Re: Need help getting started (in CA's Central Valley)

At 09:38 PM 7/29/2002, Jan wrote:
Hello,
I am very intrigued with mediterranean landscape. I live in Modesto. I cannot afford to landscape my whole yard at once, but want to get some ideas to do a little at a time. Can you suggest a book or a list of plants and trees that would help me figure out what will do well here in Modesto?
thank you,
Jan
Hi Jan -

Sorry I took so long in getting back to you. I was out of the country for 3 weeks and am still trying to clear out the backlog of e-mail that came in during that time.

I am c.c.'ing this to the Medit-Plants e-mail forum which might be a fun way for you to learn more on this topic. To find our more about this group and view the discussion archives, see:
http://www.support.net/Medit-Plants/discuss/

Probably one of the best resources for you in the central valley is the UC Davis Arboretum. They are not particularly close to you but their expression of the mediterranean climate is very similar. I know they have a booklet of plants that are good to try in the central valley - I can't seem to find mine at the moment but I'm sure if you contacted them they would know what I'm talking about.
Davis Arboretum, University of California,
One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616-8526
(530) 752-4880; fax: (530) 752-5796
arboretum@ucdavis.edu

There have been some interesting articles about central valley gardening in Pacific Horticulture Magazine, notably:
recent:

Central Valley Gardening, Mediterranean Style, by Ellen Zagory & Diane Cary
(Vol 63 Num 3 - Jul/Aug/Sep 2002 - current issue)

Some Silver-Leafed Plants for California's Central Valley, by Warren Roberts
The Mediterranean Garden: Image, Style, or Cultural Expression?, by Russell A Beatty
(Vol 62 Num 2 - Apr/May/Jun 2001)

classic:

California Plants for Central Valley Dry Gardens, by Warren Roberts
(Vol 39! Num 2/3? - September 1979) - This great article was also reprinted in The Pacific Horticulture Book of Western Gardening, published in 1990

You might contact Pacific Horticulture about obtaining back issues or the current issue:
circulation office - (510) 849-1627
mailing address - Pacific Horticulture, P.O. Box 680, Berkeley, CA 94701 USA

You might also contact Jeffrey A. Caldwell about a handout of California native plants for the central valley that he created for a talk (which he has kindly offered in the past to the CA-Natives e-mail discussion). He can be reached at: ecosys@pacbell.net, or 408 252-1177.

You could possibly contact the Learning Pine Arboretum in San Luis Obispo. I wonder if they might also have some literature relating to this that they can send to you:
Leaning Pine Arboretum, Environmental Horticultural Science Department,
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
(805) 756-2888, fax: (805) 756-2869
teltzrot@calpoly.edu

I hope this is helpful!
Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
(ask me about the worldwide Mediterranean gardening discussion group)

Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index