Leave them happily where they are right now.Start brand new.you could possibly loose them by moving them.As you said they are happy now..good luck with your move...

You would definitely have to haul the lemon inside. I have an olive outside planted next to the concrete house wall on the south side and it made it through the winter but it is Arbequina and more adapted for the north than most olives, I think. I have a kumquat I haul in and out but I don't take good enough care of it and only had fruit one year, though some people succeed well with them. The Japanese maples would do great. And it's not as cloudy foggy and chilly as you may think. Last year we had a couple of short scorchers where it got to 100* F in Camas and Washougal. You won't miss all the traffic and smog. We have the same dry summers you are used to, though. The winters seem long at first but I got used to doing a lot of other things indoors like knitting, sewing, remodeling. And the winters are mostly mild, sometimes there is snow or an ice storm but some winters there is none. I have seen temps down to 6-10* a few winters, though.

I have a meyer lemon that stays outdoors about 5 months a year. Some years it looks really bad by this time of year but once it gets outside it starts to thrive again. I don't have a window where it gets as much sunlight as it wants in the winter. Well, maybe it is not the window but the lack of sun outside the window. So if you can't part with it bring it up and plan to keep it indoors during the winter. I have a fairly small one and get about 10 limes a year even under not so great conditions.

Hi megwalsh!
I'm from the East Bay. The weather's not as bad as you think. There is a lot more gray days here than in the Bay. Not as much sun. Not as much smog and WAY less traffic! Welcome to Washington! Good luck with your move! (I left behind an avocado, orange, and lime tree.) The limes were sooooo good too! Especially with ice cold Tecates.

Thanks everyone for your input...and crossed fingers for the move! I have decided to leave the olive and lemon here...they'll do good with Julie, and I want to focus on all the things that look sorta MEH in CA that probably LOVE it there (peonies, violets, lilacs, MOSS!). I would love to find out from you all what you love to grow... I can't wait to get up there... I'm not originally a cali girl, so I'm looking forward to snow and seasons and weather and sanity again *yay!*

How about giant English Delphiniums with 6' tall spikes of solid color, or massive evergreens in every size & shape that keep your garden beautiful & vivid all year long, or tree peonies covered in 10-12" dinner plate sized fragrant blooms, or a camellia bush with hot pink double blooms in mid winter, or....?
This is gardener's paradise. Welcome.
- Tom

I've had a Meyer Lemon for the few years I've been in this climate and it seems to be doing quite well summering on the front porch that is open and wintering in the glassed unheated back porch. No scale so far and plenty of lemons, and it can stay out front longer than if it's unsheltered, missing the light frosts and coming in when it gets down to the twenties for the rest of the winter. I'm going to get on of those dollies for large pots so I don't fry my back moving it.