In article yBmia.293789$3D1.161752@sccrnsc01,
Roger wrote:
Lately it has very few participants, but I don't know why. Many from CA area
show up on rec.gardens, a much more active newsgroup. If you give your
growing zone and general location, you will find some respondents from the
Bay Area.

Thanks ;

Best source for suitability of plants for a given zone and exposu Latest
edition of Sunset's "Western Garden Book"

I've been using that very happily - as well as

No water restrictions where I live, in San Mateo Co. Near-normal rainfall
this monsoon.

Woo! Any thoughts on drip irrigation?

Re cheap plants, I get and trade some cuttings, slips, and seeds from
neighbors who are also gardeners. Also we tend to do major plant shopping at
Home Depot vs local and expensive nurseries, but we also buy some stuff
locally since we like to get advice with plants, unavailable in Home Depot.

As the child of a plant snob, I find myself prone to looking for more
unusual plants - although my current setup is really quite banal ; Home
Depot has very cheap plants, but they're often of unknown provenance, and
very often already abused.

I've had a really pleasant visit out to Berkeley Hort and over Skyline to
Yerba Buena (which is a really excellent nursery for natives!), and just
finished getting back from Common Ground in Palo Alto (although I was more
than a bit put off by their religious take on 'grow biointensive').

cheers!
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"A cat spends her life conflicted between a deep, passionate and profound
desire for fish and an equally deep, passionate and profound desire to
avoid getting wet. This is the defining metaphor of my life right now."