Hello from San Francisco

[Jeff Harter]

Hi, folks! I joined earlier this month after seeing the PBS ad in the NARGS quarterly publication. One of my favorite pastimes is putting bulbs in the ground and then instantly losing track of what the bulbs were, so you'll be seeing my pleas for help in the "Mystery Bulb" thread. 

I've got about 800 square feet of well-shaded sandy loam on the west side of San Francisco. I mostly try to get everything in the ground, but the population of containers keeps increasing despite my best efforts to avoid their proliferation. Between the shade, the fog, and the chilly temperatures, a lot of bulbs I plant struggle. But I persist! This year I'm planning to wean most of my beds off drip irrigation in hopes that targeted hand watering, using rain and fog water, will produce happier bulbs (among other plants).

[Robert_Parks]

Welcome to PBS!

I'm up on the NW side of Mt Davidson, so I get to add bitter gales to your climate challenges.

The winter garden mostly avoids irrigation (if the rains come), but I can't resist the summer garden of non-mediterranean geophytes.

I continue to find plants that aren't happy with the high elevation summer-dry cloud forest up here, but plants from the foothills of the Himalaya and 10K feet in the Andes thrive as long as you add water.

Robert
soggy, but at least the crows aren't destroying the potted plants

[Jeff Harter]

Hi, Robert! We both live in the micro-climate created by Mt. Davidson. I'm nestled in the eastern-most portion of West Portal that's surrounded by Forest Hill, Edgehill, and Mt. Davidson, at an elevation of about 417'. Watching the fog blow in on summer afternoons is my favorite pastime.    

The rains certainly came this year. We hit our yearly average precipitation prior to the current atmospheric river, so anything we get in March will be gravy on top. Thanks for the tip on Himalayan and Andes bulbs. 

[Robert_Parks]

Hi, Robert! We both live in the micro-climate created by Mt. Davidson. I'm nestled in the eastern-most portion of West Portal that's surrounded by Forest Hill, Edgehill, and Mt. Davidson, at an elevation of about 417'. Watching the fog blow in on summer afternoons is my favorite pastime.   

Cool, very nearly neighbors!

If you'd like, there are always extras of whatever is dormant.

Robert