Changes in latitude, changes in ......

11 years ago

As of yesterday at noon, our ties to the zone 6a Massachusetts garden are severed. DH closed on the sale of the house up there, and we are henceforth zone 9a gardeners.

I truly enjoyed the experience of a four-season garden. I had a chance to grow without limit my nasturtiums, which do not thrive here in south Alabama. And I had a chance to see beautiful hosta in our garden too, for long enough to become addicted to the species with such variety.

My best hope is that DH, who is a veggie gardener, a fruit tree gardener, will also begin to help me with the hosta garden. I might tempt him at first by noting they are edible? Might let him teach me the art of winter sowing? He's done all that for years, so he should be good at it.

Anyway, goodbye to the lovely cozy Cape where I discovered the best part of New England charm.

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Comments (6)

bkay2000
11 years ago
Moccasin, plant your nasturtiums in the early fall in pots. They work here that way.

bk
User
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion, BK.
Will try the seed in late summer then.

I really "blew it out" when I had the chance, a 100 foot wide row draping off the rock wall by the front drive, and lots of other beds in the back garden as well. I discovered such a thing as "black aphids" love nasturtiums, never knew aphids were anything but green, and bunnies lived in the beds, we ate nasturtium blossoms in our salads, it was a time of excess.
Like eating all the ice cream you wanted!
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jan_on zone 5b
11 years ago
What an adventure to learn about gardening all over again in a different climate. I have a friend who has lived in a few quite different areas, and she always made good friends with the guy in the local seed store - got regular tutorials along with her 'pound of beans'. Who knew - amaryllis and poinsettias are landscape plants in Florida!
(And there are acres and acres of yuccas in west Texas.)
Enjoy the ride.
Jan
Jon 6a SE MA
11 years ago
I have no idea why you want to leave God's country.

Jon
Steve Massachusetts
11 years ago

Steve
User
Original Author
11 years ago
JanOn, it was a lot of fun. I met a local nurseryman, Jones Nursery and Farms, turns out his wife is connected to the AHS, but I did not know it when I was buying my staghorn ferns from her, or the big pot of begonia boliviensis, she is just good at growing rather exotic plants. And Mr. Jones said that I used the plants he sold in different ways from the locals.....well, I did not know that, so it was different I guess. Like the way I thought I was redecorating etc the 1948 Cape to look more New England, yet everyone who came in looked around and said, "How charming and SOUTHERN it is!" Well, there is not much difference between a NE Cape Cod house, and a Louisiana Creole cottage, except the Creole is raised off the ground and usually has no basement, and the Cape just about sits at grade with a deep basement dug into the rock.

It was nice to be able to plant rugosa roses near the street since they can deal with more salt than most shrubbery. And I saw wild turkeys, rabbits, groundhogs, chipmunks (none in Alabama), skunks, coyotes, deer, magpies, and this was where I was surprised at the presence of wild woodland areas in the midst of an area colonized in the earliest days of our American history.

Just because we are no longer residents, does not keep us from coming back to enjoy it as informed tourists. :)