How hot is too hot? If you want 70s or less most of the time outer coast will be needed. But there are no large cities out there. And it can sometimes get hot (103F hs been recorded in Brookings, OR) even on the outer coast, just not as regularly as farther inland.

If you want a coolish metropolitan area then Puget Sound area of Washington (or Lower Mainland of Vancouver, B.C.) would be best bet. Portland/Salem/Eugene are often rather hot in summer.

Also the Pt. Angeles area is cooler than the seattle-everett met. by 10 to 15* in the summer. It is still close major services for MS.
lotta

Most of coastal Washington and Oregon is cool in summer. I once left Portland (95F) and it was 65F by the ocean at Lincoln City and windy.

Small towns along the coast are not a problem. We live in one of Montana's biggest cities (about 70,000) and are used to driving 2-3 hours for medical appointments.

What kind of gardening issues should I keep in mind as we start looking in coastal areas? Who's in for bigger transplant shock: me or my potted fig that gets only 3 months outside here in zone 4?

Florence, Oregon on the central Oregon coast has a local hospital and is an hour from Eugene, which of course has more doctors and a bigger hospital if needed.

Lots of wind and rain on the coast. But I have never gardened there. Native plants might be the way to go. I don't recall it ever getting above 80F. there in summer, or any other time. I suppose there must be a weather record someplace on-line so you could compare the weather history of Pacific Northwest coastal towns.

Newport, Oregon is north of Florence and bigger I think than Florence. Both are popular places for tourists in summer. Very picturesque. And of course, you'll have the opportunity to eat lots of great seafood.

You might look for Convention and Visitors Centers or Better Business Bureaus on-line for any town you are interested in and email them with your questions. I don't know if such organizations still mail out packets of information about their towns and cities to interested folks.

We can grow a few varieties of figs here in the southern Willamette Valley of western Oregon. They can live outside all year long. I have no idea if they can on the coast. I am in Eugene.

Good places for garden information would be Cooperative Extension Services in Washington and Oregon. There is an Extension Office in Eugene. I would assume Corvallis since Oregon State is the Ag school in Oregon. Probably an office in Portland. Not sure about Washington.

The Territorial Seed Catalogue is an excellent one to have if you move here. Information about seed starting and planting times though the PNW. Ed Hume has a seed company out of Kent, Washington. I usually see his seed racks in stores all over the place around here.

Weather extremes here are mostly non-existant. They do happen sometimes, but not often. Summer in the northwest is usually hottish and bone-dry in the daytime and cooler at night. (Day temps in 80-90s and lows in 50-60s at night. 100F. summer days are very rare.) Coastal summers are usually much cooler. When you drive over the mountains you can start to feel the difference. It's amazing. We are having the coolest summer I can remember in years. I think it got close to 90 F. once in late spring.

The Sunset Western Garden Book is a good overview of gardening in the northwest. Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon is good to look at. He started the Territorial Seed Company, although he no longer owns it.

Others will no doubt chime in. This note is getting rather long, so I'll close now.

I forgot, hardy bananas will grow here. There is a family down the street with two trees in their front yard. I don't think they are very old, but they look neat.

Best to you and your family.

Mary

For a look at Oregon hardiness zones...

Here is a link that might be useful: Uncommon Rose - Oregon Zone Map

Seaside and Tillamook are both close (about 90 min drive) to Portland. The highs tend to be low 80s in summer if it even gets that high. Tillamook has a hospital, not sure of how big or how well-equiped related to MS.

Astoria is a little farther away. St Helens is a nice little town close by to Portland. It's small, so not sure about the school situation. I've driven through and it's pretty.

Brookings is very southern oregon and is the "Hot Spot" of the coast. Nowhere else on the coast gets that hot.

brookings has really hot temps only occassionally and then mostly in sept most of the time it has typical coast temps 75 f. would be regarded as a fairly warm day most of the time. it is definitely the best part of the pacific north west to grow "tender" exotics in the garden like tree ferns and canary island date palms. coos bay/north bend has the largest hospital facilities on the coast and of course eugene is only 2 hrs away for the rarer specialist treatments. all along the coast the area adjacent to the beaches is the coolest and windiest during the summer, go inland 5 miles or so from the "fog belt" and you will get summer highs 10-20f. warmer and more suitable for growing some of the more warmth loving fruits and vegies including figs. near coastal areas are great for berries (blueberries, cranberries, huckleberries, blackberries)and cool season leafy greens like artichokes, cabbage, etc. all of western oregon is generally prime for growing rhodies, azaleas, hydrangeas, heathers, fuchsias, magnolias (evergreen and deciduous), japanese maples, and all kinds of perennials.

