Hi Gruin..What's the coldest SF gets in winter? How about bromiliad, asparagus fern, bromiald, asparagus fern. Are you looking for annuals, perrenials, or tropicals?
Or Moss rose, hanging peperomia, etc. I wish I lived in your climeate. My imagination would peek to its highest. Toni

Toni, thanks! I'll check these out. The moss roses would be so cool.

To your first question, there are a lot of micro-climates around here. In my location, which is much warmer than SF, we had a freeze once in the last 12 years.

As to my requirements, I'm looking for low maintenance perrenials. Especially in the health department; I went organic a decade ago.

For the big containers, I'm envisioning something that will grow about 10' - maybe some columnar evergreen.

However the demands at work are escalating repaidly, so I will probably have to just hire someone to do this. I'll check back in when it's done.

Is there any way to post a digital image at this site? I see that there is a journal, but that appears to be only for contributions to the database.

Green wishes,

Gruen

I planted a big pot next to my front door, under the porch facing West, with a small cupressus macrocarpa Goldcrest. I wanted an evergreen, but didn´t want to pay a fortune for a picea albertiana without knowing whether this would work out. The Goldcrest, which can be quite tall when planted in the ground, has kept a very mannerly size planted in the pot.

To add some spice to the composition, I have planted around the evergreen:

- For Autumn interest - yellow mums - they are blooming right now, a real show stopper. At other times they stay green
- For Spring interest - yellow daffodils, light yellow and strong pink hyacints - it was such a beautiful show back in the Spring!
- For Summer interest - nasturtiums which I started from seed, plus the mums flower occasionaly
- For Winter interest - small poinsettias in pots, which get tucked in where there is a space. Plus the evergreen can be decorated with bows (I used red ones) and lights at Xmas time

I also used a sheppard´s hook inserted in the pot. In Spring I had a hanging basket with bidens, in Summer I substitute with a wind chime (too hot to keep the basket well watered). At Easter time I had some Easter decorations hanging from there as well. The pot has about 60 cm diameter.

I have found that with one single pot I can have interest all year long and it looks very pretty when seen from the street, plus it didn´t cost me a fortune. Hope this helps.

Eduarda

That's a very imaginative and versatile scheme. The pictures of Monterey Cypress in database are dramatic. That spot in your yard must be an eye-catcher.

To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed by the possibilities. I'm going to have to mull this over for awhile.

gruenwelt don't forget hard scape :) i have read that winter is the time to show off the garden's bones, the stone work walls, blue stone paving, etc, it's the only time of year you can really see and appreciate those things. also it is the time for seeing the structure of plants which have died and gone to plant heaven until spring, the tall feathery spires of ornamental grasses, etc.

Another great suggestion! I love the pictures of Old World gardens with the stonework and masonry and wood features. If the infrastructure of my garden was of that quality, I would show it off, but my property is far more modest than that.

Our climate is a bit unusual here, too. In the SF Bay area, though our winters are rainy and gray, it is also our green season. Though the trees are bare, the hillsides in the country become lush and sensuous green. After the rains stop, there is a short spring, and then the hillsides start turning brown - a condition that last from April to December.

As to my new planter boxes, I created a homepage and put some pictures there if youÂd like to see. When you get there, click on the PICTURES link on the left.

Here is a link that might be useful: my homepage