Just a follow up on Nick's comments: $7.50 TABLES, not table--quite a few, actually. We're talking dozens of different kinds of plants. And not just common things--many that I at least have never heard of. That's what makes it so great--you can rapidly and cheaply expand your collection beyond the "ordinary" stuff. These are mostly species. They'll even sell you by mail ten or fifty plants (their choice, but tailored towards your growing conditions--I assume there are no repeats. I just checked and it even says they will try to honor your preferences. http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ooddate=2008-07-14 If you're lucky (and it helps if you're there early), you may be able to get something with a couple flowers or that will bloom soon. I bought a $7.50 pseudobulb of Cuitlauzina pendula that immediately put out a spike, before I had a chance to pot it up. Unfortunately, I soon managed to break of the spike! It has since flowered in N. California. Their code for plants that grow outside in much of Southern California is "temperature toleerant", and I *think* they label their $7.50's as such. Certainly they tell you something, or if all else fails you can just ask. Of course there's no guarantee the plant was grown outside--just ask. Last I heard Paul Gripp will tell you that he doesn't work there anymore. He's just a "volunteer", he says. His kids now own the place, I understand. The Trader Joe's plants are dirt cheap, but most of them were grown in greenhouses. However, if you know what you are doing (and many of them are labeled), you can keep them inside until they finish blooming, then put them outside and cross your fingers. At a minimum, you've had the initial blooms, which is what most people pay for. The Cymbidiums, for example, should rebloom. If you're interested in getting started on plants adapted to your climate, I notice that Nick mentions Ansellia. I have an Ansellia that is putting off keikis. I've read that they don't normally do this--undoubtedly it's because the plant needed to be repotted long ago, and possibly also because it just went through a move and its first winter in N. California. The keikis look perfectly healthy, as far as I can tell. Anyway, there are a variety of sizes, and while I'm using a few of the larger ones for trades, I could certainly spare one of the small ones--a freebie. I could simply put it into a padded envelope (with more padding, and pick a fairly flat one while I'm at it...) and hope for the best. This would be a TINY keiki, but with very healthy roots (as big as the plant). I don't think Ansellias are that easy to find. This is Ansellia africana 'Garden Party' HCC/AOS, originally from Cal Orchid. Again, it's tiny, but at least you would know what it is. These eventually make fairly large plants. Let me know if you are interested.

I just moved to Tujunga/Sunland, close to you San Fernando folks. Currently, we have about 2 Japanese sweet potato vines, the tubers should be about ready to harvest. Just planted some mizuna, daikon and napa cabbage, along with other salad greens. In florida, I grew red shiso (perilla), malabar spinach (basella alba) and asian winged bean. The malabar spinach and shiso should do OK in this climate, but not sure about the asian winged bean, as I am up in the foothills and we get frosts up here. Would be happy to trade malabar spinach or winged bean seeds for other asian vegetables. If I get the shiso established, then I can trade those seeds too.

What gets me is so many experts say many of those orchids dont grow in the bay area..and i wasted time believing them until i put them outdoors and they did fine. Stanhopea is one and a beautiful Dendrobium is another, that has lime green glossy and highly segmented plump stems-it looks exotic out of bloom is another thing i like about it.In 2006 it bloomed twice in one year outdoors. Right now a Masdavallia is in bloom,a red-orange type.Laelia's lived years. A Oncidium that is a little on the rare side with a bloom that looks like a wasp to me but is called a butterfly orchid(the name i have someplace!) so far is growing slowly but truly on a piece of tree fern trunk. An Angrecum spends most of the year outdoors-i did bring it in last year in January-back out in late February. The "DARWIN" Orchid. So ,bay areans use that list posted by the SB society as a good guide-those orchids will do far better on your porch or covered patio then indoors. Especially when they are finished blooming and you dont know where to put them in the house.

Promise, I've definitely been watching the specific places where I want to put my plants. Right now, the living room window and garage window are my best bets for south-facing window lighting (as shown in the pictures). After I get that sofa table up, and we get more of our crap unpacked and put away, I want to put something similar in the garage beneath that window; so that'll be a place for my more cold-tolerant plants. My office gets really not a lot of light, so I'm trying out my medium-light plants in there (none of which are succulents). Of the plants I currently have outside, those that will remain out there will go into a little greenhouse setup - nothing big and fancy, as I don't have the room (or the money), just a little something with enough racks for me to comfortably house my little lovelies and protect them from frost. I'm looking for something along these lines: 4-Tier Grow-Rack Mini Greenhouse Of all my potential outdoor location options, by the front door seems to be the best, as it's protected from wind and rain. The walls also tend to retain solar heat, so that'll help keep the plants warmer a bit longer as evening sets in. I'm still trying to get a feel for placement for a few other plants, mostly non-succulent house plants - I have a ginormous peace lily that would love bright sunlight, but wouldn't survive the cold outdoors, and it's not something I can just bring inside in the evening (plant + pot + soil = at least 100#s, if not more). My Dracaena Dragon Tree and Queen Palm are desiring more light than they're presently getting (I don't know who's bright idea it was to get a Queen Palm - those suckers are thirsty buggers, and this is a desert - but I'm doing my best to keep it happy); and I have a ginger that seems to be about ready to give up (even when it's warm enough out to put it outdoors, the air is just too dry here, and the leaves desiccate in a matter of hours). So I'll certainly be making observations for a while yet. I'm just glad we got the unit that we did. Our place is part of a duplex (two separate units in one housing structure), and the adjoining unit doesn't have any south-facing windows. If we'd ended up in that one, I'd have been completely screwed. %P *CG*