Glenn answers:

I live in southern california and i’ve had pepper plants keep up and producing for over a year. Now most of my bulbs – tulips ect do not survive unless I dig them up and store in the fridge. Whereas when i lived up north I could leave them in the ground. So it’s just a trade off.

My herbs survive year round too and stay green and producing.

We’ll see this year on crock neck squash.

Glenn answers:

No..it happened at a holding facility or something that had to do with thte transportation to the stores…your garden is fine.

Glenn answers:

Improve your soil. Good soil is the foundation of any good garden.

If you have no previous experience, start small. Plant a few things you like, gain experience, add a few plants each year.

Expect a few failures. We often learn more about gardening through the plants we kill than the plants that do well in spite of us.

Use your county extension or local garden center professionals. Take in samples of plants that are having trouble – pick their brains.

Get to know your gardening neighbors. They are also a wealth of knowledge – they can tell you what does and doesn’t do well in your area, and are often happy to share starts of their plants with you.

Glenn answers:

Many of the plants that we treat as annuals — like tomatoes– are really perennials. In places like Southern California, you can have tomatoes year round on the same plant.

Even though daytime temperatures in So. California may be in the 50s or 60s, nighttime temps will often get down into the 20s. This will kill plants that need a lot of heat for producing fruit (like peppers).

Some plants are influenced by the changing amount of light/dark as the days grow shorter and the nights longer.

Good Luck!!

Glenn answers:

Hi – I live in So Cal too, and I’m a gardener and a florist. Almost anything is good right now to plant. We are so blessed to have an environment that almost anything will grow.

If your looking for an English garden look, I went with
Hydrangea (potted) – water a lot
Lavender (potted) – can handle dry soil
Snap dragons (in a packet) – can handle being on the dry side
Iris’ (bulb) – likes moist soil
Crocus and freesia (funny sorta bulb) moist soil needed
Zinnia’s (seeds) – LOVES Miracle Grow!!!! Gets huge on this stuff!!! And when the flower dies, take the head and smush it in your hand and you’ll see seeds so plant them also.

Just about anything will love our weather right now, even suculant they like to be on the dry side.

I think things that are already mature are easier to manage than seeds, I haven’t had a lot of luck with them except with zinnia seeds.

When I started really educating myself, I went to Rogers Gardens in Corona Del Mar for classes on gardening. Also Armstrong’s will educate you really well. I went last week, and told them an area I wanted to plant something funky, how much sun it would get, that I didn’t have a lot of time to water, and WOW they totally helped me out. I mean I know a lot but I wanted something unique in this one place in my garden.

One thing I know about gardening is water, water water. Hope I helped a bit. God Bless

Glenn answers:

I’m in S. Cal. Myself. This Fall/Winter I’ll be growing peas, carrots, winter radishes, lettuce, fava beans. I’m in a coastal area and rarely see a frost. If you are inland you may have to go fallow for a month or so during February.