what is this climate i live in?

[ironymaiden]

this will be my first summer with dirt of my own in the northwest. i'm allowed to do whatever with the green space. (okay, as much as i want to eliminate all of the grass in front of and to the side of the house, i probably won't sink money into that kind of improvement. it's still a rental.) i'm probably going to do more maintaining than adding or altering until i see a life cycle and know what is already growing here.
my problem is that all of my garden lore is for the northeast US, on the border between zone five and zone six. Seattle is zone eight, same as Georgia. this is total bullshit- while we share mild winters, the humidity, summer temperatures, and rainfall patterns couldn't be much more different.
dear Seattle gardening transplants, how did you learn to make your garden grow? do you have a book or organization you would recommend? i'm more interested in flowers than food right now.

Comments

[varina8.livejournal.com]

When I had a yard and garden, Sunset magazine's Western Garden Book was my bible. You could also call Master Gardeners or the Center for Urban Horticulture.

[ivy]

Go here tomorrow -- they specialize in plants for our Seattle climate. Good timing!

thanks!

[ironymaiden]

good timing indeed. i got there half an hour after they opened this morning and the place was swarming with people and the plants were severely depleted. i took the last half-flat of the lavender variety i wanted and the last cascadia hop vine. i was most pleased that the woman who helped me "warned" me that this lavender would spread and get huge, which is exactly what i desire.

Re: thanks!

[ivy]

Fantastic; I'm glad that worked out so well!

[shellyinseattle.livejournal.com]

The nurseries make it fairly easy on gardeners by stocking plants that work for our climate.

Even at the big box stores like Home Depot, you'll often find knowledgeable people who LOVE to drone on far longer about which plants work where and how. There are Master Gardeners who show up at set times at these locations (and at some of the libraries), too. Call and ask when they'll be there.

The specialized nurseries (like Sky Nursery which I'd recommend) are even better as far as variety of selection and knowledgable staff. The trade-off with these is price, but if you're only buying a few plants, that won't be too bad.

Also, if you'd like some Shasta daisies or a few other plants, Wolf and I are giving away some before trying to move them again.

Enjoy planting!

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

This one might be fun if you're in a Wednesday Addams kind of mood:

http://www.nurserysite.com/clubs/pnwcarnivorous/