When I moved to Portland, I knew that plants grew really well here. What I didn’t understand was why. Having lived all my life in the South and Southeast, I had no idea what I could grow in my new Pacific Northwest home. I needed answers to questions like: Why do cherry trees grow so well here? Can I really grow fuchsias year-round? Is March too early to plant radishes?
The Sunset Western Garden Book is a must-have for gardeners from Arizona to Alaska.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
This vital reference book points out that Japanese flowering cherries grow well in the Pacific Northwest.
Photo Credit: Lane Greer
Being a firm believer in self-education, I hoofed it down to Powell’s City of Books. There were, of course, lots of references for Northwest native plants. Great, but not what I needed. There were lots of books on different plant types, like shrubs, trees and perennials. Fabulous! But not what I needed, either. Then, from across a crowded room, I spotted the essential reference for Western newbies like me – the Sunset Western Garden Book (Sunset Books Inc.).
What makes SWGB so valuable? First and foremost, it covers climate zones much more thoroughly than the USDA Hardiness Zone Map. For instance, there are 32 climate zones in the West (including Alaska and Hawaii), while there are only 11 USDA Hardiness Zones for the entire country! Why so many? The Sunset climate zones take into account the conditions that contribute to microclimates, such as elevation, land formations (valleys and mountains), wind direction and speed, cloud cover, the effect of the Pacific Ocean, night temperature and humidity.
Here’s an example of how different Sunset climate zones are from USDA Hardiness Zones: I have a friend who lives in Brookings, OR, which is a few miles north of the California border. He grows the most amazing hydrangeas I’ve ever seen, with huge flowers and deep, vibrant colors. Brookings is in USDA Hardiness Zone 9, just like central Florida. But Brookings is in Sunset Zone 17, a narrow strip that extends from southern Oregon to central California, and reaches inland from the Pacific Ocean about 5 miles. Talk about a microclimate! Sunset Zone 17 has “mild, wet, almost frostless winters [well, that’s like central Florida] and cool summers with frequent fog or wind [and that’s very unlike central Florida].” And hydrangeas loooove that “frequent fog.”
The SWGB also covers everything, from trees to perennials to veggies. The “Guide to Plant Selection” in the book’s first section has extensive lists: plants with showy flowers and fruits, fragrant flowers, colored foliage, hedge and screen plants, ferns, native plants, plants for hanging baskets, tropical-looking plants, trees and shrubs for containers, plants for wet or dry soils, plants for windy areas, plants for coastal areas and even plants for growing beneath oaks. And the gardening guide in the back has lots of practical, helpful information on things like composting, fertilizers and pruning.
And perhaps the best part of all is that unlike many reference books, the SWGB is inexpensive. But even if it did cost a lot, you’d use it often enough to recoup your investment quickly. Trust me: If this bounty of information was able to help answer all of this Northwest newbie’s questions, it can answer yours, too.
