"Peggy" wrote in message
news:LtWWb.16587$jk2.55911@attbi_s53...
Hi everybody-
I'm moving from the middle of the corn belt and leaving my beloved garden
for the 6000 ft alt. rocky side of a mountain near Lake Tahoe. Shall I
start crying now, or can anyone give me any tips on gardening here. What
I've found so far indicates that I might as well forget my English cottage
garden and my heirloom tomatoes...

Peg, who will soon be cultivating a tumbleweed


Look at the local native plants. Many of these will have relatives and
derivatives at the local nurseries (check that the hardiness is not bred
out). Alternatively, in the Himalayas bamboos grow well at those altitudes,
may small flowers specialize in altitude in the Alps in Europe and there are
many smaller conifers as well as broadleaves that will flourish at altitude.
The secret is to look at the niche (ecological conditions) locally and
compare these to other locales around the world.
Neil Faulkner
www.conceptgardens.com