Hello fellow Californians....let's introduce ourselves!

Hi all....Karen here in Modesto! :~D

(EDITED.....Well, ya'll got interesting on me, 'spose I should add something.....I'm in the CA central valley about 2 hours south of Sacramento. My passions are Hoyas, Epiphyllums, perennials of ALL kinds but specially salvias, and now succulents and cactus (thanks to Norma!). We winter here at a wet, cold, clammy & foggy 20-25 degrees, and top out in summer at 110 for a week or two. Plant material is either tough or dead here. A much smaller plant list than I used to use when I lived in West Covina {hi george!] or Campbell.)

This message was edited Mar 22, 2005 8:53 PM

This message was edited Mar 22, 2005 8:55 PM

Hi! I'm Kathleen and I live in Bonsall -- which is between Fallbrook and Oceanside in North San Diego County. A year ago we moved to our own place, which was more or less a blank canvas (just a few trees on the perimeter). Little by little, we are landscaping with California natives, but I reserve the right to have 'special' stuff on the terrace outside the house! I'm lusting for a plumeria. :-)

Hi all! I'm Juli and I live in Victorville which is about halfway between Orange County and Las Vegas. If you are heading to Bishop on the 395 you pass right by my house. We are what is called the "upper desert" It's not really desert and it's not really mountains it's a mix of both. We get some snow in the winter but sweltering heat in the summer. Crazy. Prior to living here I grew up in Anaheim/Buena Park area. My DH comes from upstate NY. I'm glad to meet you all! I was so envious of all the DGers who live so close to each other that they get to do round ups :~)
-Juli

Hi there, I'm Antoinette and live in Moreno Valley right behind the mountain between Perris Lake and the 60 FWY. We get frost and we also get up to 115 degrees plus at times in the summer. Glad to be here..
Antoinette


This message was edited Mar 23, 2005 11:47 AM

Morning All!

Good news going on here, I've signed in on Dave's thread! Looks like we are already representing a good sampling of areas!

Candy

Hi I am Kelley and I live in the East Bay outside of San Francisco. I have a small yard but a huge appetite!! I love roses, bulbs, vines, brugs, and anything flowering!!! The gaudier the better.

Great to meet you all!

I live in the valley near Los Angeles. Wish I lived in San Diego, but seems this climate is better than most others around the country. If any one is into tropicals, I know where most of the 'private' palm and cycad nurseries are near you in case you ever have the yen to add those types of plants to your gardens. For example, Cycad Center is in Bonsall and the Ironmongers have a huge collection of great plants to sell there, right near the golf course off the 74. You should check them out Kaperc.

I amin the San Gabriel Valley, East of Los Angeles.

Hey, some of us already did this in the "Welcome to the Forum" thread, and I, for one, am too lazy to repeat everything here, so if you want to know everything about us, you'll have to go there too.

Hell fellow Golden staters,

My wife Pamela and I moved to this area from Cardiff by the Sea just north of San Diego. We are further north now in the far southwestern corner of Riverside County in the unincorporated area of Temecula quite liberally regarded as 'Wine Country'....lol. We experience several hard, dry frosts each winter at this location and our summers frequently have weeks where the temps are flirting with, or above 100F. It's a real challenge from the mild climate we came from where we could grow all kinds of neat stuff easily. We came out here for our horses and the price of land. Pamela is a retired psychologist cum warmblood horse breeder and I'm a retired biologist cum pooper scooper.

do we do it twice :-)

i'm living in Fountain Valley for the present
half my neighbors have banana's growing in their back yard
& large plumeria growing in their front yard
i have Orchids growing in my back yard :-)
& Aroids & Coleus in my front yard :-)

my name again is Dick Strever

Hi...

My wife and I live in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. My yard is typical San Francisco postage stamp size which gets very little sun; but, I try to make up for it by being involved with a community garden a few blocks from my house. I like plants that are visually interesting, bring fragrance, and are edible. Well, preferably at least 2 out of 3! I'm also interested in the native plants of california and try to grow as many as I can.

Erik

Hi,
Jennifer from Hermosa Beach. I do container gardening because I just have a porch to deal with for now. I'm interested in heirlooms, unusual and "forgotten" vegetables and greens, wild edibles and culinary/medicinal plants. I'm a little bit poor in flowers but I'm working on it...

How about that - a California Forun - thanks Dave

"Lamb_place" here (Larry & Jenell). We live in Hemet CA north of Temecula & S.E of Riverside. This area is refered to a,s the "foothills of heaven" Ha! Same zone as DRDON (he's about 15 miles south). We are currently living in town but are gettng ready to rebuild on our 21/2 acres west of Hemet, which we were burnt out of 18 mo ago. Glad to see a "local" forum starting up. Right now we don't have much to trade but hopefully we will once we get back on the property.

