Hello! Thanks for the additional comments -- it's nice to get some feedback. Over the weekend I had an opportunity to view several front yards that don't have grass, rather more of a xeriscape like I've been aiming for. They do have quite a few perennials, something I do not have down on the slope. The perennials are mainly in the foreground, and in nice groupings. I have a better idea of how I should use them in the fall, which is when I plan to do the rest of the planting/transplanting. Karin -- I agree, I want to keep the feel of the front, from the perspective of being in the yard, pretty close to how it is now. But I think I can improve the street views w/o affecting MY view too much :-) We can't really see what's down the slope from the house/yard, nor can we see the front of the birch tree area. But from the street I can see that the birch tree area is overgrown and weedy, and the slope is haphazard/incomplete. Taking photos has been the biggest help, when I saw them I though "Oh wow, that really DOES look bad". bahia -- yes I started that thread b/c I was curious how many people go ahead and put their plants in, even in dry hot summer, and who holds back. I'm definitely planning to hold back. If I find some plants to buy (which I have not, yet...) I will maybe put them into larger pots but keep them in an area of our yard that has afternoon shade (the rear side yard next to our garage/dryer vent/waste cans). We don't have drip irrigation on that slope, what I have is a soaker hose that is covered by mulch. It runs around the top area and works out really well (when I remember to connect the hose to it). Our front yard sprinkler system doesn't work, but maybe that is something my DH will look into. Here is an updated photo of that area in the very front of our house, where I was considering planting the mandarin and lime trees. I have taken out all the plants I wanted to keep; for now, I decided to make it VERY low maintenance since it was growing a bunch of weeds. ;-) We will make a decision in fall/winter. Hopefully it will be a relatively clean slate by then. The artemesia and the yarrow in the foreground will probably get new homes on the sloped side of our front yard. I've started waffling about whether or not we should make a patio w/interlocking pavers, or if I should go for a nice evergreen groundcover. I'm thinking a groundcover will be nicer in the hot sunny afternoon. I want to keep the path that goes around the right side, leading to the fence gate, so we may use interlocking pavers there, instead. It's been very helpful to chat about the yard and what to do with it. Thank you :-)

I understand the sentiment, Glib. I'm a low-input gardener myself. However... I speak as a gardener who is, at this very moment, growing short-season varieties of tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and corn out in the open, in our native soil - something you're saying is impossible. I don't own a greenhouse. I don't use row covers. I don't use high or low tunnels. The only things I have outside are some cold frames for transitioning starts in the spring. I have a handful of ordinary 4' fluorescents that I use to start a handful of things indoors, but most of my crops are still direct-sown. Just because you "don't see tomatoes ripening in 50F temperatures" doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does. They do. The original poster knows exactly what they're doing asking about the best varieties for cold, northern climates. The varieties we grow *are* indeed different. You can't keep making such grand assumptions. You don't garden here. That said, maybe I shouldn't have responded either, given that I don't garden in Iceland. (Slimy_Okra is right - our summers at least have *some* heat to them for a little while.) How many GardenWebers do, though? Which reminds me... thanks for chiming in, tigrikt. Good stuff to know! I think florauk has great advice... "You might look at seed catalogues from the UK with cultivars suited to N. Scotland." Lots of life-long gardeners over in the UK if my extended family is anything to judge by. :) I'm sure their cold-hardy varieties would be better suited for you than even ours here in Canada. All the best!

I'm also in the Bay Area, a bit farther north I think because our summer highs are similar but our winter lows are a bit lower. My favorite plum is the Elephant Heart, bred by Luther Burbank in this area so it does well here. I just had my first off of my new tree and it was delicious and definitely an eating over the sink variety. I also have a Santa Rosa plum, which is smaller and not quite as juicy but very flavorful and reliably productive. If you want to try multiple trees in one hole I suggest doing it with plums and pluots, because there are so many good varieties and a lot of them yield better with cross pollination. I love my Pink Pearl apple tree, I just harvested the first batch to make into pies and my friends and family are eagerly anticipating them. They are a bit too tart for my taste for fresh eating, but the best pie apples I've ever used. I second the recommendation for a Meyer Lemon, I wouldn't be without one. Very useful fruit, fragrant flowers, and they're evergreen. Beware bramble fruits! Contain the roots or they will take over your yard. I'm not certain how to ensure the longest harvest, the easiest way would probably be to get a variety of summer bearing and fall bearing cultivars. Also, you should have some strawberries because they are relatively easy to grow and they start bearing sooner than most fruiting plants. Depending on how cold your area gets you will probably have to protect the avocados and tropicals, and there might be issues with lack of summer heat for ripening. You might want to contact the California Rare Fruit Growers for advice, or just look around to see if others have had success with those plants in your area. I know it can be done, there's a guy locally who grows pineapples, but it's a lot of work for a small harvest. Good luck on your project, I hope you have bounteous harvests in the years to come!

Sisyrinchium is a nice little grassy plant whose foliage looks like a miniature iris. It is a native. (Blue Eyed Grass) Part shade. One of my favs for edging or filling in is Iberis (Candytuft). Nicer than alyssum, evergreen. Will grow in sun or part shade. Cardamon ginger is a nice small ginger for shade. I think it might be hardy in your area, it hardly died back at all for me. Doesn't bloom outside the tropics, but the foliage smells good. Nell