By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

I loved Jim's recent post about Kevin and Marty Hauser's quest for better apples for mild climates, which lead to their backyard business, Kuffel Creek Apple Nursery.  It is thrilling to know I may have more choices in my mild beach climate than `Anna' -- a reliable but pretty dull apple, I've always thought.  Below are the three from Kuffel Creek I find most intriguing -- that's `Enterprise' on the left; `Williams Pride' in the middle; and `Terry Winter' on the right. 

Anyone tried any of these yet in Sunset zone 24?

Surfing garden blogs, I see that many home gardeners are stretching the boundaries re apple varieties.  Tom at Tall Clover Farm on Vashon Island in Washington, for instance, is growing `Espopus Spitzenberg', said to be Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple, and `Belle de Boshoop', which, as he says, is almost worth growing for the name alone.

And, if I'm not mistaken, the apples his bulldogs Boz and Gracie are eyeing in the photo below are `Bradley's Seedling.'   Read Tom's post to see what he has to say about how all these varieties and more are doing in his climate.

By Jim McCausland, Sunset Magazine

Ask any group of gardeners which six plants they can’t live without, and every person will doubtless give you a different list. But taken together, such lists should be very interesting. That’s why eleven garden bloggers who live from coast to coast will tackle the same subject next week: which six plants can’t I live without? We don’t know what the other bloggers are posting, and they won’t know what we’re posting until the blogs go live.

Sometime this weekend we encourage you to have a look at the other blogs, all listed below. Then look again Monday, after you check out our choices, of course. Because Sharon Cohoon and I coauthor FreshDirt, we’re posting on different days. Scheduling needs dictate that I post Monday, my usual day off, and Sharon posts her list Tuesday.

And start working out your own lists. Let us know what you love, and we’ll post some of the best of them in the weeks to come.

That's Arisaema sikokianum pictured at right, by the way. It certainly has one of the world's most stunning flowers. But would we live without it? Find out next week.

Defining Your Home Garden by Freda Cameron in Chapel Hill, NC

Digging by Pam Penick in Austin, TX

Diggin' It by Judy Lowe, Boston, MA

Fairegarden by Frances in TN

FreshDirt by Sharon Cohoon in Southern CA and Jim McCausland, near Seattle, WA

Gardening With Confidence by Helen Yoest in Raleigh, NC

Hoe & Shovel by Meems in central FL

Jim Long’s Garden by Jim Long in Blue Eye, MO

Sweet Home and Garden by Carolyn Choi in Chicago, IL

The Grumpy Gardener by Steve Bender in Hoover, AL