The Californian climate belt (Zone 9) that Brookings lies within (see zone map, above) starts at Gold Beach. But if Coos Bay area has biggest medical complex, you may want to go there. Although not as mild as Gold Beach southward, it is still milder than areas to north of it, in same zone (Zone 8) - the northernmost large community where Cordyline australis is seen as a common, hardy tree that does not repeatedly die back to the roots. Record low for Coos Bay used to be something like 14F, with Brookings min. being 18F. North of southern Oregon coast most places have gotten well below this, at some point.

Here in Seattle area there are Californian plants all over the place at the moment, as recent winters have been mild. Local weather think tank says we are being affected by global warming, otherwise historical pattern here if for Zone 9+ plants to grow for sometimes rather long periods, only to get nailed by a hard winter.

actually if you check out the zone map that Ron linked to you will notice that a number of points on the oregon (including coos bay/north bend and bandon where i live)coast are rated as 9a while the gold beach/brookings area is rated zone 9b. he makes a good point in noting that north of c.b./n.b. large old cordyline australis is rare or absent which is a good indicator of periodic low winter temps regardless of what a zone map might indicate. i may also add that after living over 20 years in the area, i recall at least 3 times where exceptional winter lows (below 20f) in that area killed to the ground exotics like acacia dealbata, callistemon citrinus, and the cordyline (although all came back in the spring). maps aside, the oregon (and washington and b.c.) coast is generally a great place to grow a huge variety of "mild temperate" plants ornamental and otherwise as long as they are tolerant of cool summer temps. for the same reason, it is a challenging place to grow roses (but an excellent place to grow rose diseases). on the other hand, inland portions like the willamette valley from portland to roseburg while somewhat hotter in the summer and somewhat cooler in the winter are still extremely mild and closer to world-class medical care and big-city services. another thing to consider is that because of a sudden surge in real estate values down here on the coast property in the eugene-roseburg inland area may be somewhat more affordable while living-wage employment opportunities are also much better.

I was thinking of the Sunset system, where they have Californian strip in 17 and the rest in 5.

You might check the California coast down to about Fortuna (20 miles south of Eureka). There are some extraordinary schools in the area (Arcata's Big Lagoon charter school at the Equinox campus) and the Big Lagoon charter school in Big Lagoon (Trinidad), a Waldorf inspired school. 75 degrees in summer is really warm here along the coast; we hardly ever get above 70 where I live. Good luck in your search. Jim

Hello,

I agree with George in Bandon, (Hi George), the Coos Bay/North Bend area has good medical, schools, etc., easy enough trip over to Eugene for medical or shopping. Fun gardening.... we get our share of rain, but I think (past 25 years) the farther up the coast you go, the more rain you seem to get... but....

I love Bandon.... but, it has been priced out of everyones range just about (something about those Golf Courses)... Bandon is about 30 south of Coos Bay. So it still makes it easy to get to Coos Bay, Eugene or Roseburg for Medical, Shopping, etc...

I think one thing to do is to take a summer trip down the coast and see the flavor of the towns.... another is a few magazines like Oregon Coast, Northwest Travel, etc... check online.... etc....

Happing looking....
Faith

thanks Faith for your support---there are extremely many nice spots along the coast from B.C. to northern California with wonderful climatic, scenic, and horticultural opportunities. anyone contemplating moving will have to balance them with the sometimes brutal practicalities of housing costs, taxes, availability of suitable healthcare, education, and shopping, and all that other important stuff that makes life long-term liveable after you have really moved to whatever end of the rainbow wondlerland you have found. good luck!!!

There is an exceptionally fine state atlas that came out in 2001. Called not strangely "Atlas of Oregon" that has all the information your could want. If your library doesn't have the actual book there is a two CD interactive version that is available. The school system may be harder to find out about. Many of these small coastal communities do not have very good system so you may have to dig a little.

All of the costal areas of Oregon and Washington can have a hot day or two of hot weather but it is unusual the normal weather there is cool and maybe windy. We've only been to Brookings in the summer and it is glorious as are Bandon, Florence, Newport,etc.all up the coast. In terms of climate, I don't think you can miss.

If you could take a vacation here you would know better and it is probably as beautiful a drive as you could take.

Good luck in your search

Apart from heavier rainfall, perhaps the main reason the outer coast is not as built up as the inland valleys is the winter gales. One winter when I was in Brookings they had been spared the effects of high winds that hammered the rest of the vicinity, the bluff it sits on apparently deflecting the wind up and over the town.

Brookings Chamber of Commerce has a history of playing up the climate, if you check their web site you should find plenty about what it might be like to live around there.

Thanks to everyone for the great tips and ideas. I was looking for a good book or two on gardening along the coast and was surprised by the number available. Any favorites? Any to stear clear of?

Thanks again.