How Many Places Have You Gardened?

[Shellyann36]

I have lived here in North Carolina my entire life. I have only gardened in three counties in the state and I can say that there was a major difference in the temps in one county as opposed to the other two. It was quite a bit warmer because it had more of a southern exposure. My husband and I were discussing the differences in some of the planting times of the areas that we have lived and that got me to thinking of this question.

How many places have you gardened and how different were the extremes? Have you gone from a cooler climate to gardening in a tropical area? Please do share your experiences.

 

[Pat]

Great question. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio where it is cold must of the time, right off the lake with Canada on the other side. That is where I started to garden, when I was still in school.

I have lived in San Jose, Ca., and having a garden in California is a dream. You can grow something all year round. It does get cold there and it is also very dry in the summer so you will spend more time watering plants but it is so much more fun to know you have a larger selection of plants to pick from than where I live now.

I live on the Mid-Atlantic coast, right outside of Washington, DC. It is warm/hot during the summer here. We do not get a spring, one day you are freezing the next day it is full blown summer. Better than Cleveland but it does get cold here like right now.

For gardening California has my vote for being the best location to have a garden.

 

[Shellyann36]

Oh @Pat you have had some good experiences! I bet California would be a dream to garden in! My husband use to drive a truck long distance and he often tells me about the produce he would haul from California all over the the rest of the US. He often speaks of fields of strawberries, onions, tomatoes and carrots as well as orchards of avocados, oranges, lemons and almonds. California sounds like such an interesting growing place. Thank you so much for your input!

 

[cmckinney01]

I've only gardened in Upstate New York. I have never lived any place else. However, many vegetables, flowers and trees grow well here despite the cold. There is not much growing during the winter. However, the spring bulbs will come up when the time is right. They always do.

 

[claudine]

So far, I have only gardened in one country, in Poland. I've always lived here, I'm used to it. The climate is changing slowly, it's not a big change though. Of course I travel sometimes, but I rarely spend more than two weeks abroad. It's not enough time to start a new garden

 

[gata montes]

Far too many to mention but have to say its been great fun each time and have enjoyed all the challenges too - so yes I have had to adapt to different climates each time and have gone from one extreme to the other quite often - like cold and damp to humid hot and tropical to dry cold or dry heat and even a varying mix of all conditions and more - but have have found that all countries depending on where you live in them have different climatic conditions within that country.

The biggest challenge in terms of gardening however is where I live now - as here we have the two very different extremes and nothing in between - where plants need to be able to survive long summers and withstand at least 12 long hours a day - of some of the most intense sunlight in the world due to its high solar gain, drought and temperatures that average around 40 - 45 degrees centigrade plus and then the other extreme of winter- which will throw quite the opposite at the plants - with temperatures that plummet to well below zero and can be anything as low as - 12 C with a wind chill factor that normally makes it feel much colder than that - as well as all the other weather conditions that occur in the winter months like snow, ice, hurricane force winds and flooding.

It really is that extreme the weather literally feels as though it suddenly goes from baking hot to extremely cold almost overnight with very little in between especially as autumn doesn't exist here and spring is probably no more than a week long - so as you can imagine growing in these conditions although enjoyable now that I know how - was at first even with a lot of gardening experience quite a challenge.

 

[ACSAPA]

I only started gardening as an adult, so I've only gardened in Miami ,Florida. My brother lives in New York and I wonder if he would have any luck gardening there.
It gets cold there and he has to deal with snow. I haven't seen snow since I was a toddler.

 

[zigs]

Several allotments and gardens in the South of England, but I did spend 4 years trying to Garden in the penal colony we call Wales, where the sun rises from behind one mountain at 10.30 and sets behind the other mountain at 2.30.

The farmers used to hurl sheep over the garden wall as they considered gardens as "a wicked waste of grazing."

 

[gata montes]

zigs said - " The farmers used to hurl sheep over the garden wall as they considered gardens as "a wicked waste of grazing."


LOL - yes I've heard that about the farmers in Wales - but wasn't sure how true it was

Isn't Wales the place where those strange sheep live - that have two of their legs - that are shorter on one side than the other - so that they can graze on the hills better

 

[zigs]

Oh its true, the damage just one sheep can cause in a garden

No, that's the Wild Haggis in Scotland

http://strangeanimals.wikia.com/wiki/Wild_Haggis

 

[gata montes]

LOL - A very rare creature indeed - so elusive in fact - that up to now no one has ever seen one let alone been able take a photograph of one - but unlike the Irish leprechaun - they somehow managed to capture one and prove it too

 

[zigs]

One caused a bomb scare last week

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...rt-bomb-scare-over-edinburgh-haggis-1-3279528

 

[Pat]

Oh @Pat you have had some good experiences! I bet California would be a dream to garden in! My husband use to drive a truck long distance and he often tells me about the produce he would haul from California all over the the rest of the US. He often speaks of fields of strawberries, onions, tomatoes and carrots as well as orchards of avocados, oranges, lemons and almonds. California sounds like such an interesting growing place. Thank you so much for your input!

Shellyann one of the places we lived was the foothills of a winery. It was awesome to view the acres of grapes growing. I liked living there during the growing season.

 

[Shellyann36]

@cmckinney01 I love upstate NY. My ex-inlaws live there and I so enjoyed visiting the orchards in the fall. It was so very nice.

@claudine you have consistency then

@gata montes It must be so very challenging to live in that environment. How long have you lived there?

@ACSAPA I love Florida! I wanted to move there so many years ago but never did.

@zigs that does not sound like much sunlight.

@Pat Keith said I would fall in love with certain parts of California. The winery sounds heavenly to live near. Could you smell the grapes?

 

[gata montes]

Shellyann36 said - " It must be so very challenging to live in that environment. How long have you lived there? "

It certainly is a very challenging environment and not just from a gardening point of view but also that of life in general and although after nearly twelve years of living with it I have become more used to it - each year always has a challenge of one sort or another - as no one year is ever the same where the weather is concerned and as you never know which of the extremes is going to be more extreme than usual - there is only so much you can do in order to be prepared for it