transplant from GA with questions, hey ya'll

17 years ago

1st post on this forum.

Should have used the user name of gypsy.

Started in the NE, moved to FL, back to NJ, to AR, to GA, now to WA.

Moved here, (Pierce County, WA - Lake Tapps area)

bout the 1st of Nov. Enjoyed the lovely winter, LOL even locals say is was strange. I figure if I made it through that I am good to go.

The weather compared to GA is about the same, (winter) other than rainy days, (ALL DAY) gosh I love the sun. Rain just dries up quicker GA. Gulley washers one day then draught. Come summer I will be sympathetic to my friends back in GA. Traded GA red clay for mucky wet. at least right now :o)

I've never had moss instead of grass and been greeted by so many snails/slugs, (which is it?)

And never had the chance to enjoy the breath taking view of Mt Ranier. Still open blinds every morning to sneak a peak, or see if I can see it.

Our front yard faces NNE. This winter, while the snow and ice would be melted in our neighbors yards and driveways, our's would be still covered in snow and ice for days.

There is little planted in our yard, a few shrubs a few rhodies (backyard)

Would like to plant some ornamentals, perinnials and a few trees. Front where it is shady all day. Even in summer with the sun higher I am not sure if this area will get much sun. The grass is bout dead where the outline of the shadow of our house is. This will all be bedding when I'm done. Less grass to cut too.

Moss is in back yard mainly, where it is sunny. Does that make sense? Going to terrace this area anyway so not worried about getting rid of it.

It is nice to know that a number of the plants that I loved growing up in the NE I can now enjoy again. Rhodies are one. They don't do so well in the south. I drive by Lake Tapps Rhododendron place everyday and still haven't stopped.

I can't wait to plant a few lilacs and I don't remember seeing weeping willows in the SE.

I love Brugs and have seen them mentioned here. Do they overwinter? They did in GA.

I have been writing down plant names that I have never heard of and doing research. Any other web sites you can reccommend? Any advice you wish someone would have given you?

Just wanted to say hi!

Boy that was a long hello :o)

okay call me a long winded gypsy

desi

what zone is this condidered?

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Comments (9)

Embothrium
17 years ago
Many people here use the Sunset WESTERN GARDEN BOOK. Currently on the book table at CostCo.
sweetflowers
17 years ago
Hi Desi,

Welcome to the Pacific NorthWest! Even though it rains and rains throughout fall and winter wait till you get to the Spring and Summer. We have been here for just about 10 years and we love it! Every state in US has it's share of storms, hurricanes, tornadoes..... so do we.This years was bizarre for WA with more than it's share of wind storms and power outages. That said I still like it here and I am always excited when Spring approaches. You can grow lots of perennials and annuals apart from the native plants like Rhodies. Lots of Roses, clematis, daffodils, Tulips ( we have our own Tulip festival like Holand) and lots of other varieties.
You just missed the GE trade. Where apart from trades generous gardeners share their plants for free.GE trade is held on 1st saturday of March and Nov every year rain or shine. You will also meet wonderful gardeners at such events. That's how I got started.Check out GE trade threads on NorthWest exchange list. One more trade is coming up soon on April 23rd, if you can make it for that one that will be good.

Sangeeta
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Thanks! I just walked out in my yard and my lawn is absolutely squish and soggy! It's warm now, but can get cold again very fast. The problem if you prune too much now, is that if you get a warm spell, and the pruned plants put out new growth, they can get zapped by the frost. That happened last year. We had a very warm winter. Everything leafed out early. Then we had a hard freeze on Easter Sunday (it was 25 degrees in my yard, colder than it had been all winter!) and everything was toast. And it took weeks to get any new growth back. You're a bit further south, so I'm not sure how different it is for you. For roses, some places mail year round. If not, I start receiving them in March for zone 7. But normally you can plant year round here, the ground never freezes. I have a lot of roses, and I usually start the pruning in February. I do 'top' my roses in December when they seem to have gone into dormancy. This is just to keep the from looking wild and having tall branches blow around in storms. Crepe Myrtles that have been chopped are called 'Crepe Murder'. Don't do it. Not only does it look ugly in winter, it's really not good for the trees. They don't really need to be pruned, just shaped and you can even leave on the seed heads if you want to . There are several threads on the subject if you want to search for them. Good Luck and welcome!
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Anj, It's not really bad. Where we live, there are things but some things you just have to drive further to get to! LOL Like we actually live on a pretty busy road and at the end of it, two miles from our house is a convenience store and gas station. The schools are right beside it and we have a pizza shop. Then you drive another mile and we have Dollar General! I was THRILLED when they put that there! A bit further down the road into town and you have two banks, two convenience stores, two gas stations, the hardware (Ace), a small town store, a bar...no red light! LOL We also live only 3 miles from an exit on I-80, so we have a McDonald's, Subway, two truck stops, a hotel..lol. The next closest town, Bellefonte, is a Victorian town and it's a bit larger. There we have the grocery store, another DG, small local stores, restraunts, doctor's offices, etc. Now if we want Wal-mart and Lowe's and the bigger stores and restraunts, we have to travel 15 miles to State College. Then we virtually have anything we want! LOL I have ALWAYS lived in this area. I love it here and don't really even like to go away on vacation! LOL It doesn't bother me all that much. I think it's better to have to drive to get places so I'm not always at the stores and stuff. I have been a SAHM for the last 8 years and most weeks I haven't ventured out of the house at all until the weekend and it's okay with me! I'm trying to work on outdoor stuff since it's nice now. We got more mulch and mulched a few new beds that we started last year on Saturday. Yesterday I dug grass out of an area that I wanted to use to expand my one flower bed along the shed and I hung up a few things that I had been collecting. I just need to get the plants in the ground (I'm dividing a few things that I already have). I would have finished last night but we decided to load up the four wheeler and head off to camp for some family time. I needed a break anyway!
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hemnancy
17 years ago
Gypsy- For fruit trees and edibles, I like Raintree Nursery and Burnt Ridge Nursery, both near Morton. For ornamentals some popular sites are www.forestfarm.com and www.lazyssfarm.com, and for irises I like Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden, located in Vancouver, Washington- www.flowerfantasy.net.

