zuzu, I remember - these cyclamens were in the shade!

It seems to me that geraniums are the perfect Sacramento area plant.

Hello again, Californians. It looks like I won't be joining you. The job was a really good job, but they decided they didn't want me.

I did get a greater appreciation for the state of California, though, and the gardening challenges that it presents.

And the people seemed so nice!

Maybe some day I will get to visit you again.

Criminy, but this is a long thread! Our long growing season here in CA seems to be growing....-Gardeners!!!!
I'm Cyra from the Central Valley, here in Kings County, CA. (Hi, neighbors!) What to say? Well, I'm an employed happily single (div.) mother of 4, (two at home) whose green passions focus on medicinal, culinary, and other herbs, -but not exclusively.
I live in a small apt. in a small town, and excepting the shortage of water, fairly polluted air, and unbearably hot summers, I love this area, with my friendly neighbors and small-town atmosphere..and relatively low cost of living.
Mmmmm, oh yes, I'm a foreign import (German) and have inherited various felines...(as they say, cats are like potato chips, -you can't just have one!)
I'm online 9 mos per year, and incumunicado for 3, when I work 7 8-12 hr. shifts, nightly, per week. That full-time+ work period, when I'm offline, begins in approx. a week, or so, and I'll return to DG forums in Oct....

welcome! And we'll look forward to hearing from you again in October! That sounds like a tough work schedule, although I guess if you only have to do it for a few months maybe it's not so bad!

Thank you, Ecrane, (nice to "see" you again!), fortunately I only work 5-night weeks the rest of the year, between periodic lay-offs:) I'm looking forward to returning here to the forums:)

OK, Cyra is right, this thread is getting tooooo long!

Here's Part 2 : http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/866951/

Does anyone know what happened to Kachinagirl???

I have d-mailed her 2 times and haven't heard from her. I have one more possible way of getting in touch with her and if I do, I'll let you know.

Thanks! I've sent a couple of d's over the year or so, and haven't heard from her. I miss her. If you do get in touch, please give her my warm regards!

I will for sure and if you get ahold of her, let me know please. I met her at our RU last year and enjoy her so much.
Kachina, where are you?!!??

Ditto here!

I tried to reach her too..no luck...and I know for sure that Dave sends Dmail out to those that do not pick it up on line...he sends to their Email address to notify them of Dmail...I got 2 that way today. (I am in WV...be home Wed!!) Jo

Hmmmm, I hope everything's ok with her.

I figure there must be other Cali noobs here that need to come out of the woodwork!

Hi everyone. My name's Gina, mom of 4, and now "Napkin."
I just started posting recently on DG. I am a 30 year native of NY who moved to Napa 3 years ago. We're still renting and it will be HARD giving up the yard when we buy a house since we've put so much time and energy into it and it's just so CUTE. We've fallen in LOVE with the Japanese Maple out front. But we will be here for another couple of years, I am sure.

We just took over an unused dog run and built a container garden for vegetables (and a few fruits). I'm also trying some flowers in containers from seed for the first time to sprinkle color in more areas around the exterior.

Welcome to Dave's Momster! You'll love it here, there's so many knowledgeable and wonderful people here. You'll never feel like you're asking a dumb question!
Congrats on your new home in the most wonderful part of Calif...in my opinion. We visited Napa a few years back and will probably go back sometime.
Again, welcome!

This thread is waaaayy to long - I've started a continuation here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/973189/

Hi I am new to DG. Just subcribed. My name is Shirlene. I live in San Jose, in the Berryessa area by Pentencia Creek on the way to Alum Rock park. I love to garden, spend most of the summer in yard taking care of all my pots and other plants in yd. Which I have too many of, pots that is-Orchids, Ferns, Ivies, Succelents, Bulbs and Lillies Pelargonium (fancy leaf & few scented). I have a lot of Alstromeria and many other plants.

