I will be moving to the Raleigh area and I would love any advice you can provide on some areas in which to house hunt. I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now. :-) I've lived in a small town in a rural area for the last 20 years and I don't think I could go back to suburban life. I am a little surprised as how build-up the Raleigh area seems to be. My place of employment will be in north Raleigh, just inside the outer traffic belt.

Can you offer any advice on rural rose/tomato-friendly areas to target?

Thanks!

PS: I was very excited to see there is a Raleigh plant swap.

However, speaking of roses; I believe you will find the high humidity in NC to be problematic. Fortunately, lot or property sizes are usually large so that rose spacing can be larger than often used, and may be needed to provide sufficient air circulation.

I don't know if tomato growing is different than in PA, but I came from CA where tomatoes will ripen completely on the vine (waiting politely to be picked as desired), but at least in my hands, I find that they should be picked a day or three early because they begin to rot in the heat as they mature.

If you haven't already been reading about red clay, you will need to be prepared to do dramatic soil amendment. We are talking about at least pick up truck volumes. If you want to maintain that rural vibe, you will be pleased to find farmers (and others) who will be willing to load up your pick up or whatever with manure (or mulch needed for weed control and soil temperature moderation) at minimal cost.

There are small and medium sized towns within an hour of downtown Raleigh, so if you still want that small town feel you can get it easily. Check out Creedmoor for small and if you want something medium sized I would look at Wake Forest (which has a great garden club by the way).

The biggest obstacle to me is the traffic on any of the major roads heading away from downtown or from RTP (west of Raleigh, between Raleigh and Durham). Particularly Capital Blvd, which is also Hwy 1. At first it looks like your basic multi-lane north/south city street. At certain points in the day you can move along at a decent clip but most of the time it is a nightmare to drive on. Many people do everything in their power to avoid it. Northside people seem to deal with it and know its rhythms. If you wanted to live closer to downtown, I have friends that live in North Hills, which is on the northwest side above downtown, above the 440 beltline. I like those neighborhoods and the shopping nearby. You may find all sorts of similar neighborhoods, its the only one I know about.

Raleigh sort of sits on a diagonal dividing line between the Piedmont (clay) and the Coastal Plain (sand). The north side is clay, the south side has more sand. I have been told that those with wells on the south side have better quality water - I have no idea if it is true.

The main problem I had when I moved here was ignoring the trees. If you want to grow tomatoes and roses you will need sun. A lot of the older neighborhoods are pretty shady - newer developments seem to be more open.

I know a good realtor if you need one.

I've always dealt with clay soil for my whole gardening career. Actually I hope it works out that my new garden will also be clay because that at least will be something I DON'T have to learn about, LOL. Not sure if its the same kind of clay, but my best bet in digging a hole is to wait until the fall rains soak the ground and then kind of carve a hole in the clay with my shovel.

You are so right about sunlight.... That's one of my main criteria. And yes, I know how blackspot defoliates the roses. For that reason, and because I mostly garden organically, I will discretely plant the high-fragrance-low-BS-tolerant roses in the back yard.

I have no problem with picking tomatoes a little early and letting them ripen on the counter. The birds here peck holes in any tomatoes that get too red on the vine.

I am thrilled to hear about the garden club. There are several horse owners in my current garden club, and we worked out a happy arrangement whereas I collect composted (not smelly) stable sweepings in the spring, and then distribute bags of tomatoes and other garden produce later in the summer. The composted product is fluffy and light, like forest floor soil.

Speaking of gardening and being outside all the time, I also like to walk. Are some areas safer than others if I want to walk, say, a 3 mile circuit around town?

Thanks again :o)

We also looked in the Clayton area which had some nice established neighborhoods but was more suburbanized. Except for Creedmore, the areas around Raleigh that we saw reminded me of South Jersey: lots of housing developments and no working farms. It was kind of sad to see so many ruined barns from farms that used to be.

I saw more sandy soil than clay.

We saw a lot of houses, but none to fall in love with which is just as well. We have a lot of work to do up here in PA before we can put this place on the market. If we had found the perfect house for us right away, it would have been very stressful to try to figure out how to lock it in when we know we are probably several months away from selling our current house.

We will come back to NC do some more serious house hunting in a few months.

In the meantime, what do I need to know about gardening in the Raleigh area? I heard it's too hot for lilacs, is that correct? What about other flowers like hydrangea, primroses, hellebores, tulips, daffodils, hollyhocks, foxglove, phlox, tree peony, and lavender?

Thanks!

Lilacs like more alkaline soil so if you build a bed just for them and follow some basic feeding rules they will grow and bloom here - but they won't look like the bushes up north. They aren't easy but they are possible.

Lavender only works well for me if I plant it in a raised bed of mounded up soil that is half and half topsoil and gravel. They hate wet feet, mainly in the winter (damp winters are common).

Hollyhocks do fine but Rust is everywhere and tends to wipe them out. There are some pure species ones sold locally that tend to be immune but they only come in a pale yellow color.

Only some of the primrose (Primula) varieties do well. There are a couple of nurseries that offer them so some people do succeed with them, mostly as bog plants.

Everything else on your list does fine here. Most of the common tulips are one year only plants (winters too short and mild), Daffs are easy and do well.

I don't see a lot of tree peonies around but some people do grow them (I have a few). It may just be because they are soooo expensive that they are not common. I don't think the full spectrum of colors do well here.

You should check out: plantdelights.com in south Raleigh, they offer some of the tree peony/garden peony hybrids that do really well in their show gardens. Some day I'll win the lottery and fill my yard with them.

The roses are blooming now and they sure are pretty! Seems every other house has a huge Knockout rose out front.

Regarding plant swaps (from 'where are you'): the 'Raleigh' swap is relaxed, rule wise. You don't have to already have plants to share. They also appreciate food. They would probably like seeds too. Did I mention that they like food?!