Vent away!!! And then start planning what you want us to keep for you and mail out to you when you get settled.. I'll foster whatever you like, I have a great place for hydrangeas, and plenty of room for whatever else needs a temporary home..

Or start buying clear plastic stackable containers that you can just fill with plants. Get the ones with lids and ones that are varying depths so you can put all the short plants in shallow ones and tall plants in the deeper ones. If you put them in the truck last, you can check them every day while you're on the road. See if hubby will agree to swing through San Antonio, you can stop at the Antique Rose Emporium and get a garden fix... =)

See if there is a gardenweb group for the new area - maybe someone will share some already mostly grown things with you when you get there??

I'm military (just retired last Nov) so I know EXACTLY what you mean about leaving your plants. I had to leave 26 happy houseplants behind when I left Germany and it took my garden enthusiasm years to recover.

Lynne in Bowie

Exactly.
Vent, or don't move? Oh, not an option? :)

Just because you're moving doesn't mean your gardens stay here.

I don't see this as a problem, just a slight adjustment in timing. Everything you mentioned transplants well. Trust me, girlie; I feel 'yer pain. I had to dig up 75' x 3' garden beds, pot the stuff and bury the pots last fall. I can't think of a thing I've lost -- and you mentioned only about 1/2 of what was in there.

I have space and I have labels. Imagine having every day for a while feel like Christmas when your plants start arriving...

San Diego is plant heaven. :)

Sorry you're going, though.
Christine

It's so funny how we get sooo attached to our plants. I was just thinking how each favorite plant started and how it was babied and how I watched and encouraged them grow-- how excited I get in the spring when a plant starts popping out from the ground and grows daily--I check on everyone every morning to see what's new and to chase 2 rabbits away (so far they are eating weeds, so I will leave the weeds alone for now). My youngest son asked me the other day if I loved my plants more then them! I was shocked and laughed and had to explain that mommies can have passionate hobbies too... just like they love their video games and baseball.
Tabby

I can imagine how you feel.

I believe California has restrictions on bringing plants into the state. Check before you start digging.

California does have strict restrictions due to its agricultural sector. When I moved to there several years ago, I couldn't bring any of my potted plants, had to leave them behind. Even my outdoor furniture was quarantined for awhile until they got the clean bill of health.

Tabby, I am soooo sorry!!!! Luckily, I haven't had to move too much, but I still drive by my old place to see what the new people are doing and if they are taking care of my babies.

We will all be thinking of you.

Jen

My sympathies, Tabby -- I was military too, and relocated every two years, just when my new gardens were getting settled. It's so hard to have to start from scratch that often! But I am also jealous; you are moving to a wonderful area for gardeners! Do you have any idea what part of town you want to live in?

My mom and kid brother both live in San Diego; Mom had lived up in Alpine, in the mountains, and now lives closer to my brother, in LaJoya (Lahoya? Can never remember how to spell it). I send them plants regularly by mail; the trick is that they must be sent bare-root, as soil-borne parasites such as nematodes are a big worry.

Many DC-area plants will do just fine in S Diego, but water is a worry, so you may want to reconsider taking hydrangeas and the like out with you. The climate tends to be a bit warmer than here (it's ostensibly Z8-9) but last winter S Diego got a week of temperatures in the 20's that killed all Mom's gorgeous succulents; all that was left standing were the irises and hostas I had sent her. But CA is Queen of the reblooming iris -- hers are constantly in bloom!

Can you put some of your clematis in pots?

Also, ctc me once you know where you will be living -- I would love to put you in touch with several dear gardening friends out there -- who would themselves love to get you started with local fruits and offsets!

LynnT

I just moved from Ohio to MD. It's a good place here, I can still grow "northern" plants for the most part but some "southern" ones too.

Tabby, I hear your pain. I just went through it myself last summer, having to leave behind a four-year-old antique rose garden I had planted. I never thought I could take anything with me -- and my move was just up the East Coast!
I hope your move goes well. Mine was very difficult.
Deepti

Deepti,
Look up the Old Stone House in Georgetown, on M Street. 3000 block, I think.

Behind it, which no one really knows, is an antique rose garden. There are varieties from the 1600s when the area was settled. I used to tend bar a block or so down, and the caretaker would come in for lunch. Once he brought in 5 or 6 different roses, laid them out, and had me compare their scents. I had no idea in the world that roses were so wonderfully different. And so fleeting.

Anyway, it's worth a trip down and I think you'd be in heaven if you're familiar with old, heirloom roses. I don't know if they sell any, but I'm fairly certain someone there could send you in the right direction. Then, of course, just up the road are Dumbarton Oaks' gardens....

