Hi, need some help here...
I've just found out that I'm moving to CALIFORNIA!!! To the San Francisco Bay area.
I have a bunch of plants...
How can I learn more about California regs for bringing houseplants in? Don't faint, everyone! I already know I can't bring dirt in...but maybe some cuttings, dipped in peroxide or whatever?
If you know of any good relevant state government websites, please share them...
I just can't wait! I already know that I want a tree fern...
CAL-IF-FORN-YA, here i come!
Here's the page at the California State Department of Agriculture. You should hopefully be able to get all the info you need here: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PE/transport_animals_plants.html
Please don't hide things - there are reasons for the regulations. Part of the Bay Area is already in quarantine and our agriculture is suffering in enough other ways. Collect seeds and bring whatever cuttings are allowed. Perhaps if you have something really precious, a local nursery could provide a certificate for you. Also, check your zones, as what you bring might not have a chance to grow depending on the area you end up in.
Happy moving!
I just have to ask . Would they actually stop you on the road into Cal and ask to see what your bringing in? I don't think so. I wouldn't think they have someone setting ay the Cal lines and checking everyone that is moving into the state.
I do agree you shouldn't take in invasive plants and the like but if you did and didn't know about it ,they aren't going to be there and say hey you stop right there you can't bring that in here.
Don't be so sure they won't check - I have had lunch apples taken away coming into CA.
Mostly they just ask you at the check-point if you have anything. However, if they do check, they are liable to take everything not certified, not checking to see if it's on any list. Invasive is not as important as tiny little bugs you can't see and can infect fruit trees, etc., in your new neighborhood. We just had a new quarantine put in effect in the next town over from us this week. I know every state has its own crops and specialties, but CA grows about half the food for the country - a lot of it fruit - so agriculture is taken very seriously - that is the reason for the strict rules.
Just check the list and go by it - much less trouble. Lots of nurseries where you are going - really good ones, from what I hear! :-)
Thank you, everyone. I don't know about nurseries, but the U.S. Botanical Garden at Berkley is there...and the Ruth Bancroft Garden.
Check out Annie's Annuals you should be able to grow lots of the same plants.
No kidding, there really agriculture department stations sitting on or just inside the state borders of California on major roads . . . same with Arizona . . .
You have got to be kidding . No wonder Cal is going broke, paying people to check cars for unwanted plants LOL Thats funny.
Maybe if people followed the rules, they wouldn't have to. ;p
Thanks, the1pony, that's how we feel. :-(
Next time produce prices go sky high, think about it.
Thank you again, everyone. I leave for California next Sunday. I did visit the website mentioned in this thread, and I am taking some plants that I got inspected by the local agriculture dept so they would be legal.
I'll be living in an apartment for a year. So...I chose seven plants. I'll be putting them all in a dishpan full of potting soil...and that will be my Califonia garden...(down from about 300 plants).
YES!! They will stop you at the border and ask if you have any fruits, veggies or plants in the vehicle. If you say NO and you are one of the random cars they decide to search and they find something, you can be in lots, lots of trouble. Please be careful and make sure you are only bring in what you are allowed. Having lived in Calif all my life, I have heard many stories about the border check point seizing plants, veggies and fruits. Mary
BrightStar, There's so many different plants you'll discover in CA that we can't grow in VA. I know it's heart-wrenching to leave behind hundreds of your plants, but what a new and different World you're about to explore. I lived in Burlingame, 20 minutes South of San Fran, for years and absolutely loved it year round. Well maybe not so much in December and January when it's chilly and and rains.
Please add the San Francisco Arboretum and Botanical Gardens to your list of places to visit if you haven't already been there: http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/
Have a safe trip moving. Hope you'll keep us posted once you arrive and will share pics of your new gardens. You're gonna love living in the Bay Area!
Yes BrightStar, have a safe and wonderful trip. How cool it is that you are moving all the way across the country!!! And you'll see how many cool plants you'll be able to grow in San Fran. What a beautiful city! Enjoy and let us hear from you once you've settled in.
Nicole
Brightstar.. I've heard it's very nice in SanFran. I'm originally from Southern
California. You can grow just about anything there(almost). I don't know how
cold SanFran gets, but I'm sure you will have many choices for plant selections.
Have a great trip.
Linda
Well, here I am now in Northern Cal. I've chosen my apartment complex - in Concord. The apartment I chose has a few cosmetic problems - but it is on the second floor, and the balcony has redwoods right outside it! It is like living in a treehouse - a giant redwood treehouse!
It is on the side of the building that is always in shade, but it has stone on both sides of the balcony instead of those wooden partitions that I don't like. So, it feels very private. And it has a nice breeze.
But what will the plants I brought with me think about it, assuming they survived the abuse I put them through? I put them in my car that was being shipped out here. The trip was supposed to be "three to five days." It has been 10 days. And part of that time they were crossing the desert.
What plants, you may ask? And were they legal?
OF COURSE! What kind of gardener do you think I AM? Well, I am a hopeless seed snitcher, but that's an entirely different issue...
The plants were legally approved by the local agricultural agent according to California protocols, and shipped with the accompanying legal paperwork...
The plants were:
Thai ginger
Clerodendrum
Orchid with variegated leaves
Variegated bourinevillia (mispelled)
Fig cuttings wrapped in wet paper towels in a plastic bag (not much hope for them)
Nutmeg tree
African violet relative whose name I can't think of (it climbs)
And a couple of others that I can't think of right now.
