Re: NEW MEMBER

There are actually quite a few Australian plants in
particular which come from areas quite abit drier than
the SF Bay Area, and are cast iron survivors in
drought situations.  The problem is more often that
the most drought tolerant are not the most freeze
resistant, and deer resistance may also be
questionable.  New Zealand also has areas and plants
that are more xeric, and even some of the smaller
leafed Hebe species can be quite tolerant of extended
drought.  

I would suggest that you pay a visit to the New
Zealand/Australian sections of the UC Berkeley and UC
Santa Cruz Botanic Gardens to get ideas of what the
possibilities are.  As neither garden will typically
get as cold as yours at 1500 foot elevation, you will
also need to pay attention to freeze tolerance.

I would look to the survivors of the 1990 and 1998
freezes in each garden to get an idea of the most
tolerant species, and the Santa Cruz garden in
particular will give you a better idea of which plants
are most deer resistant.  You would probably also
enjoy the display gardens at Sierra Azul Nursery in
Watsonville, which has a very good selection of
Australian/New Zealand plants.

I won't make any specific suggestions as this would
require both more input from you as to your desires,
and without seeing your site it is rather difficult to
give detailed advice for your particular
circumstances.  The state water board also puts out a
list of plants rated by water needs that would be a
good starting point and cross reference in fine tuning
your plant list, and the book by Bob Perry, Landscape
Plants for Western Regions is not specific to
Australian/New Zealand plants, but would certainly
cover the more commonly planted varieties.  Two
additional books specific to these floras are also
useful; New Zealand Native Plants by Yvonne Cave and
Valda Paddison, and Australian Native Plants by John
W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg.

You might also consider expanding your geographic
plant selection to include South African plants, which
do so well here locally, and can combine wonderfully
with other southern hemisphere plants.



--- Sylvia Sykora <slsykora@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Hi Gardeners - 
> 
> I garden in USDA Zone 9, in northern California, in
> the Oakland hills,
> within sight of San Francisco Bay.  About 75% of our
> weather is marine
> driven; right now the typical summer pattern
> afternoon fog is roaring in.
> Since we¹re at nearly 1500¹ elevation, we also get
> the heat from the inland
> valley, particularly in September and October, our
> fire season.
> 
> I¹ve gardened at my present site for 20 years and
> came here with a host of
> English-oriented ideas and desires spurred on by an
> English gardener friend
> and my early reading.  I¹ve only come to realize the
> necessity to give that
> up in the past five years or so and am having fun
> re-doing many portions of
> the garden, most recently a 100¹ long, west-facing
> slope which we planted
> with California natives a year ago, in late winter
> with plenty of rain, and
> which has done remarkably well once we figured out
> how to discourage the
> deer, raccoons and turkeys which relish the site.
> 
> My question today is about using New Zealand and
> Australian plants in my
> garden.   My experience is that without adequate
> water they do not do well
> or even survive.  I can keep Hebe going but only in
> pots which get
> irrigated.  I¹m working now on three areas, all of
> which get brutal western
> sun.  I¹d like to keep my irrigation to an absolute
> minimum once the plants
> are established and wonder if looking to the native
> plants from NZ and
> Australia is a good idea.
> 
> I¹d be grateful for any suggestions about their use
> you may have.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Sylvia Sykora
>
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