Christine

Deepti, the best local resource for OGRs is Nick Weber's Heritage Rosarium, and you're probably in luck, because he should be having his open house any day now. Traditionally, I think he does it on Memorial Day weekend, when he opens up his 5 acres of rose gardens for tour, and sells potted bands. My own tiny little rose garden is hopping right now, so I can just imagine what a little piece of heaven his must seem like.

HERITAGE ROSARIUM
Maryland's own source for old garden, heritage, and species roses, and many other types. Open house in the end of May to early June. Write for more information (not yet online).
211 Haviland Mill Rd, Brookville,MD 20833
Phone: (301) 774-2806 (evenings)

Keep one thing in mind. A vast majority of the roses you grew when you were in NC (right?) will BS without a regular spray program here. You basically want to stick with old Rugosas (not newer hybrids), once bloomers such as Gallicas and Albas, and a few odds and ends, like Darlow's Enigma, the various Knockouts, Carefree Sunshine, Morning Has Broken, etc.

Tabby, I'm sorry to hear that you have to move yet again. If you need something that's in my garden, let me know, and I'll mail it out come Spring. Look on the bright side; California is rose heaven. Your palette will be much broader, and you will have roses blooming in your garden almost year round.

I heartily agree with Suja's recommendation of Nick Weber's open house; most of my roses come from there. That said, I don't spray my gardens (though I do morning patrol for JBs with a pan of soapy water when they are active) and I have lovely own-root bushes of Don Juan, Westerland, Madame Alfred Carriere, Mlle Sombreuil, Cornelia, Marie Pavie, Souvenir du Dr Jarmain, Buff Beauty, Pink Pillar, and new starts of Graham Thomas and Autumn Sunset that are going great guns. Many of these are repeat bloomers from other families than Suja mentions. I have no full sun, either. So I lose a few leaves to BS? I've heard that corn meal scattered around beneath the bush is a BS inhibitor; mine certainly like it as low-nitrogen fertilizer.

So go out to Nick's and get a wider sense of what will grow here!

Lynn

Roses from the Antique Rose Emporium in TX are very good as well, once you identify the ones you want. I have never had any shipped, but I had some when I lived in San Antonio and LOVED them. I think my mom had one shipped up to VT and it must be doing well since I haven't heard any complaining =)I have a catalog to drool over now, just need to decide... But in the meantime I've had a good time with the Jackson and Perkins rose-in-a-box roses, they seem pretty happy.

Oh, and knockouts. LOVE the knockouts!!

Suja, the David Austin rose seems to be happy now, it's sending out leaves all over the place. Thanks again!

Lynne

Christine, thanks for the tip about The Old Stone house. I want to make a pilgrimage there soon, but my in-laws are going to visit soon. Maybe I'll take them along...

Suja, thanks also for the info on Nick Weber's Rosarium. Maybe I can talk my in-laws into that too... :)

Now here is the deal. In my new home in Baltimore, I have about 8 or 10 rose bushes, some huge that seem to have been around for a while. I have no idea if they are antique or not. They are blooming their heads off right now, and the garden is so beautiful with the roses, peonies, salvia/veronica and others blooming that I wish I could share it with all of you! Suja -- even my daughter's delphinium is blooming! Yay!

So I don't think I'll plant any more roses. Yes. I can't believe I'm saying this. Except maybe Marie Pavie. I loved that little thornless bush -- it had such fantastic form!

Now I'm not afraid of a little BS, like Lynn. I never sprayed in NC and don't plan to ever. If it thrives, great, if it's too fussy, out it goes.

Lynne, ALL my NC roses were from Antique Rose Emporium. That's before I knew of some really cool local places like Niche Gardens, which carries some antique varieties. The ARE roses were very healthy and just took off. I must have had about 20 different varieties in my garden there.

I just had a friend send me photos of my garden there. They are doing beautifully, although the new owners did shear them all into a hedge. I did not shear them because I love the form of the bush almost as much as the roses themselves.
deepti

Dear Tabassm:

I actually moved the other way 2 years ago - from Palm Springs, CA to Central Virginia. So, went from Xeriscaping and desert landscaping to red clay and 4 seasons. Just so you know, CA does have agricultural laws. When we moved from Dallas, TX to LA in 1999, I had to take a few house plants in the car - and the guy was nice enough to let them go through. I'm not sure he would have done it had they been outdoor plants. Of course, the moving vans won't take any living plants.

As far as losing an established garden, certainly your home is more saleable because of beautiful landscaping! And, maybe you can start a totally new kind of garden - feature palms and tropicals that you have never grown before. Also succulents are really cool - tons of variety. Good luck on the move. I have yet to find a moving company that doesn't try to rip you off!