Seattle relo - would love to know what grows best for you

We are looking at a relocation to the Seattle area, all anyone here can talk about is how much rain there is. My kids like to grow things (Iris, Hosta, Daylily, JM) and I'd prefer to embrace the move and learn what grows best, which garden centers have unusual and interesting items as well as the standard fare. I'd like to find out about garden clubs or specialty groups before we move. Any suggestions or guideance you can provide would be wonderful.

Well, the NW Perennial Alliance is a good place to start. Many people from the Pacific Northwest Forum belong to it.

http://www.northwestperennialalliance.org/

We have a calendar (the url is posted in a thread at the top of the forum) where we put PNW activities as people note them.

The beauty of it up here is that we can grow a lot! On the west side of the Cascades (Western Washington) we don't have the heat and humidity - our summers are pretty temperate. And our winters don't get much below 25 degrees . . . sometimes not even that. In Eastern Washington it's more desert and the temps are more extreme. But they don't get the rain.

Typical is a nice summer with 75-80 degree temperatures. We don't really have thunder storms, some rainy days, but no thunder and lightening. Winter is not so much about the amount of rain (though we've had a lot in the last couple of years) as it is about the continually gray sky. It's just always overcast with drizzle that doesn't necessarily even warrant an umbrella. But it is the gray that will get you if you don't watch out.

You'll see tons of rhododendrons and azaleas out here are they are well-suited for our environment and don't require much work.

There are tons of good nurseries. Flower World and Molbaks are well known and about 30 minutes easty of Seattle. There is Wells Medina Nursery in Bellevue. Sky Nursery and Swanson's in North Seattle. I'm not so familiar with what is south, but there are several. And then there are some great nurseries you'll want to explore out on the Peninsula.

Heidi (cattledogs on this forum) runs Dragonfly Farms Nursery in Hansville and we've made a couple of tours out there as a group. There are pictures of her place on this forum.

Welcome!! And keep us posted on your relocation. We are big fans of plant meets and swaps and will be sure to have stuff for you if you're starting over.

I am pretty new to gardening and don't know as much as the other PNW-ers, but I know my hostas, heuchera, sedum (many different types), roses, daffs/tulips/bluebells/other bulbs, and many others do well in my gardens with hardly any care at all. Our Columbine not only does well but makes me work hard to keep it in bounds with its massive seedlings it produces! Of course all the rhodies, azaleas, camellias, apple/cherry/plum trees do great around here! Oh, and the beautiful japanese maples... I could go on. I live up north of Seattle, and I really like Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, but I haven't been to many nurseries. I like Emory's as well (in Lynnwood). Good luck with your move, hope you find a great place with a wonderful yard!

Katie59 summed it up very well: we get less rainfall annually than many other cities in the east, but far fewer clear days. Summer is glorious with very rare oppressive humidity or heat, and even more rare storms. Seattle proper may get several snowfalls in winter, but it disappears in a few days.

It's a nice, moderate growing climate. Daylilies, hostas and iris will do great. Be prepared to protect plants from slugs which abound in some areas.

The nice thing is that we are green all year with the abundance of evergreen trees that contrast nicely with our grey skies.

Hi there!

Another thing-we're a pretty adventurous group as far as what we'll try growing and we have a tremendous variety of plants-much wider choices than lots of parts of the country. Terra Nova nurseries is based in Oregon, Dan Hinkley of the original Heronswood is here, Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery in Portland is here as well.

Here's a great article by a gardener from Minnesota on a visit to the Seattle area: http://www.rainyside.com/articles/Sheepish.html

