Help with Austin selections for Coastal San Francisco area
fogrose
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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portlandmysteryrose
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
7 years agoRelated Discussions
san pedro coastal bluff - soil erosion/iceplant
Comments (2)I live on a coastal bluff in Solana Beach. I am looking to plant deep root plants to help stabilize the top of the bluff. I thought ice plants were not good for this? Rosea iceplant and Lampranthus is suggested above. Please any advice what to plant. thanks...See MoreFast growing shrub or tree in foggy, coastal San Francisco
Comments (18)sng: I like the way you research. Do a copy and paste for -- Callistemon phoeniceus -- and you will find considerable info on the web via Google. I have a feeling you've misspelled it somehow. It's a shrub to about ten to fifteen feet, easily trained into a "standard" or multi-trunked "tree". "Escallonia x exoniensis ÂBalfouriÂ, E. laevis, E. rubra ESCALLONIA We excluded Escallonia for making the following assumptions:" Your assumptions are inaccurate. The common Escallonias are almost always trimmed into tight hedgelike masses; hence making it hard to see the potential as a small tree. Along the coast, especially, the listed ones (not so common) make great multi-trunk small trees. -Melaleuca armillaris BRACELET MYRTLE -Melaleuca ericifolia HEATH MELALEUCA "I have probably seen these plants somewhere but do not remember if they are dense enough for our purpose. I will try finding them in our neighborhood and do more research." Although these species have fine-textured foliage, they do grow into densely-foliaged small trees. I'm attaching a photo of one (they look alike). -Metrosideros collinus ÂSpringfire NEW ZEALAND CHRISTMAS TREE "I always liked this tree but never knew the name. The street I take every day to work is dressed with this tree on both sides and they are quite tall, probably 20-30 feet (may be M. excelsus?)." The "trees" you see are M. excelsus and they get bigger than 30 feet. M. collinus is smaller. And conseuqently slower growing. -Pittosporum crassifolium KARO "I see this planted practically everywhere I go. (Maybe because I live near ocean and work near SF bay?) SF Botanical Garden uses it to screen chain link fences and it does the job so well. I really love the slivery blue green foliage of this plant that goes beautifully with the deep maroon color of its flower. Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute marked all PittosporumÂs health hazard as allergy, except for P. tenuifolium that was marked as unknown. I had no way of telling likelihood of causing allergy but did not want to take any risk so dropped all Pittosporum from my list except for P. tenuifolium. But now I have a further reference on this so I will definitely reconsider P. crassifolium. Thank you again." There are over 160 species of Pittosporum. I doubt that all of them are allergenic. The two most common ones (P. undulatum and P. tobira) are highly fragrant and, because of that, highly allergenic to many people. P. crassifolium is not significantly fragrant (as with P. ten.). Joe Here is a link that might be useful: Melaleuca ericifolia...See MorePossible transfer to San Francisco: where to garden?
Comments (16)My suggestion is that you rent before jumping in to buy. It is very likely the housing sales will not pick up until 2009 and this will give you the chance to look around carefully to decide what works best for you. Unlike Juno we ended up in the Oakland hills. We find the traffic on the 580 freeway faster and less clogged than any other EBay freeway, an important consideration when it can take you over an hour to go 35 miles at peak commute times. We live in an older neighborhood where lots are large, crime is moderate (lots of 'casual crime' but virtually no 'heavy' crime) but the mailman can leave pkgs on my front porch at any hour and no one takes anything. OTOH, it will cost you between $450K-$500K to buy a 2- or 3-bdrm older cottage in any reasonable shape. Our lot is 5600 sq. ft. with a small cottage - 2bd 2 ba with attached 1 car garage: Many Bay Area cities are under mandatory water rationing. You will need to learn an entirely new way of gardening with a wider variety of plants than you are accustomed to. I second the suggestion of EBMUD's 'Dry Climate' book, it's one of the finest available for our area. The Sunset magazine and garden books are also essential info sources. Consider resale carefully here. Some stay here forever, some move around a lot. Buying the wrong location can really hurt when you realize your house would be worth $100K more if it was located 2 miles away. Or that it takes you so long to hassle with the daily commute, you hardly have any time to garden at all!...See MoreLooking for a San Francisco Tomato
Comments (19)tropical I do not like SF Fog even though it is supposed to be good for coastal areas just didn't like flavor or production As far as 'early girl' if I were going to get a hybrid (haven't grown many in years) like 'early girl' I would probably get 'better boy' because it is a little larger,almost as early, I liked the flavor better and more productive - but it has been many years since I grew them - I like Box Car Willie much better and it produces like a hybrid for me You say 3 miles from the coast but is it So Cal, Central or Northern? How many can you plant? Do you like all zizes and shapes ie cherry/grape, heart, salad, beefsteak, round or oblate, plum ruffled etc etc what do you want them for fresh eating, cooking sauces etc what is your taste - do you like sweet or bold tomatoey but being new to tomato growing you probably don't know acid from balanced from sweet? - that's a good reason next summer to hunt out a tomato tasting to get names of maters you like and then see if they would fit into your gardening plan want a variety of colors? Many of those listed are pretty good and there is some variety - noted a couple opinions Black Krim (or any of the other black/purple tomatoes) - love this tomato Matina and Stupice fill the same niche and I think Matina is better choice Like geeboss said check out some sites like heirloomseeds I have not had good luck with them heirloom acres victoryseeds tatianastomatobase lots to look at here - really good site and lots of choices and info to digest Find someone in your area and talk with people who have tried different ones you are interested in By the way welocme to the tomato world Dennis...See More
fogrose
7 years ago
romogen
7 years agofogrose
7 years agonoseometer...(7A, SZ10, Albuquerque)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMay or may not be helpful since it is not on your list, but my mother's William Shakespeare 2000 is luscious, and she lives in coastal zone 17. It is full of buds in December.
fogrose
7 years agocarol6ma_7ari
7 years agofogrose
7 years ago
Lisa Adams
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agofogrose
7 years ago
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