Just wanted to say thanks to all for the info. Anyone successfully growing them in the inland coastal valleys of California (i.e., Paso Robles area)? I grew up in Ventura, CA in the late '50s/early '60s and brush cherries were everywhere, only I didn't know then what they were and have never seen them elsewhere. (Not knowing what they were didn't stop us kids from eating the fruit, though - tangy, we loved them.) First time I saw them, a neighbor had ONE that grew as a tree, its branches hung over our fence and at 5 or 6 I would jump for the fruit. Only tree form I ever saw. We moved, and new neighbors had them as a hedge. It was an older hedge, I think, and had some barish spots - we used to wiggle inside and play "fort." And again, eat the fruit. So, as an adult I've wondered what they were (and why I didn't see them anywhere else). While visiting Ventura a couple years ago I came across a hedge, pinched a stem and took it to a nursery - voilá. But they were VERY expensive, and the fact I never see them where I live makes me think they MUST not do well here. I need to replace a dying old screen hedge (no idea what it is) and would LOVE to use this... summers are 100°+, winters we get light frost, usually not for long but 2017 we had extended minimums in the mid-20s. (I'm classified as USDA Zone 9a, but my observation doesn't match the stated minimums.)

In addition to the SUnset Western Gardening Book, also pick up Golden Gate Gardening, which is specifically designed for coastal climates like yours. You'll be surprised when you find yourself socked in with fog most of the summer shivering, and then suddenly in January it's 80F when you get a warm spell. Very little heat, and no frost makes for an unusal combo. Certain succulents do really well in Monterey, as do the native Cypress of course. Most ornamental non-flowering broad leaf evergreen plants will do very well. But even bougainvillea blooms well. Have fun!

I think these yellow Monterey cypress forms are fairly often zoned 7 by nurseries and other sources. One thing you have to watch is different parties arrive at the zoning designations they use differently, in this case it may be thought that the tree is hardy to 10F so they say it is a Zone 7 plant. The 0-10F used for USDA* 7 actually represents the average annual minimum temperature for that zone. So a plant hardy to Zone 7 would in fact have to be hardy to less than 0F, to allow for the full range of temperatures occurring there (0-10F being something like the middle range). *Some are not really using the USDA zoning but rather a similar or derivative system, in the case of catalogs and web sites at least their zones are often explained

I got half mushroom compost+ half something they were calling "black topsoil" (semi-mixed with the loader in the back of the truck) from Volusia Shed and had them deliver it; for the raised veggie bed I made in my front yard. They were very nice people to deal with, and honestly, I'd happily pay the extra to have it brought to my door. The driver put a lot of effort into dumping the load as close to the shell of the raised bed (I made it out of stacked 50 pound sand bags) as he possibly could, so I could just shovel it right in. Next year, I think I'm gonna do the same thing, only lazier - I'll just have them dump the pile of compost, build a wall around it, and call it done - no shoveling! :) PS. I think it's true what they say about the stuff - even getting smacked down by a late frost and having to start over, the peppers and tomatoes and eggplants in that bed seem to be really, really thriving.