Hi, there, Lady Bug! I am tickled we're getting another gardener, and not just another crazy driver! Have you started the home search? Sounds like it. One MAJOR thing to remember is that we have tons of little tiny micro-climates, which enable you to grow almost anything if properly situated. I am near the water (for a year and a half), and newly retired. Only this winter did I realize that I hadn't had to scrape my car windows even once! Only blocks away, they were scraping ice like mad. I think NC is also very topographically diverse, so you likely know what I'm talking about. Some winters here are brutal--the exception. Others are so mild you want to just push your bulbs back into the ground (they always turn out OK anyway). The occasional freeze can kill off your prized azaleas ( they can be sheltered from the worst with sheets or sheets of plastic, even a large cardboard box from the move), but most everything else that isn't catagorized as tender will be fine. I had overwintered my geraniums and certain succulents in the garage, where the succulents did poorly. The ones outside were great, sheltered near my front door. I never dig anything up, such as dahlias, for as a rank amateur, I know they'll just rot in my garage, whereas outside there's a pretty fair chance many will live to bloom again. If you lose a few things, so be it. Something to look forward to in the spring. I'm certain N. Carolinians share our love of pony packs, and Dave's pals love to share their faves. BTW, how old are your munchkins?

Thank you all so much for the great information. It sounds as though Seattle and surrounding areas provide a wonderful place to 'practice' gardening. We've just started our home search. Your market is much different than ours. I need to fullfill several requiements - relatively reasonable work drive time for DH to Mercer Is., room for horses w/ nearby dressage barn/trainer, a place for DD to continue daylily hybridization, and ample space for an ever expanding plant collection. All just part of the 'want' list at the moment. Our goal is to be moved before school starts. My crew consists of 2 boys (22, 9) and 2 girls (13, 7). The oldest is finishing his final year at the Univ. of MI, the oldest girl has dreams of Olympic competition in riding. Her daylily business is to fund her adventure. We'll be bringing with us furry kids too - 2 Havanese, 1 maybe 2 Great Danes and 2 cats. I can't promise we're not crazy drivers. We learned to drive in Detroit then moved to D.C./Virginia and found ourselves in N. Carolina. My younger kids are practicing their hand at heirloom vegetables, Hosta and German Bearded Iris. Grandparent gifts have a way of getting the next generation started. I'm really looking forward to leaving the N. C. drought, it's been a tough growing year for everything.

Lots of dressage barns in Woodinville. I'm sure you've checked there. The commute to Mercer Island from there wouldn't be as good as if you lived in North Bend or Issaquah and had a straight shot East on I-90 to Mercer Island. I don't know much about dressage barns in Issaquah, but I'd imagine that it's growing.

One thing to note, if you go out to Issaquah or Woodinville (rather than live west of Mercer Island, "in the city"), you're headed toward the foothills of the Cascades and will have less "maritime temperature-moderating effect. Average temps will be a few degrees lower and you'll definitely have some window-scraping to do.

Typically here it's either rain OR cold. It's unusual for us to have rain and cold as in ice storms. That's what can wreak havoc on even our most reliable evergreen shrubs and trees for sure.

Hey Kathy, posting nearly simultaneously.... I figure since we're so helpful, we should be first in line for horse manure right????? Teehee.

Velveteena, I love that name BTW. Good point on the microclimates. I'm in one with much cooler temps, more frecuent snows and a lot of extra rain through winter. Boo hoo.

Ladybugfan,I can't imagine you'll have a drought here. Although in the height of summer the lawns can get parched for a few weeks in most years.

I have a realtor friend who is also a horse gal and honest as the day is long. She's the only realtor I would ever trust in such a transaction out here. She is very familiar with the Snoqualmie Valley (east of Mercer Island) where you can find larger parcels and plenty of horse people/facilities. Maple Valley to the south might be an option, though the drive is tedious at regular commute times. Ditto for cities to the north and east, but there are many beautiful areas to choose from with acreage. People have moved to Kittitas County over the Cascades to make their $ go further but you'd have to weigh the pros/cons of a long and wintry commute through the mountain pass.

My Dental Hygienist is also a more senior competitor in dressage,I think, (it's all foreign terminology to me) So she could give you and your daughter some good equine contacts in the area. Very conscientious and sharp gal.

Dmail me if you're interested in the realtor name. She'd be happy to give you ideas in your search. And when you get here, I want to be first in line to buy some heirloom tomatoes, if those are included in the vegetable operation.

Annie - you're so right. Dibs on the second load of aged poop!!!

It sounds like you may have exactly the right contacts for ladybug - so first load's for you. The benefits of networking never cease to amaze me.

L, the options are numerous, but you'll definitely want to weigh commute options. If you can avoid I-405 or I-5 for large parts of your commute you'll probably be much happier.