Hi All! I am Chuck from Arroyo Grande. I live on a hillside about a mile from the ocean. About a third of my garden is CA natives, the rest are mostly Mediteraneans. I started this garden about four years ago with the intention of having 2,000 different kinds plants, and I am about two thirds there. I have about a half acre to garden with, so there is plenty of room. I frequent most of the botanical garden sales in the state, nurseries in the Bay Area, LA and San Diego and locally. Having grandchildren in Sunnyvale and San Diego is great for nursery shopping. I am just starting to get into growing things from seeds.

Hiya neighbors! I live northern/central California. I'm fairly new at outside gardening and very new here at DG. I have had houseplants and some roses. Right now I'm in the process of turning my yard into a hummingbird haven. Next year I'm going to make room for butterflies. Think that's only appropriate since they love almost the same flowers....and I love butterflies too! I've always loved plants and growing them...and am glad to have somewhere to learn just how to do that!

Lisa

Wow, we sure do have several types of climates listed above and I'm so glad to see so many of you posting now.

My name is Donna and I live in "Surf City USA". My home is 3 miles from the ocean and with my zone 10, we still get a nice breeze to keep us cool. Many of the plants that I grow, that call for partial shade, can be planted in full sun here. My front garden is small and my back garden is just a little larger. I only have a small patch of grass on the side of the house, for my dog to do his thing.

I admit to being a zone pusher. I love to try to grow plants out of my zone. Many of them do fine, but my Hosta collection dwindled down to nothing, as it just doesn't get cold enough here for them to thrive. I love all types of plants and vines....my back garden is enclosed with cement block walls (city life), so I try to cover them with vines or large bushes.

I also love to share my plants with others. I try to give them away to my neighbors, family or friends. When they don't want them, I do a lot of trading on DG. lol The information and the friendship that I have made here at DG for the past 4 yrs. is astonishing to most of my friends. They've seen me go from a simple gardener to an "avid" gardener.

Donna

Hi...I'm Margie...a native of NY who moved to San Jose, CA. 30 years ago. I am in a neighborhood with 1/3 of an acrea lot. Until a few years ago, I was mostly interested in growing veggies...the last few years brought me into daylilies and brugs. I tend to be slightly compulsive, so I gather things quickly!
Our climate is hot in the summer...with many days above 100 degrees and only occasional frosts in the winter. Being in a valley, the temps are higher in the summer than surrounding bay areas. (unfortunately!) It is also usually dry, especially in the summer. Winter has been quite wet this year.
I have already had the pleasure of meeting Lilystorm (Tracy), Cal Sue and Happenstance. I am looking forward to meeting more of you at gatherings & sharing our common experiences.

Yippie! We have our own forum! I was sure surprised to see this. But pleasantly, I might add. :~)
My name is Donna and I live in Stockton, San Joaquin county. About an hour south of Sacramento, (HEY KACHINAGIRL! We are almost neighbors!)
I have a decent sized lot, by in-town standards, but not big enough to suit me. I am a vine addict & can only squeeze in so many vine fences. I am very fickle & only a few things get carried over from year to year.
Our weather is normally very nice, we do get a couple of freezes a winter (the last 2 years being the exception with several) and I can usually grow tropicals outside year around with only a light covering on those freezing nights. I have started enjoying my brugs since I finally experienced some blooms, and think they may be a keeper.
I look forward to reading all the wonderful posts that we are sure to have in this forum. It was a pleasure meeting all of you.
Donna

HI, my name is Jacquie and I've been a member of Dave's for a couple of years, but have posted very seldom. I love this garden club and have learned so much from all the members. I'm a Ca native, born in So San Fran , lived in San Bruno (grew up there), Santa Clara, Scotts Valley, Aptos, and now we are in Pioneer.and we love it. We moved here to take care of my Mom and love it so much that we're here to stay. Well--- I don't love it so much today, it's been snowing for 2 days and I think my roses are not very happy, I hope they will be OK. Just pruned a couple of weeks ago Darn!!!!
Pioneer is off of hwy. 88 at 4000 ft. elevation, an hour and a half from Tahoe.
I have to fence everything because the deer eat everything they can, even the so-called deer resistant plants. Fox Glove is the only plant I have that is safe from the little devils.
I recently joined the Rose Society because roses are my real passion ,aside from my veggies
And cooking, love to cook. I'm looking forward to being more active on Dave's as I have so much more time now. Hope to meet some of the other members too.

