Now I wanna move!! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Funny, I felt the same way in San Francisco.

a temperate maritime climate courtesy of the gulfstream....but more importantly, over 500 years of fanatic gardening history and global trade in plants and knowledge.

I think you will find as Camps has said the " a temperate maritime climate courtesy of the gulfstream" and the "strange" soil types to my way of thinking.
Regards David.

That's interesting, Cecily. I was just up in San Francisco and thought "My god, I've never seen so many Impatiens in my life." I felt like I saw an Impatiens sodenii on EVERY block. I'm not a big fan of New Guinea Impatiens or Impatiens sodenii, so I really noticed them. I rarely feel like I notice roses in San Fran proper due to the lack of gardening space, but the East Bay has some lovely gardens with roses. I noticed a lot more beautiful Abutilon shrubs in SF than roses in fact, but I could've been in the wrong places.

But as far as England, Campanula would know better than me. Britain certainly strikes me as a more horticulturally inclined nation than the US, particularly regarding ornamental horticulture. I've heard mention of David Austins feeling like the "Knockout" of England. I think a lot more roses would be grown in this country if our "Knockout" looked like any number of DAs.

Jay