Thanks for the comments. Here are a few more pics! My sago palm is in a corner. I guess thats my plant hospital-no one can see it-but I can easily care for it. Windmill palm planted this year is looking good in shade. I think its on its 3rd frond . Next is a pic of my sabal domingensis, also newly planted this spring. Its pushed 1 and a half fronds this year. Not bad considering its in a pretty good amount of shade and still a pretty young palm. Also new for this year is my european fan palm. It has a pup on the side of it which is about to open its first frond. Sabal minor in its second year and growing very fast considering its a sabal minor! Its already pushed out a full frond and the second frond is unfolding. I wouldnt be surprised to get 3 fronds by the end of the summer. My sabal minors 'trunk'. It looks like it is actually growing above the ground, but maybe its planted too shallow. I think Ill have to add a little mulch in the fall since the roots are pretty exposed, but I think they have always been exposed. Do you think it should have some more soil on the top? NEW VOCAB WORD FOR ME! This is the 'hastula' of my Sabal domingensis. Apparently its where the petiole meets the base of the leaflets. On palmetto shaped fans its more spearlike. Im pretty sure sabal domingensis is a palmetto shaped leaf and heres a pic of the 'hastula' on it. And here is the 'hastula' on my sabal minor. So Im going to guess the longer the hastula is, the more coastapalmate (that palmetto shaped leaf) the frond is. I guess its a pretty good way to determine if a sabal minor is a minor or a palmetto at a young age. You learn a new thing every day! My new and first crape myrtle which is a crape myrtle zuni. They are starting to become pretty common in the area (maybe almost as common as southern magnolias). They are all in bloom now, but mine looks like it has about a week before the first blooms open. Heres my parlor palm and stromanthe in the shade doing well. They made it through 4 days of 100 degree weather in the shade with no leaf burn. I was very impressed. I have a peace lily in even more shade further to the back and it also had no leaf burn from the recent heat. Heres my tree fern which is growing at a pretty good speed. wsg89, Gardening can be very frustrating at times, and relaxing at others, but in the end its a great hobby. I think we have all lost a few plants. This year (from spring to now) I lost a bismarkia (I guess it didnt like the indoor atmosphere), musella (it just didnt like being shipped), one hibiscus, and definitely a few other plants also. Its disappointing to see plants die, but we learn from our mistakes and I definitely buy more than I lose! Greg, Thats definitely one of the reasons to by at a nursury. And you know the quality of fruit will be good on a grafted plant since it will fruit just like its mother. You just have to know which plants you have to buy grafted and which can be easily grown from seed. Laura, Thanks for the compliment. You have a beautiful yard also! I love those huge sabal palmettos and healthy pindo palms! Thanks for looking! Enjoy! -Alex

Some great information on this thread. I am in the SF Bay Area, USDA zone 10a (according to the maps) or Sunset zone 16. Recently I've become interested in tropical and subtropical plants, and which species I might be able to grow in my yard. I do have some questions about the USDA zones though, I know they go by average low temperatures instead of extreme lows, so by that definition my zone should be 11, not 10a, because all the climate information I can find says that the lowest average temperature here is 40 degrees (December 28th through January 1st are statistically the coldest days of the year). Yet zone 10a is for average low temperatures between 30-35 degrees - which zone am I in? Temperatures in the mid- to upper-30s aren't uncommon at all here in the winter when cooler systems pass through, but drops into the 20s happen maybe 1-3 times a year. The lowest temperature I have recorded at my house is 27 degrees, and we have had snow once (about an inch or less) on one occasion in the past decade, that was sort of a freak incident. This is all pretty typical for Sunset zone 16, which I feel is a much better description of my area than USDA zone 10a. Using the Sunset zones is difficult though, because none of the nurseries here use them, and because they mainly describe where a plant grows best, not where it just grows. So now I'm left wondering what I can get away with in my area... As mentioned above, mature Strelitzia reginae is not an uncommon sight here in the Bay Area. Maybe it's not as common as in LA, but it's definitely here. I actually just planted one in my yard today, and I'm anxious to see how it does. I fully expect it to get a bit of frost damage in the winter, but that doesn't bother me at all as long as the plant itself lives. I was also considering putting a Dwarf Cavendish Banana in the same spot, but decided against it because they are apparently not as cold hardy, and that particular location can get a bit windy. I am interested in planting more subtropicals/hardy tropicals in my yard if I can. I know there are some particularly cold hardy bananas, so I'm going to look into those. Has anyone had success growing Passionfruit in the Bay Area? I love vines and particularly the flowers of Passiflora. I am also considering putting a Pineapple Guava if I can find a good place, since it would be nice to have something that bears fruit (I have a couple nectarine trees, but none of their fruits mature because of peach leaf curl that I can't get rid of).

Goodmorning Everybody ! :) I heard from my swappers last night...:))) Mariann I have a couple of surprizes for you...We love putting surprizes in our boxes Regina started it.. Chell you are so creative and your writing is so much fun to read... I bet the boys loved playing pirate.. I can see their smiling faces now...What a great idea to make a hideout.. They will always remeber their hideout mom made for them... Norma I havent traded with you but I am sure you went way above in sending her nice cuttings..I seen pics of what you send...They are awesome boxes..:)) Please dont be sad..:)) Regina howdy :) I am so sorry about Mark having to have surgery and the heart condition would just send me into heaven.. Wow I am so glad to read it all went well...Shooo My heart sank for a minute...He will be all healed for college this fall..:)) You empty nester dont go through what I went through...Stay busy and call them alot... I miss my kids so much it hurts sometimes... Dogs are okay but they cant replace our true babies...I love reading about chell and her boys... It makes me smile so much... Frances lol You poor gardener..ahhah You need a break from mother nature..Really..:)) Oh big snakes yucky... I would be screaming... I love chippies...They are so cute...Havent had many around with a cat now...Kiki has brought home two gardener snakes...He was very proud of himself... Yesterday I was getting ready to go out and play in the dirt...The crows or blackbirds were screaming...It just like a scene in the movie the "birds"... It creeped me out really bad...I couldnt see what they were yelling at.. I watched tv...Than got bored and went coleus shopping..lol The master gardener sale for the next county over is tommorow... I cant wait to see what they are going to be offering..I have never been to this one...Oh I almost forgot..I heard from the master gardener I met...Looks like we are building another gh..lol She wants to do it closer to fall since everyone is busy with their gardens...I am glad we could help her..They are a pain to build.. well I gabbed enough lol must be the strong coffee and I got a lot of sleep...:)) Have a good day everybody..Barb

pkponder Maybe mine are too deep in the water. The rhizomes are about 4-6 inches below the surface. It's mainly just the tips, about 2 inches, of the leaves that turn brown, like all of them. It's on a cinderblock already, but maybe I need to put something else under it to raise it up a bit more. Can't hurt to try. One more question, whats a good media to use for repoting pond plants? I know both of mine came with the "sludge" type stuff in the pots but I don't recall seeing that type for sale anywhere. Any places around Ft. Worth that sell it? Or just the technical name of it so I can google around. Or maybe there's something better to use? Thanks again, Phil