Sue here in San Jose, near the border of Milpitas. We are not quite as hot here as Margie, a bit more of the bay breeze. Lived here all my life, in fact, we bought the house I grew up in when my parents bought another one in 1984 only 5 min. away. Since she had a nice garden here, I had to keep it up and thus began my love of gardening. In '97, I went with her to a daylily garden tour hosted by a club she had been going to for a few years. Fell in love with daylilies and I am now the procurement chair for the club, purchasing new intros for members to grow and eventually bring to a club auction. I have over 200 varieties at this time, 1/2 in pots always being rotated around this tiny garden. I have a daylily being named after me (a real surprise!) as well as ones after my daughter and soon, my granddaughter so I guess daylilies will be a life long favorite!
I have always had a more cottage type garden, colors of lavenders, pinks and blues but I am just now adding tropicals to the mix (lovin' the new coleus forum!) and so finding the warm colors a nice welcome. I do alot of pots too since my clay soil frustrates me plus it allows for an ever changing and rotating palette. I have a few brugs too, still a learning curve there. My favorite plant combos right now are the chartruese and purple/red/black foliaged things and I love large leafed and varigated foliage things! I am trying to learn as I go (or is that grow) and love adding to my collection of various plants by growing seeds and aquiring cuttings. DG is a great outlet for learning and sharing!
Love photography too, especially close-ups of blooms, like dayliles. Love sharing and teaching about plants to my 2 grandkids.

Hi, everybody--how lucky for the Golden Staters to have a forum!

I'll be lurking here, you can be sure, to see more beautiful garden pics like Calif_Sue's! We moved last year to Cincinnati from Pasadena (northeast city/suburb of LA) after 35 years in San Fran and LA. and I'm a little homesick--although loving it here, too!

Keep posting so I can get my CA fix! ;-) t.

Karen, what an intriguing update on your message. You must be a real diehard. Many gardeners would have given up in your present situation.

Tabasco, did you have to get in the habit of explaining where Pasadena was when you moved to Cincinnati? I would think everyone would know where Pasadena is after all these years of rose festivals, the Beach Boys, etc.

Sue, your garden is lush. It's just what I needed to convince me to go outside and get busy in spite of the rain.

Zuzu--it always seemed that die-hard San Franciscans had little knowledge of Southern California.

Most people in Cincinnati seem to know about Pasadena--OSU went to the Rose Bowl a few years ago! lol t.

Hi. I'm Roseana. I live in Victorville. We moved here last year. I love lilies, daylilies and irises. Nice to meet you all!

Hi
My name is George, and I live in Forestville which is West of Santa Rosa & North of Sebastopol. I love gardening with our marine influence, as I moved over here from the Central Valley (Colusa) which is hotter than here in the summer. I don't miss the Heat, hot North winds, Night bugs, Mosquitoes, black gnats and alkaline soil. However I did not have gopher problems in the valley that we have here. I have a large garden with Prennials, annuals, roses, and vegetables. I'm glad to see this Calif. Forum.
George

Hi, I'm Gayle and live in San Leandro, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I've always grown my grandfather's thornless boysenberries (wonderful jam) and various fruits, vegetables, flowers and indoor plants; Dad enjoyed gardening and passed the green thumb to me. In recent years I grew a lot of roses but have cut back on those. This year we installed a small pond as our goldfish had outgrown our water feature, and I just didn't want to go another year without a pond! It was a challenge to find a space that allowed enough sun and wasn't under the spread of our huge (but gorgeous) white birch. We had to compromise a little, and we'll be skimming leaves and birch litter, but I think it will work. I love orchids and grown them indoors in our sun room/office but hope for a small greenhouse one day, if I can figure out where we have room for it. My particular interests (this year) are water gardening, tropical flowers, ferns, and all garden critters. I'm very interested in landscaping ideas for small spaces, as I continue to encroach on DH's lawn that he insists we keep.

George, I have the same gopher problem and have tried every conceivable method of getting rid of them. Nothing works, of course. My cats catch hundreds, but there are obviously thousands more. One solution I have found is Pine-Sol. It won't kill them, but it will make them detour. If I see signs of gopher activity near a cherished plant, I pour Pine-Sol into the tunnel. They don't die, but they do move to another spot, where more Pine-Sol can be applied. I'm hoping they'll eventually give up and move far away.

George: gopher baskets work well for me. I gave up trying to kill them, more just came in from the surrounding fields. Gophers do not seem to kill the established plants and the baskets, made out of chicken wire last long enough for the plants to get established. They are pretty easy to make from 12" rolls of chicken wire.

Chuck, your gophers must be more fastidious than the ones in Sonoma County. Ours don't care how old a plant is. I have lost 50-year old camellias to them. I heard that gophers in George's town of Forestville actually brought down a huge scrub oak. I tried the baskets and they just encouraged the gophers to come in overland. Same thing happens with raised beds lined with chicken wire. The gophers come out of their tunnels, climb into the raised beds, burrow down, and have a feast.

