Moving to D.C. from Texas - yikes!

Well, I've lived in the South my entire life, but it looks like I'm going to be moving to D.C. next year! I must admit that I'm a little depressed about leaving my Tx natives - I absolutely LOVE the "wild" look that a lot of our gardens have down here... This is probably a stereotype, but when I picture "mid-atlantic" gardens, I think more formal, English style - please correct me if I am wrong! Any advice for a Southern gardener moving north?

Thanks!

kc,

Don't know if a thread I started might have some good info for you but Maryland was a place I was considering in the future....I think the area up that way is beautiful. And since I'm not a Texan by birth I much prefer the gardens of the north to our scrubby wildscapes.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/655743/

Good luck on your move and perhaps you can dmail me any good info on Houston area as DH got a new job there and starts soon...our house is already on the market here so we'll be there soon (west side towards Katy).



This message was edited Nov 12, 2006 5:20 PM

Hate to burst your bubble, but we don't consider ourselves to be northerners around here. LOL And you'll find all kinds of gardens.

This is a great area to garden!-right where the zones meet, so you can grow lots of stuff. And there are lots of resources here to help w/ your gardening-Natl. Botanic Garden, arboreteum, lots of garden clubs & shows. I recently got into orchids, & living here near so many great orchid dealers & going to the Paph show in January has been quite helpful.

I understand how you would be sad about leaving your Texas garden, but moving here won't be that bad... Linda

hart -
lol... you're not bursting my bubble - but when you've lived in the Gulf Coast region your entire life, DC feels like "the North" for sure! But if that's incorrect, fantastic! Any good gardening sites (with pictures - I need those!)/magazines that you'd recommend for an ignorant zone 9-er?

Tir -

My brother lived in Pittsburg for several years, and whenever I visited him up there, I thought it was quite beautiful as well! I have to object to the word "scrubby" in describing our TX gardens, though - I absolutely LOVE them!

On the move to Houston from San Anton -
You can grow most of the same plants in both cities - Houston is a bit more tropical in style than San Anton, I believe (y'all are going to have more desert-like landscapes than we do here). I imagine that the soil structure might be different, but it really varies from neighborhood to neighborhood! All I can say, is get ready for some serious humidity!!

thistle - actually I *am* pretty excited about moving! Just not too confident in my horticultural knowledge of the region... (not to mention I'm having a very hard time trying to figure out where we can afford to live up there!) If all else fails, I've always loved hydrangeas, so I can just plant masses of those!

Oh - I know that most people grow Rhodies up there, but can azaleas grow too, or does it get too cold?

coincidence- I was at the Depot this spring and some gal stopped me and said- "you look like you know what you're doing, do azaleas grow here? I haven't seen any around. I'm from Texas." The answer is yes they're popular, just that she was loking for them too early.

I think the Azalea Society of America started at Brookside gardens, and the Glenn Dale azalea hybrids are from the Maryland 'burbs, too.

http://www.azaleas.org/index.html

The soil will probably be considerably different for you. Most of the soil in this area is clay and acid vs. alkaline sandy. You'll find, though, more plants will do okay in acid clay than in alkaline soil. Azaleas love it.

The National Arboretum has a wonderful website. There's also a very nice Capitol Home and Garden Show in Chantilly VA every year, usually February or March, that would probably be helpful.

Bryan Park in Richmond has a fabulous display of azaleas in the spring. Might want to make the trip down to see it.

I don't know of any websites specifically on gardening in the area, but you might want to get some of Andre Viette's books. They're very helpful and some are specific to the DC area.

http://www.viette.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Atlantic-Gardeners-Guide-Delaware-Washington/dp/1930604998/sr=1-2/qid=1163383796/ref=sr_1_2/002-1026493-6623220?ie=UTF8&s=books

Oops. Forgot about this one.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0962597155/ref=pd_cp_b_title/002-1026493-6623220

kc,

Sorry about the "scrubby"....I actually got this description of our landscape from a fellow DGer native to Texas (won't reveal who!) but she LOVES this wild look herself. I'm just not so used to it...and you are right about the areas...Houston gets double our rain here!!! So me and my garden are looking forward to moving. =)

I know it's common to warn about Houston's humidity but I'm really quite used to it....I grew up in Michigan with the Great Lakes and in a valley and it's about the same in humidity. The worst Texas humidity I've suffered is in Brownsville, ever been there? Yikes!

Do you know when next year you are making the move?

Hi KC - I live about a three hour drive to DC. I haven't visited there in many years. Seems I went there a lot more when I was much younger. I do not know about gardening there, so won't comment on it. I would think that you won't go wrong if you try something that I see referred to on here from time to time. Check out local nurseries when you begin to plant your garden. Most of these places will only stock what will grow within the local region they are serving. Always ask questions.

I wanted to agree with hart on being thought of as northerners. Any good Virginian will tell you that we think of ourselves as southerners too. ha-ha.

Anyway, keep us updated here to your move. It is always fun to hear about gardening in other areas. Welcome to our board.

Ruby

kc, there are several good sources for information about gardening in Virginia.

Virginia Gardener Magazine http://www.vagardener.com/

Washington Gardener Magazine http://www.washingtongardener.com/ Our mission: to help your Washington DC area garden grow! They also have a Yahoo group where you can post your questions on their forum.

Andre and Mark Viette, who have a local radio show - In the Garden - also have a website where they recently started a general discussion forum http://www.inthegardenradio.com/

American Horticultural Society (AHS) headquarters are located in Alexandria and is a wonderful resource for the DC area http://www.ahs.org/index.html They have seminars throughout the year and have an annual plant sale every spring.

Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria is another excellent resource for the metropolitan DC area http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/ Wonderful gardens, excellent courses throughout the year and garden markets throughout the spring and an annual plant sale in May.

I had the opposite "problem" when I moved to Virginia from Maine six years ago - lots of things I can't grow, but plenty more that I can! It was definitely a challenge, but pleased to say that this "southern" climate is much more interesting than the "northern" climate I left behind :) Good luck with your move and feel free to ask any of us questions - we're more than willing to help!

Debbie