LlamaLlori said:Funny Sherry, I always think of Santa Cruz as being warmer than AG. Well, I'm way inland. Think micro-mini Sierra Nevada. I'm just behind Lopez Lake. My neighbor, (1/2 mile away as the crow flies) says that the change in temperature when leaving their house to arriving at mine is 20 degrees! Micro-climates, Argh.
'just lucky I guess. 
Ya' know....many people think of California as one big tropical state. They have NO idea of all the microclimates that we have. and sometimes a zone 8 can have snow in Nov, Dec, Jan Feb, Mar and April, though I do not recall having snow in May. Yes, snow off and on and the rain this year has prevented me from doing much gardening activity, so the weeds in the gardens are overwhelming. I don't use any weed-killer, except vinegar for places that have no plants in there, like the gravel driveway. So I do garden by hand. At 75 I am not as fast as I used to be, so it will take me from now until the snow or rain falls in autumn.
Before moving to El Dorado county in 1987, I lived in Topanga, so I know about canyon frosts and cold in spring.
I have ordered climbing Iceberg. Do you have any idea what will be my worst challenge? I also have a white Lady Banks rose, which does grow very well up here, though none in my neighborhood, just lower down in the foothills like Diamond Springs or Placerville. (Right now it is small, as I bought it as a one gallon plant.) I think that once Lady Banks grows up, my biggest challenge will be keeping it cut back, so it doesn't take over.