If you like flowers I like to plant for a succession of bloom-
early spring- Hellebores, daffodils, species Tulips, Muscari, Pulmonaria
late spring- Phygelius, roses, clematis
summer- Lilies, glads, daylilies, Nasturtiums, 4 o'clocks, dahlias, roses
late summer to fall- fuchsias, roses, dahlias, grasses

and I also like to plant fragrant blooming shrubs- check out the fragrance thread on this forum.
muddysocks
17 years ago
Desi - Try not to laugh but regarding zones, you are in usda zone 7 or 8! That's why people here usually use Sunset zones. As you can see the climate here is not like Georgia and yet you are in the same usda zone. Anyway, welcome to the northwest. I'm sure you will enjoy gardening here.
nwnatural
17 years ago
Welcome to the PNW. A few things to consider, most NW homes do not have air conditioners and we spend most of our summer days outdoors. If you like big tomatoes, buy them at the store, otherwise grow your own cherry and plum tomatoes. Average days we have that are over 84 degrees = 7. Average days over 84 degrees in Georgia = 150!

The plant varieties you can grow here are awesome. The spring bulbs alone! You'll have to move your Brugmasia indoors over the winter, but lot's of people grow them around here.
pacnwgrdngirl
17 years ago
Hi there from the other side of the Narrows Bridge Gypsy!

Welcome! You will have a great time gardening here. bboy is right - Get yourself a copy of the Sunset Gardening Book. As for the slugs, it took a while for me to get used to them too.
gypsydes
17 years ago
Thanks for the info. I changed user name to gypsydes.
I was just at Costco and forgot to buy the Sunset book.

I am looking forward to experiencing spring, summer and fall here!

Now to get some stuff planted and growing.
lauraann
17 years ago
Hi Desi.
I moved here from Atlanta almost 2 years ago. I spent the first year in denial that it is any different than Georgia. Its definitely very different.
The main things that bug me are:
The slugs
The summer droughts (1st year here, no real rain in my yard for 42 days!)
The lack of heat in summer to get Tomatoes and tropicals (that I miss) like Brugs, Cannas and Elephant Ears growing really good. Its recommended to grow them South-facing, against a warm wall and it does work OK but the results are a little disappointing after growing them in the South. I see Brugs all the time here but they are usually smaller. The warmer weather is shorter here too.

The flipside is that you get to grow all those things that it was just too hot for in Ga., like Lilacs, Rhubarb, Sweetpeas and Gunnera!
You don't have to water in the winter.
No hideous soggy 90 degree and 90% humidity days.

We have an air conditioner and I think we used it about 10 days since we got here.
Oh Yeah, I actually miss the thunderstorms. Here the rain is usually just a steady drizzle. Atlanta got more rain per year but it usually fell all at once.

The things I wish I knew when I got here:
How DRY the summers are.
That many plants considered shade plants in Georgia are actually sun plants here.

I been experimenting with hundreds of plants so let me know if I can be of any help.

Laura
se2nw
17 years ago
Hi Desi,

I'm a new member too, and some of your questions are the same that I will have soon. We're moving from Orlando to Kitsap Peninsula in a few months--we just bought a house with an amazing backyard garden. It's actually almost "alien-looking" to us! :-)

I just wanted to say hello. I'll have more questions for this knowledgeable group soon. I've read several threads and learned so much already. We're looking forward to our first summer in the PNW, and even more than that, we're happy NOT to be spending another sweltering summer in Florida! :-P

Lynn

transplant from GA with questions, hey ya'll

Comments (9)

Embothrium

sweetflowers

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