I SOMETIMES wish I was back in southwestern BC as well. I love the idea of having milder winters that are fairly safe for all the plants I'd like to grow easily.
But then, when I think about it.... I sure did miss the tomatoes that can't be easily grown there. Sure you can grow them there... under canopies and glass. The rain and cooler nights played havok with my tomatoes while I lived there. I can now enjoy a beautiful Beefsteak tomato again!
Something I missed dearly while I lived there. Also another thing I surely don't miss, is all the slugs that came with that moist rainforest environment! But I sure do miss the different shades of healthy green! As well as the beautiful rocks!
Now if only southern ontario could have a rainfall once or twice a week... I think I'd be in heaven. (So far I'm in heaven with the rain we've gotten lately)
I'll keep praying for weekly rain.... seems to be working :)

I don't know what the zone is but it is in Maui. I've got to make a fortune somehow so I can retire and garden (while sipping mai tais) there.

Whatever the zone is at the tip of Vancouver Island, that's where I wanna go when I die---reincarnate, I mean.

I would like to garden somewhere with summers that are never too hot to go outside, but with enough heat for tomatoes and crape myrtles to thrive. Somewhere with mild winters that are cold enough to kill mosquitoes. Mostly, I would like to live in a zone that provides whatever meterological and geological conditions are necessary to yield moist, well-drained soil.

Or if that isn't possible, I'm pretty happy where I am.

Bruce Ian

Well, Bruce, you just took the words right out of my mouse/mouth. I live smack dab in the middle of 5, but I wish I lived in 6+. Far enough north to have 4 seasons, but far enough south to have MUCH longer springs, summers, and falls.

Winter is OK in very small doses.

Kauai would work...so would the Olympic Peninsula (Hoh rain forest)...*sigh*....wish we'd get some rain or humidity or ANYTHING but this drought...

Really big plants, like banana and coconut palms are not possible in my small house, but since I can bring just about anything else inside for the winter (and I had over 100 pots inside this past winter,) I'd have to say I'm very happy here at the northern edge of zone 6. I would desperately miss the distinctly different seasons if I went to a much warmer place, and our winters are cold enough for me. Most people who know me would probably say I go a little overboard with gardening, so if the weather didn't force me to take a break, the other parts of my life would be even more neglected. Also, it's depressing to read about southern gardens going dormant from the heat of summer. That doesn't sound like fun to me, but more like an unpleasant "5th season."

I like living in the Sacramento valley of california until the summer, when it's 90-105 daily from June to October. Then I wish I lived in the Willamette valley in Oregon. Of course, if I lived in Oregon, I would dream of California from the first rain in October til the last rain in May. I HAVE thought about a summer home in Eugene, but it's an eight hour drive, so it's not really practical.

I'd say Key West .. zone 11. Never below 40 and not usually much over 90... perfectly warm

I am already where I want to be. *Happy in Zone 9*.

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