So there's a few shade plants and a lot of full sun plants. I hope they like the new digs. If they don't, I can ask the manager if I could plant them in the flower beds of the sunny side of the apartment building rather than to have them suffer. Then I could watch over them and take them with me when I get a place of my own here someday.
Here with the redwoods...
Congrat's on a safe arrival. If you get a chance you need to drive up Hwy101 north to Eureka. Its on the coast and boy will you see redwoods. Also the beaches are full of drift wood of all sizes. If you make it up to Trinity Bay north of Eureka you can walk the beach and find really great agate stones. Enjoy Calif.
Mary
I'm glad you had a safe trip too -- a long safe trip -- and have already started settling into your new apartment and town. I totally agree with marti00, Hwy 101 is a gorgeous drive with breathtaking views.Once you're settled in and have a chance, take a day trip South to Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
glad you and your plants made it!
In Trinity Bay you can also fish for salmon when they are running. Hombolt Co. north of the Bay Area has Avenue of The Gaints State Park. You can just pull off on the side of the road and walk through the Redwood Forest. It is magnificant. I'm not sure if its still there but in Eureka there is a resturant called The Samoa Cookhouse. If its still there it is so good. I'm a So Cal gal originally, Concord is beautiful and centrally located so you will have an easy time getting where you want to go.
Have fun,
Lisa
The only thing to watch for up in Humbolt county is marijuana growers. Humbolt county is one of the largest growers of marijuana. If you see anything that looks like Marijuana, run do not walk the other direction.
Mary
I couldn't care less they smoke it walking down the side walk. They didn't bother me so I didn't bother them. The region is so beautiful and the Redwoods are so magnificant that I wouldn't let anything get in the way of seeing and experiencing trees that were
alive before Christ. People come from all over the world to see the trees and the area they live in. I figure what other people do isn't any of my business, if it doesn't concern me. I have been there many times with my parents. The last time I got to also take my kids, along with my parents who are in their 80's. My son said he felt like he was walking with the dinosours, I wouldn't have missed that experience for the world. There are areas up there that have never been explored or seen by man, that seems impossible considering the age we live in. WILD TREES by Richard Preston is an excellent book that gives a unique look at the history and ecosystem of the area.
Thank you, everyone. Well, I flew and had my car shipped, with the poor plants inside. Finally, now, 11 days later after a trip through the desert, etc, with no water, poor things - they have arrived. And surpisingly, it looks like only one fatality, an African Violet relative that climbs.
The cones of the Thai ginger are dead, but the leaves are still alive. The paradise tree is barely alive - but it is like Billy Crystal said in that movie "The Princess Bride" - nearly dead is not the same as REALLY dead. So, there is a lot of hope for it.
I'm so glad that almost all of them made it. The iresine looks about the same as it did at home. And I can't believe that the fig tree cuttings made it and look fine. My boss will be so happy - she asked me to bring them.
I think I'm going to love California.
West coast will be a big change for you, but it's so pretty.
Welcome to California, Brightstar. You'll find that you will appreciate that shade on your deck come summer time. Enjoy the surroundings and if you haven't already done so, check out the California Gardening forum. Lots of friendly, helpful folks some of whom are practically neighbors :-)
d
thank you, I'll do that, guamsorbit. I agree, LilliMerci.
I have two new California plants - a cyclamen and a 6-pack of stocks. They are cool-weather plants, so they should like the Northen Cal winter. The Clerodendrum is still blooming, too. They are all out on my shady balcony.
One thing I notice - the squirrels seem to leave the redwoods alone. Do they not like to climb on the bark? Or was I just not looking at the right moment? I have heard of squirrels messing with the potted plants on balconies, but I haven't seen squirrels around balconies that are surrounded with only redwoods.
What do you think of California so far? Traffic? Neighbors? Cost of things? What are you missing about Virginia already?
LiliMerci,
Well, I'm not missing the weather in Virginia right now! Flooding in my home town due to the storms. The garden is under water.
I just saw that on the news today. That is so terrible. We've been very fortunate where some of our neighbors in the next streets over were not. Lots of flooded basements.
Well, my family and my yard in Virginia is OK. We are trying to figure out how to keep my banana trees in Virginia alive over the winter. They grew so well last summer that I have a "banana grove" there now that is too big to dig up. Dad put a fence around it, piled leaves in, and put a trash can over the top to keep it dry.
It is getting chilly enough here in CA at night that I have brought most of my plants in from the balcony. I'm going to get a plant light for them and keep them indoors until spring probably.
I thought banana trees were tropical?
1lisac, they are, but the whole thing of growing plants out of zone is a hot topic, if you pardon the pun. I kept my banana tree for several years, putting it outside until the frost, then putting it in the greenhouse.
The traditional thing to do is to dig them up and put them under the house. Well, my banana tree went bananas this summer and formed a banana grove. We can't dig them up. The roots are hard as a rock!
So, we had to experiment with it. I'm going to post some pictures of what my dad did.
Here's a photo. Wrap the stems in wire fence, fill enclosure with leaves, put container on top to help it stay dry. Not sure if this is the best way to do this, but it is what he did.
This message was edited Nov 23, 2009 2:31 PM
Here's a picture from before he put the garbage can over it.
what a great idea!
oh, yeah, those of us trying to grow tropicals in the non-tropical zone are called "zone pusher"! :)
How cold dos it get there? I grow many things out of zone but they are in pots, so I can bring them in