Hey, I think this might have been brought up before, but I’m not sure.
I’ve been here for two years now, and I still don’t know really what grows well here. I have a back yard in terrible shape and I want to make a nice garden.
Can anyone give me a link to a site that features gardening in our climate? Maybe a blog or something?
Or maybe just give me some tips and ideas here?
Thanks.
I am a beginner also, so I am glad you asked! I tried sunflowers last year, started them in the house till they were about 6" then planted them. Man they were huge! Just have to make sure they are planted in an area that gets lots of sun. Other then that… I would welcome some tips too!
Cheers
The key here is to find things that grow well here and also don’t appeal to the deer. I’ve had success with rhubarb, snow-in-summer, lupines, sweet peas, alchemilla mollis (or Lady’s Mantle), bamboo, hops, pansies, ferns, irises, catoneaster, pyrus japonica . . . I could go on. Sorry I don’t know the common names of some of the plants but google them and you’ll see. Maybe I should write that blog. 
Oh, and lots of herbs grow well too! Mint, rosemary, lemonbalm, thyme . . .
Potatoes do well here too. I’ve been growing zucchini with good success and Kale grows well in this climate, although you’ll have to protect that from the deer. Just the kale, the deer don’t eat the potatoes or zucchini.
Thanks for your input guys. I appreciate it.
I had wonderful success with my herb garden when we lived up there and my husband grew everything from variegated kiwi vine to nicotina annuals when he was setting up our yard.I think the only veggies that were too tough to grow up there were ones like corn, which you might be lucky with if it’s in a very sheltered and south facing location. I also had amazing sweet peas, nothing better for color and scent though our tree peonys were pretty spectacular as well. I recall that my boss always used a greenhouse for his big tomatoes but I had good results with containers of cherry tomatoes up against our house.
Have fun planting, everything down here is pretty much out and the green thumbs are getting a good workout-the magnolias and camellias are giving us lots of color!
Princess, you’ve been at the bottom of the hill I live on. The tree in the yard on the site closest to the stop sign, is a cherry tree, and if it’s a hot year, the cherrys will grow and ripen. My friends mom also has a plum tree in her front yard.
Thanks for your input guys. I went out and bought a few things to plant, and have started some plants indoors for now.
I want to build a veggie garden, and I realized that I don’t know if the soil here is good enough to just grow in, or if I have to add anything to it, or just go out and get a bunch of top soil, or what… The soil in Nanaimo was generally fine to just dig up and throw stuff into, but the soil here is obviously different (squishier 
) Any input?
You’ll want to protect many of the veg, herbs and flowers from the deer, as I’m sure you are well aware.
Cold weather crops grow well here, obviously- greens like chard, kale… tomatillos are hardy and fine in cold too and the make really great salsa, beets, peas… there are so many that will do well! You can grow warmer weather crops like tomatoes and basil with a bit of protection like hoop housing.
It’s always worth planting some hummingbird and bee friendly flowers and herbs. Good for your garden and good for the earth.
West Coast Seeds has a lot of extra gardening information on their site.
westcoastseeds.com/
saltspringseeds.com/
almanac.com/content/frost-chart-canada
You can buy get screened organic top soil in Terrace for 60ish bucks a pick up load full and delivery in a dump truck for larger amounts can be arranged.
638-8323
It’s much more expensive to purchase bags from the local nursery at $6 a bag.
The soil around here is generally acidic, so it’s a good idea to add a bit of lime to it.