I agree that they are beautiful but also a challenge in the average home. I keep mine outside from about early April into the fall (depending on temperatures). This year it was outside well into December (and survived temperatures of about 28 F). Now I have it in a room crowed with palms and other ferns so it is quite humid. I know people will disagree with this--but I keep mine in a saucer which I try to keep filled with water. I disagree about letting them dry out. I have (repeatedly) found out the hard way that they have virtually NO tolerance for even remotely dry conditions. This time mine is surviving and growing!

Flyleft, that was one day, etched into my memory because my pt Dr Ben Vidgoff died that day and my husband and I got really bad pneumonia and almost died too. There was a lot of ice and snow and ferocious winds. Hasn't been like that since but have had 3 weeks of 11 degrees so we do have hard freezes. I've gotten my Eucalypti from Frank the Eucalyptus Man who lives in McMinneville but is back in Cincinnati for an extended stay helping his mom. Frank supplied Eucs to Pistils and Cistus Nurseries and who knows how many others. You could call Pistils and Cistus and see if they still have Eucs. We were super lucky to meet Frank at Cistus and he very kindly came and saw our crazy yard and has been carefully selecting Eucs from his hardy collection that he thinks will survive our conditions. Lynn wants another Camphora ... Frank come home! We have no inches left to plant anything else. Even the creeklets are stuffed with swamp trees. I wish more and more ppl planted Eucs here that could survive the heat of summer and freezes of winter -- have always loved Eucs, need more broadleaved evergreens around here. A lot of the native plants are starting to die because we no longer get enough rain and the summers are too dry and hot. Plus the developers are willy nilly cutting down anything left standing.

Experimentation is fine if it is based on understanding the peculiar aspects of what ever plant we are dealing with. When it comes to Australian native Proteaceae plants there are unique considerations that need to be taken into account. Once we have an understanding of these characteristics then by all means we can take advantage of them. Experimenting blindly is not nearly as constructive. Australian Proteaceae plants are sensitive to Phosphorous to varying degrees. BUT it all makes sense if we are aware of what their original environment was. Proteaceae from the skeletal sandstone soils that have always been very low in nutrients, especially phosphorous, have over thousands of years, developed special adaptions known as proteiod roots. They are noticeably different. (I shall spare you further details about Proteiod roots, but a Google might give you more.) Plants developed these in order to maximise the surface root area so they can absorb the scarce nutrients that may be present in these sandstone derived soils. However in the more nutrient rich rainforest zones it is quite possible that Proteaceae are more tolerant of nutrients and maybe even Phosphorous. I always err on the side of avoiding common fertilisers with high rates of phosphorous. Even chook poo can cause problems, although I do give my rainforest plants a dose of Dynamic Lifter once a year. For example, I find Banksia ericifolia to be very sensitive while some Grevilleas are a bit more tolerant. As for your last remark Nathan I assume it is a joke. Anyone being wrong, should not inferr anyone is not wanted.

Why take the risk? Macbirch, I understand exactly what you're saying. Planting natives does sometimes/often seem like a risk because we just don't have the collective knowledge about natives as we do exotics. About 2 years ago, I wanted to plant a hedge along the boundary between my native garden and my neighbour's property. I really liked the idea of using waratahs, but at that stage I'd never tried to grow one, and, since you don't see them around that much, thought they must be difficult. I decided not to take the risk and planted callistemons instead, at least they where natives. Anyway, I've since had great success growing 2 waratahs (even moved one), so I've decided to take out the callistemons, which aren't getting enough sun anyway, and replace them with waratahs. My point is that if I'd had the confidence in the first place, and got some decent advice from my local nursery, I wouldn't be now, 2 years down the track, going to all the work and expense of replacing the callistemons with what is afterall, a plant indigenous to the Blue Mountains! You'd think there'd be a waratah nursery here wouldn't you? No, I have to drive 40 minutes just to get to a native nusery, and that looks like it could close down any time soon. Waz, young people like you are the key. I hope you never grow exotics, never learn about them or decide you like them. Oh, and I hope you and Artie continue to be outspoken about people like me who grow roses. If I build another house and start a garden from scratch, things will be different.