Good! I guessed right! The USDA and Arnold Arboretum hardiness zone systems were developed primarily to help farmers in the gentle climate gradients back East know when to plant their crops, or whether or not a particular variety of Azalea would freeze. They are based solely on winter lows, without any reckoning of summer highs, length of cold or hot periods, or rainfall and humidity. When you try to apply either of these two systems west of the Pecos, you get strange results: according to them, Phoenix, AZ is in the same zone as Tacoma, WA! Obviously two completely different gardening worlds! The Sunset Zone system was developed when Sunset Magazine published their Western Garden Book, probably in an attempt to go around the limitations of the USDA zones. It tries to include the missing factors in describing the actual gardening climate, and turns out to be a much better indicator of what will grow--and what won't--in a particular part of the West. Below is an address to a PDF of two maps of California: one of the USDA zones, and one of the Sunset zones. I noticed that in some areas the two zone 8's coincided. http://www.csgn.org/csysg_trainer/HO-Know%20Your%20Zone.pdf On the other hand, USDA zone 8 also mostly coincides with Sunset zone 11--the mid-elevation desert. That climate has summer soil temperatures similar to my area, which is going to limit perennializing some of the traditional northern bulbs, which Sunset zone 8 is much friendlier to. So you may be better off than I thought! Hope this helps. Kevin : )

Thanks, gardengal. About 90% of my yard gets full sun - especially along the back fence. That's in the sun for about 9-10 hours during the summer. I'll plead the 5th when it comes to fertilizing. I'm one of those, "Oh! I guess I should feed you guys something" type of person. LOL! I usually go only 1 zone lower. The tropical types (Cannas, callas & tuberose) over-winter in my mother's basement. A couple of others (hibiscus, geraniums, etc) are brought indoors. I have to keep that at a minimum- I don't have the space or the light to keep them. One thing about perennials- since they spread, every 3-5 years or so, I divide them. So where there was 1 pot, there are now 2. My daylilies were in one pot, left by the previous homeowner 10 yrs ago. The year after I moved in, I split them into 3 pots -- then those were split. I gave some to Mom and an uncle - so I'm back to 3 pots. Otherwise, I'd have about 8 or 9. OoS

I agree about the general lack of knowledge about soil relationships, even in some frequent posters, but in my case I try not to make the assumption they are locked into using a soil that is bound to create root issues AND that restricts them to slowly increasing pot size incrementally. People like learning new things and discovering there are viable alternatives to staying stuck in the mud some try to grow in. ;o) I explain the alternatives & why they will work better, then let them decide. Understanding soil relationships to plant material is important to being able to grow plants to our best potential. You mention you understand the concept, but I notice you skirt it. There is no one soil that will always be appropriate for a given plant in all situations. As cultural conditions and even things like pot size vary, so should the soil mix. It's far better to at least enlighten folks to that fact. Even if they don't USE the info, it will provide a puzzle piece when difficulties DO arise. As evidenced from the amount of mail I receive, people do wish to learn more about soils. Those that I have helped here & off-forum, usually settle on their own mix, based on what's available to them and what they are willing to invest (time, primarily) in the soil. Invariably, they settle on a well structured soil that retains that structure for the life of the planting and that holds good volumes of air as long as it's in use. I'm not out to get you. ;o) When people tell sad stories of rotted roots, is it more appropriate to tell them to reduce pot size, or to grow in a more open soil? No need to answer, it's rhetorical. Al

I agree with Steve. You certainly can plant now and I sell perennials at the Kensigton Farmers market all summer. But with a big job, I'd wait. If your flower beds are bare earth right now, I would mulch them and wait for fall when it cools off. Otherwise you are going to have to water nearly every day through these 90 + days unless we start getting a lot more rain. Why start out with plants under stress when they are transplanted? Is the landscape company guaranteeing your plants? If the heat or the drought gets some of your new landscaping, will they replace them free of charge? If they are offering a "no fault" guarantee, than you have nothing to lose if they have to redo the job in the fall. I'm curious, what did the landscape company say about the stress the plants would be under?