Hello Shirlene and welcome to this great site. I hope you enjoy yourself and learn lots of new things. You have a lot of great gardeners up in your area too. Watch out for some of them as they are true plant enablers and will have you growing new things you've never even heard of. lol


Donna

Hi my name is Brigitte, I live in San Clemente CA ,which is in between Laguna beach San Juan Capistrano and Dana point Calif. sunset zone 24, 1/4 mile from the ocean on a 1/4 A lot. I grow most of our veggies and I love cottage gardening, I have about 150 new and antique roses. I love garden antques. herbs and scented plants ,heirloom veggies and flowers, love night bloomers. I grow my grandmothers green beans from the 1940's from Palos Verdes. I Grew up in Redondo beach and love digging in the dirt. lurking on this website for about a month. And I just love it. Next year I would love to go to roundup. I have been in the San Clemente garden club for about eight years and I am in charge of our monthly garden tours ,anyone wants to show their garden in L.a., Orange county, San Diego let me know. Been starting a lot of my plants from seeds or cuttings, but over indulged before at many a nursery. Try to be as organic as I can. I have two kids in collage.

Hi Brigitte! I used to live in Redondo Beach, too, but didn't do much gardening there. You will be very welcome at the next round-up, which should be in October.

We have continued this thread here, since it is too long for our dial-up members: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/866951/

Kathleen

Hello Brigitte and welcome to this wonderful site.

I was so excited to read your message. I am a big fan of our local garden tours in OC.
I have been a garden host of the Mary Lou Garden Tour along with another one of our DG members, Jasperdale. I am really looking forward to this one coming up next month also. Have you attended this tour? One of my favorites is in your area...Bea Grow.

You would be more than welcome to attend one of our Roundups. We usually have it in late May, but this year we are gearing to Oct. Stay tuned for any announcements in this forum.

I am also from the South Bay, El Segundo and Redondo was one of my stomping grounds. My sister lives in Redondo now. Did you grow up in RB? You might know of my BIL, Howard Wood. He had a Real Estate office down in the village for many years.

I've have heard that you have a wonderful Garden Club down there. In fact didn't you just have a great speaker on pelagarniums? Can't remember her name. I wanted to attend but was out of town that day.

Hope to see you around the forums.
Donna

Hi Donna,
I just typed a two page reply and it did not come up. Anyway I was on Mary Lou's tour in 2007 and I live around the corner from one of my best friends the famous Bea Grow. She is such a wonderful woman. 83 in May and I bet she gardens into the 100"s. She just bought me a scented cameilla for my birthday and I love it!!. There are many plants in my garden that came from the Queen Bee herself.
Robin was the geranium girl and she and Bea had a wonderful tea is Beas garden. Also Bea Grow is once again on the Mary Lou tour. I also cant wait . San Clementes tour is on June20th its gonna be good. I am also going on the Palos Verdes tour this sunday. Laguna beach , Encinitis and mission hills in S.D.then maybe Tustin and the rose society too!! And yes now I am poor now! , tickets are getting to be too much money!!
My sister also lives in Redondo Beach and he husband John Strausa works for Larry Moore [real estate} in the village too, small world!. If anyone wants to see my garden their was an article in July5th 2008 in the O.C. register. the Serendipitous garden by Cindy Mcnatt. She was very kind to me!!
My garden club field trips are open to anyone who would like to attend.
This April 20dth we will see a fab rose garden in Nellie Gail ranch and May 22nd we will go the the exposition park rose garden in L.A..Thank you all for welcoming me and really excited maybe one day we can go nursery hopping. Thank you Brigitte

Hello California Gardners!
I'm from La Quinta, about 30 minutes outside Palm Springs in the hot California desert. Raised by an avid gardner, the desire to be in the garden, hands dirty - unfortunately, I never left the amateur/beginner stage. I'm eager to learn by reading and interacting in the DG community focusing on perennials and annuals that are easier to care for and drought tolerant as my CRPS prohibits me from gardening as I once could. I truly would like to learn from those with wisdom and experience now that I'm old enough to understand to listen and wise enough to have learned that a garden is only sucessful with patience and love. You have a wonderful place here at DG, I'm glad to be a new part of it.

Ld

ldblond-welcome but you might want to post to the newer thread:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/866951/#new

Thanks for finding me wandering out here. I will jump and post at the thread you gave me.