Phil L wrote:
wrote:
Hello to all!
I'm new to this site and am looking forward to learning all that
I
can from you, as well as giving opinions, if I feel qualified to
do so! ;o) I am an American, in America and will be moving to
England sometime this year... I love to garden - flowers, herbs
and lately, veggies! [...]
Zones?
Welcome aboard, Missus C! (We're not formal round he can I call
you C?) No, as this is a group of islands in the North Atlantic, the
climates are a bit too unpredictable for us to use anything precise
like the USDA Zone system. There are climate maps, but people don't
use them for ordinary gardening. It's roughly what you'd expect,
though: wetter in the west, drier in the east, cooler in the north,
warmer in the south, with few real extremes. Most temperate crops
grow in most places, you'll find.
We love answering questions in uk.rec.gardening, but you'll want to
have a good book, too. Reader's Digest put out an excellent
_Encyclopedia of Gardening_ for our conditions, and it's one of the
best bargains you'll ever get (I'm on my second copy, having worn out
the first one!).
You can trust the notes on the backs of seed packets, too.
It's fairly cold in Britain, we need the greenhouses for most
plants
native to warmer countries like tomatoes, grapes, melons, cucumbers
etc...these don't grow well outdoors over here, most seeds are
started off in greenhouses too, to give them an earlier start.
[...]
Not wanting to argue with Phil, but even most keen gardeners here
don't own greenhouses: seeds which need starting off under cover
usually give birth on the windowsills of the house!
He's right about these crops which want extra warmth, except that
there are special outdoor varieties: tomatoes in particular do fine
if sheltered by a south-facing wall.
Look forward to hearing from you again.
--
Mike.