Suzybell, the article from the MN gardner was wonderful, thanks I'm greatly encouraged by the opportunities to grow. Wintery weather doesn't bother me or kiddos, DH is a different story. It will be a bit before aged HP is available, but we're willing to share. Poochella, I'll dmail. I'd love a reliable realtor and local dressage expert. My youngest son is the veggie gardner, heirloom toms/beans and lots of other plants. We were very disappointed this year at not being able to grow, sold house and were planning an acreage move when we got the call for relocation. Our postage stamp rental doesn't allow for planting anything in the ground. Your postings have been a great source of relief for my crew, they were under the impression that it rained forever there and they love being outside. It sounds as if we have a great deal to look forward to in climate options, friendly gardners, garden centers and growing opportunities. You've all made me very glad I asked for suggestions as my kiddos are getting excited about the possibilities.

Hi LBF, glad you enjoyed the article and are starting to look forward to your move. Feel free to drop in on all our threads, see what kinds of things we're up to in our gardens. We are very free-form so the topics wander, but we have a lot of fun. And, I know we'll all have lots of extras to share when you get here, too. Fall is a fabulous time to plant things here. The winter is mild enough that plants get a long time to get their roots established before spring.

Hi and welcome to our world. I was born in Indiana and moved here in 1941. I've been all over the states and would never live anywhere else. We have a cousin who lived in the Snohomish/Woodinville area and had horses and a big riding arena. It's beautiful over there.

I'm looking forward to something in addition to English Formal and Cottage gardens. It has been 20+ years since I had the opportunity to visit the area. Hiked a fair amount with outdoorsy parents for vacations and travel to Canada to see family. I'm sure it has changed considerably since I was last there. I'd love to take the ferry across to BC and show my kids the whales. One of the best memories along with lunch at the wharf. I'm sure it's much different than I recall. I'll wander through the threads and get familiar. Thanks again.

Lady Bug, are you here yet??? Hope so, and hope you're getting settled in. Let us all know where you ended up.

Hi V -

Kris has posted in the pets forum and on another thread (don't know if you've seen them). I think they're leaving sometime in August and planning on the trip taking about 12 days. Not for the faint of heart . . .

ladybuggfan - I have a DSD the same age as your youngest. Hope you like it out here!

Hi, thanks for checking on me (us). I'm still packing - just plants now! ouch! 12-14 hour days to get them all unpotted and cleaned/bleached, wrapped for the inspection. Just can't seem to get all the dirt off of the hostas.... contemplating leaving them behind at this point. Still have house stuff to pack but just minor things now.

We're leaving August 13th and our moving truck should arrive on August 20th - that means the trip should take us about 6 days. 12-14 hours of driving each day. We have about 2900 miles to drive. I'm still trying to get animals situated. Making a tough decision on our eldest cat. She's ill and declining, we're not sure she'll make the trip but don't like the decision we're facing. I'd hate to have to find a vet on the road and we don't want to leave her behind. Our vet will send her ashes to us if we decide not to make her take the trip.

Looking forward to your beautiful fall weather and getting our plants settled soon. I'm looking for 3 dump truck loads of compost/top soil and 1/2 - 2 loads of soil conditioner/pine bark pieces (penny size). Any suggestions? I've not been able to find anything on line that works.

I'll check back in daily from now until we leave - Dave's provides some normal structure to my day - gives me something to look forward to when I come in from plants. It's hot here - 94 - 97 the last week. Hard to stay out all day in that weather, kiddos don't do so well either so I get several breaks to check in.
I'll post when I arrive and we have service - that's scheduled for August 21.

Thanks, Kris

Whoo. I'm exhausted just thinking about all you have to do. Hope you can make a good decision about your kitty - it's a hard enough time to figure out what to do without having the restriction of a schedule.

It was 86 in Woodinville today. A little hot for us but nothing for you. August will be a nice month and we often have a nice September before the rains start.

Were you able to contact anybody at DeJongs or Classic Nursery? They are close to me, a little farther from you. If they didn't work, I can ask my neighbors if they know of anything in Carnation or Duvall.

