The Coastal Gardener:

Eighty years ago Dorothy opened her door and walked outside and into a garden. Surprised (the garden she saw was completely new to her), she proclaimed to her dog Toto, “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.” Everything was different: new plants, varied flowers and a strange climate, and she declared, “We must be over the rainbow!”

As a Southern California gardener, that’s how you might feel. You’re not in Kansas, New York or Illinois. You garden in a unique area, different from anywhere else in the country.

“Fall is spring” here. Don’t turn the page; this isn’t a misprint.

Those three words form much of the foundation of a successful and sustainable gardening experience in Southern California.

Forget the calendar and what you might have gleaned from seed packets and television shows. From a plant’s point of view there are really only two seasons; a cool season and a warm season. One season is for growing and one is for resting.

Generally speaking, Southern California’s cool season begins about now and wraps up sometime in April or May. Our warm season occupies the rest of the year, about April or May through early fall.

In Mediterranean climate regions, like ours, it is the cool season when plants are happiest. To understand coastal Southern California gardening, consider the plant’s perspective.

In Kansas, winter is a time when plants rest. Because plants are resting in the cool season, gardening in these parts of the country is a warm-season activity.

But over-the-rainbow, here in mild Southern California, it is the cool season that is the growing time. Unlike Kansas, here it is during the hot, dry, warm season that plants rest.

For us, “fall is spring,” but that can be hard to comprehend or accept if you grew up in Kansas, or just about anywhere else.

Most gardeners can grasp the idea of a plant having a growing season and a resting season. But where Southern California gardeners sometimes get confused is by assuming the warm season is for growing and the cool season is for resting.

As evidence, visit a garden in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Dallas, Seattle or Kansas City in the cool season. The gardens there are asleep; so are the vacant lots, the forests, the hillsides and the native plants. In those climates, April and May is the time when plants are waking up, flowers are budding, trees are growing and gardeners are furiously planting. In those places, where a huge majority of the nation’s gardeners live, “spring is spring.”

So it’s understandable that casual Southern California gardeners have such a difficult time grasping the idea that here, “fall is spring.”

It makes perfect sense. During Southern California’s warm season, vacant lots dry up, hillsides sleep, wildflowers disappear, native shrubs hibernate and plant life eases, in a long wait for fall rains and cooler weather.

Gardening in conflict with our natural cycles can be frustrating and exhausting. But appreciating and accepting where we garden and our seasons can be a relaxing and rewarding experience, with results beyond one’s expectations.

In coastal Southern California most plants, when planted now, root furiously, with rainfall supplying most of their water needs. By the time our warm, dry summer arrives, these shrubs, trees, vines and perennials are already well established.

But there is an important exception to our local “fall is spring” scheme, and it centers on tropical plants.

Bananas, plumerias, elephant ears, avocados and other exotic plants from warm tropical climates are on a different cycle.

Tropical plants are not accustomed to much seasonal change in temperature or rainfall and actually prefer the warm season, as long as the gardener supplies them with plenty of water during our long, dry summers.

So, here in Oz, this is spring and the season isn’t over — it’s just beginning. There’s so much to do. If Dorothy were here she would probably be planting her garden this weekend!

Ask Ron

Question: What is the address of the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner office?

Lynn

Santa Ana

Answer: It is 222 E. Bristol Lane, Orange, CA 92865. Office hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information, call (714) 955-0100.

ASK RON your toughest gardening questions, and the expert nursery staff at Roger’s Gardens will come up with an answer. Please include your name, phone number and city, and limit queries to 30 words or fewer. E-mail stumpthegardener@rogersgardens.com, or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

RON VANDERHOFF is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens, Corona del Mar.