I have only lost one plant to gophers in four years of living here and there are anywhere from four to eleven gophers working most of the time. Sometimes the gopher will completely circle the basket but the plant is fine. I am currently making about 2000 baskets for our homeowners association after gophers killed most of their new plantings. I think they knew where to go, only the area around the plants was wet.

I have heard of gophers going overland especially when the plants are not individually protected and gopher is migrating to new territory, but that hasn't happened here. The gophers in my yard prefer the areas where the soil is not very rocky, though I noticed one a couple of days ago working on the rockiest area. I guess all the rain made it accessible.

Ah, perhaps I should pack up my Dad and send him up to help you with your gophers. When I was kid, if we got gophers he would take a 6-pack of Pepsi, a stool and his service revolver outside (don't worry, he was a cop so that was supposed to make this ok). He would open up a freshly closed hole. Set up his stool. Pop open a Pepsi and wait for the gopher to come back and see why the hole was open. When the gopher poked his head into view......."BLAM". And that was that. He also threw M-80 firecrackers into their holes and closed it up behind the firecracker. The explosion drove them far away! I have heard that a large pack of Juicy Fruit Gum (take all the sticks out of the wrappers and place in the hole) is supposed to draw them then gunk up their system so they die. I haven't tried it personally. Here, we just buddy-up to an orchard-farmer who gives us pellets (the ones normal people like me can't buy) and you place them in the hole, pour water over them then cover up the hole. The resulting gas kills the gophers. I also have had incredible luck with the box traps. I place it in the hole, pack dirt around it so no light shines into the hole, then place peeled carrots outside the vent. I have caught 3-a-day this way! The only other option I can think of is some large snakes! LOL

K

In the past I used poison grain down the hole, but this garden has never seen any chemicals. It is a more relaxed affair. I plant, water and then prune heavily. All the animals take their share and volunteers sprout quite frequently, especially since the gorilla hair required by the HOA is disappearing. Erigonum fasciculata and Artemesia california have made their presence in the neighborhood known. Lotus scoparum and baccharus pilularis mostly get pulled. I have more than enough oaks, so the new seedlings get pulled. There are a number of others that I do not know their names that get reduced in numbers but not eliminated. I hand weed several times a year and weed wack once a year, plants do not seem to mind and the HOA hasn't said anything.

Hi, another George here. My wife & I purchased a run down 1950's home on a 1/2 acre lot in 1997. Did a total remodel http://quilts.acphotolab.com/gallery/Our-House that about did me in. In early 2000 we had a basic landscape installed and I have been collecting and adding plants ever since. I do taxes for a living, so I sorta fall into a black hole from January to April 15.
I particularly like hibiscus, any lily, iris or brug. I hate snails, cucumber bugs, box elder bugs and fuchsia mites. I have had to do battle with racoon, gopher, mole and even the neighbors chickens.
I'm a California native, having lived in Inglewood, Bakersfield, Big Bar, Fort Bragg, Redwood City, San Lorenzo and for the last 40 years Fremont. After a freshman year of college that resembled the film "Animal House" and a GPA of 1.2 I almost dropped college and became a nurseryman. With encouragement of family, I managed to graduate college, but kept my love of plants. Raising kids sort of interfered with my gardening plans, so the new home in '97 with no kids really got me going again.
Dave's Garden is just great. I have truly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people.

(can't use poisons here, our black lab carries the gophers around the yard proudly until we get home to take them away...I've often wondered if he thinks he's fooling us into believing he caught them.....the attached box trap is, of course, a total giveaway)

Juicy Fruit gum doesn't work. Neither does kitty litter or a big decaying salmon head. A box trap is just a joke when a dozen cats, a couple of dogs, and many gopher snakes keep killing them and can't keep the population down. One year they took 37 of my roses in a space of about three weeks. Mr. Lincoln is their favorite. I tried to grow five of them (in wire baskets) before giving up. They must be delicious.

One person in my town poured gasoline into the gopher tunnel and set it on fire. Unfortunately, he didn't realize the tunnel ran all the way to his garage. No one here ever tried that method again.

All in all, Kachinagirl, your father sounds like the best solution.

Favorite nurseries turned into gophers. mebbe the nurseries are supporting the gophers.

Sorry 'bout that, we were introducing ourselves and got sidetracked on gophers. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone who is trying to make a living in California. They need all the help they can get.

OOps.....rabbit trails....so easy to do.....(one last poke....Zuzu...feed your gophers birth control pills!!!!)

PotEmUp...looks like we are almost neighbors!!! I just finished looking at all of your photos! You did a wonderful job on your home! Unbelievable! Now I know why when I stop at DG on the way to the kitchen...it takes me hours to get there! I am too busy looking at interesting things on the way! Your albums were my diversion today! So glad I took the time to look!
Margie