I was 90 +/- here today, too hot for me my house is still above 80.

I have the fans going right now!!

I have issues with the sound and feel of fans. We have a tower fan that I have going in the other room, their sound doesn't bother me, but right now I'm sitting by the window enjoying the air.

I think a lot of people do. I like quieter better.

Katie, DH was to contact those two nurseries.... he just said, I need to find dirt. He's out of town, has been for two weeks. I assumed he exhausted the options I gave him from you before asking for more. I'll call them and let you know.

I hope it cools off for you guys, 86 is still HOT.

Hi LBF,

It should be pretty easy to track down small bark/ bark dust/bark fines, etc. around here. However, If you're specifically asking for PINE bark, you will have trouble finding it-there are very few true pine trees out here. Most bark nuggets/fines/chips/dust/whatever is Doug Fir or Cedar, sometimes Hemlock, and they're mostly used as a mulch. So, if you've been talking to very literal-minded soil folks you might not have had a lot of luck. Maybe it would be best for you to wait so you can go to some of the nurseries and look at the products they offer to see how they compare to the product you're wanting. I think, though, that for soil amending, most of us use compost or compost blend. Hope this helps make your search easier!

Yes, what she said. :-)

If you are going to be in the Seattle area, I would call Pacific Topsoils to see if they can provide what you want. They are a full service small volume soil and gravel supplier, that deals with home owners quite often. http://www.pacifictopsoils.com/

Rob

I was out running errands today and it was sure too hot for that. I came home soaked myself, then soaked my garden. I'm going to have to start watering twice a day, me Coneflower and Marigold are both wilted.

Yep, it was hot today, but all the thermometers on the web I consulted showed me it was not as hot as yesterday. I am digging the heat, finally. Not that I want to work in it, I want to bask in it.

And hey, I finally got a cactus to open its flower to full bloom today, after a week of teasing and 2 months of showing me the bud. Thank you, weather! The heat is hot!

Thanks for the link. I didn't want to wait too long as we're bring 1000 + plants (bare root) with us and we'd like to plant ASAP to reduce plant loss. I'll do some checking and see what I can find. You all have been very helpful in making this transition workable for us. What a great group of folks!

Sounds like you also might like the DG PNW Army to help out. Will plant for cuttings, beer and pizza. Will landscape for more beer, pizza and cuttings. Will BS about it online for fun.

Sounds like a good deal to me :o)

Ditto!! LOL.

sounds like my kind of party - I'm going off line sometime Saturday, but I'll post as soon as I get service when we get into town. Once I know about dirt, etc... I'll see what we can set up. Thank you so much for the warmest of welcomes to new garden territory.

All libraries have free internet around here. Many coffeeshops do. If you have a laptop with a wireless card, the world is your oyster around here.

There is no need to wait till you have home service to stay in touch.

sounds like a good reason to buy a laptop NOW and install a wireless card so I don't have to wait..., then to keep the kids off my toys.

Ok, I've totally ignored the need to have a phone. My realtor says - verizon.com is the phone service company in the area - but I only have Verizon wireless service. Who handles phone - land lines in the area? DH wanted to get DSL and phone through same company and he'd like it when we arrive.... all out of magic at the moment here. Any suggestions?

I would assume Qwest. That's at least who it is down here.

I had Verizon in Woodinville. Service was good, but expensive. I have Comcast for cable and high-speed Internet (which is pretty good). Earlier this year I converted my phone to Comcast to save money (because everything seems to be long distance from where I am and Comcast doesn't charge for long distance . . . . yet). Not sure I'd do that again. But at least it's less costly.

Welcome LBF, Sorta late and a dollar short on intros. But I live on the Kitsap peninsula, and I commute on the ferry to Lynnwood to work.
My phone and DSL is from Embarq. Have free long distance and its not that expensive. Works for me, but I can't get anything else out here in the woods. LOL
Hope you have a good easy move, thats the hard part. I have moved from diff. states in my time west coast, to east coast to Central. in the middle and back again only higher up. And Wash. is where I stay from now on. My late DH was civil service and we traveled a lot, when he passed, I drove truck for 2 years, then settled here. Will never leave.
I know you will love it here.
Tills