Alex, there is an extremely talented gardener here in my area who has done some gardening similar to your zone - although I haven't seen her posting in the last few months. I attached a thread she responded to a while back about growing hydrangea in the Laguna area. 'Macs' - hydrangea macrophylla. But, be warned, if you are not seeing them at all in your own neighborhood, there may be a reason. The florist type hydrangeas you mention are varieties of hydrangea macrophylla. Sometimes they are perfectly acceptable planted in the garden in mild zones like my own 8b....after being acclimated to being outdoors, these are greenhouse grown plants. The problem with them is they have been bred and raised for the flower trade, and grown under a strict regime of fertilizers, hormones, lighting and temps so that they will bloom to coincide with particular dates, like Valentines Day, Mothers Day etc....often grown with no regard to long term plant health. Sometimes they recover from the treatment and do well, other times they do not. If you were to receive one as a gift, I'd say go for it and plant, but if you have a choice, choose regular nursery stock, not florists stock for your garden. Your seed choices look good with a couple of exceptions. Hellebores sown in Feb may take 15 - 18 months to germinate. They need to experience a period of warm moist, followed by a somewhat lengthy moist chill, then will germinate while conditions are still cool. If I sow them fresh by Aug/Sept, I will have germination approx March into April. If you were to ask around June, someone could probably send you fresh seed (like me) that you could sow - much more reliable than dried commercial seed. Alstroemeria can be similar, they self sow like crazy in my garden, can be stubborn or at least very slow (many months) from dried commercial seed. And do you know they go dormant around August, leaving a blank space in your garden? The hummingbirds love them while present, but they spread, become a little messy, disappear until Fall rains begin or the weather cools. Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrangea, California

Daisy, First, so happy to hear from you and your experiences! So your small m comment got me looking and it seems like American editors and rulebooks differ on the usage of small m from one to another. Some say it applies to every mediterranean climate outside the Mediterranean Sea area, and some say it refers to anything landlocked with that climate. Still others disagree and say if your climate is based on that sea then you can use the capital whereas everyone else must use a lowercase m. Just an interesting aside I had never considered before. Thank you! Thank you for the suggestions! I have not seen that book before and I am going to have to check it out. There is another book I want to interlibrary loan to see if it is worth purchasing called "Gardening in the Middle East." I fear it may have more to do with the desert, so I want to look at it first. Oh, the hail. Yes, that happens in NW Jordan as well. This information has given me some great direction. I will be taking a look! Julianna

Violet, i'm sure rick knows how to do a google search...... Rick, bush beans are green bean plants that stay low to the ground as opposed to vining up 6+ feet, like pole beans. they also yield one or maybe two harvests per season, as opposed to pole beans, which produce continuously through the summer. i personally think pole beans taste better (and are prettier, because of the constant flowering), but that's just my opinion. my raised beds are twice as deep as yours.......do yours have a hard bottom, or are they sitting on top of dirt? in other words, do the roots have someplace to go other than the 6" depth of the raised bed? you could grow globe radishes, short n' sweet carrots, beets for the greens, leaf lettuce, peas....althought it might be a little hot for peas/radishes in zone 9......cucumbers have always been a no-brainer with high yields for me as well, that might be something to try. this year i'm have burpee's bushmaster to save space. you could probably grow whatever you wanted, but if the bed is truly 6" deep, if it's a box sitting on your driveway or something, plants like tomatoes and peppers, broccoli will be stunted due to lack of root space. Beth

hmmm thanks guys! It doesn't seem like the chill is an issue because it does get cold here, and the icing has worked somewhat before. Although, like user gyr_falcon mentioned, it gets intermittently cold and warm... my issue seems to be either the early warmth of spring or the heat of the summer. They stopped growing very early in the season and reached less than 5in height. I'm not seeing a bud anymore; it must've gotten burned last summer. The type is the Sarah Bernhardt type, which apparently is low-chill. Question is: should I leave the tubers alone in the ground and hope new eyes grow this coming spring (with the same icing ritual)? or pot them in the shade or forget it altogether? :-/