Wellllllllll, how about for a start: it was 61 degrees and sunny here today. I planted some saplings and pruned a Japanese maple - the ground's not frozen and there's no snow. We get occasional snow or ice, almost as a change of pace. It's hot in the summer, just like there. I don't think it's any hotter or more humid, but we do get spring earlier, and summer and fall last longer. Gardening is popular here, because it can be done practically all year long. Average last frost date is April 15, but perennials start emerging much earlier than that.

Winters are mild here, and you can garden and have plants in bloom all year. It's a lot less restrictive than up north. If you're sick of snow you'll come to like here again, because you won't see it all that often. Be prepared for everything to shut down when it does snow -- the NC piedmont doesn't have the budget (it's not practical) to clear the roads quickly every time we get snow.

Are the twin cities a lot hotter and more humid than Pennsylvania? I lived near Pittsburgh for three years and it was definitely cooler there than here. May usually found temps still in the 50's (usually with a strong wind). Even during heat waves the temps cooled off at night, unlike here. We had a fan that sucked in outside air and we'd always end up needing a blanket before the end of the night. In between hot spells the temps were a lot more comfortable. The thing that made the heat harder to handle up there is that few people have central air. One of my grandmothers in Indiana (weather similar to Pennsylvania) didn't even have a fan, and didn't want one!

We have our share of bugs here, but they're not terrible.

Come on over, Tradewind,...you'll be near the Triangle (civilization in my book) and you already know about our gorgeous weather (AC everywhere for occasional escapes). We've got the ocean and the mountains too.

claire in sanford, nc

I've lived here in WF for 5 years and find it to be a gardener's dream location. There are some things we can't grow - like lilacs and conifers - because it doesn't get cold enough, but we can grow dahlias, glads, and cannas without having to dig them up to over-winter. The soil is mostly red clay but it is so rich we really do live in a huge forest of hardwoods and loblolly pine with honeysuckle, trumpet vine, and wild grapes (and an occasional bit of poison ivy to keep us alert). There is an abundance of wildflowers, ferns, and many native flowering trees and shrubs. With our very long growing season we can get two crops of cabbages and eat tomatoes up until September or so. There are lots of horse farms to get ammendments for the soil, hundreds of gardeners who like to share plants, and a couple of very active garden clubs. We are near Falls Lake with 26,000 acres of woodlands and 12,000 acres of water for all kinds of recreational activities, and there are streams and ponds everywhere you look in the WF area. Alas, we have to deal with the deer population, even in subdivisions, and there are Japanese Beetles that hang around for 2 months eating holes in everything but people. But, all in all, it is a great place for gardening. I think you'd like it.

Nancy the nancedar

Thanks so much for your replies! You have eased my mind about this potential move. DH is going to WF next week again for business and so I think we'll have to make a decision pretty soon. I used to live in KY, I wonder if that is closer to NC weather? I would be amazed to have two growing seasons! Here were are a tad lucky just to get one good one :-)

To garden almost all year -- perchance to dream!

I think you would find gardening very liberating and appealing in NC compared to Minnesota. We can grow many more varieties of plants here compared to northern states, and the weather makes it possible to garden year round. Spring can be very spectacular when dogwoods and azaleas are blooming, and weather is most pleasant in spring and fall. Summers can be oppressive when we have spells of hot weather, and it's not unusual to have extended stretches when high temperatures are above 90 degrees. That's generally not a problem for gardening unless accompanied by dry spells and droughts, which unfortunately seem to be becoming more prevalent. The weather in fall is also very nice, although the leaf show is probably not as spectacular here as in Minnesota due to lack of sugar maples. Winters are very mild and some plants (eg, pansies) will thrive and bloom from fall through spring.

In the Wake Forest area and throughout Wake County, we unfortunately are having a population boom and loss of natural habitat for deer, which can be a serious problem depending on where you live. In my neighborhood in N. Raleigh, deer roam through the yards at night eating just about everything in sight. This has forced a drastic change in my gardening. I used to grow lots of vegetables, pansies in winter, daylilies and hostas - but the deer have changed all of that. I don't grow vegetables at all any more, and have to spray my hostas and daylilies with repellent to keep the deer from eating them to the ground.

Wake Forest is a beautiful community. I still miss it. Tree canopy keeps it cool and green (though, as one previous poster mentions, I have heard that rapid development there is taking down the forest at an alarming rate). There is a garden club and an arbor society in W.F., last I heard, which you can probably get in touch with through Town Hall. Real estate prices have gone high there, but if you can buy closer into the town center near the seminary, elementary school and main street, your quality of life will be better than out in the surrounding burbs where congestion can be a problem. Used to be historic homes for sale there occasionally, though that may no longer be the case with the boom. When I lived there I could grow almost anything provided it didn't compete with tree roots; had camellias, herbs, old roses, and a wonderful bed of snowdrops that came up under the pines in early spring. You should definitely visit if you haven't already done so, and you'll get a flavor for the place.

(P.S. -- DH isn't planning to work at a certain British-based toiletries co., I hope. That's the reason we aren't there anymore...)

Hey Tradewind--
I moved from Northern NY (about 50 miles from Canada) last year and live SW of Wilmington now. Moving from a Zone 3 gardening location to a Zone 8 is very different! I used to have to snowblow twice a day most of the winter, and daytime temps of -30 were normal in January & February. My first winter in NC has seen some temps around 28 degrees overnight, but it warms up nearly every day -- last week it was in the 70s, and only in the 50s at night. I love it, and know you will, too!

Can any of you avid gardeners tell me the name of the evergreen shrubs surrounding the entire parking lot of SuperTarget in Wake Forest? I think they are some sort of Juniper- but no one seems to know. I love them and would like to get a few for my yard, but I can't find them anywhere. I know they're not Sargaent Juniper. I bought 6 of them only to find out later that they're not it. Please help. Thank you.

The Nature garden is looking very cute trail approximately one mile long. Surface of woodland trail is chipped wood. We can easy for walking. No bikes allowed. Not appropriate for wheelchairs. They are difficult for wheelchairs use for move one place to another place.
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williamrichard

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