I will try to grow just about anything. I have plenty in the ground and way too much in pots that I drag around the yard during the summer and shove into a makeshift greenhouse for the winter. February marks my second year in this new house (which is actually an older house) so a lot of what I have is still too young to fruit. Even things that normally were not my favorite flavor ended up growing on me so now I can't imagine gardening without them (guavas come to mind). I guess the oddest thing in the ground is my Arbequenia Olive which is planted right up against the brick wall of the house and doing just fine. They are rated zone 8 and I am a warm zone 7b. In its entire life (most of which was in a pot) it has only made ONE tiny olive that made it all the way to maturity. I joke that I could have squeezed one drop of oil onto one tiny crouton with that crop. This year's lack of winter is making what looks like bumper crop of Loquats - we'll see. They don't ripen til April. I have the best luck with the small pomegranate sold by Plant Delights as 'State Fair'. It is a small bush with half sized fruits that are more brown than red but the flavor is great and the bush is very very very prolific. It pretty much blooms from early spring til December and sets more fruit than you can pick. It even self sows, the ground under it is covered with babies. I have good luck (sort of) with the bush cherry series: Jan, Joel, and Joy. The bushes are way cute when in bloom but they do catch every plum disease out there and the fruit is often disfigured. But right about when you think they should be starting to rot is when they finally taste like regular cherries - otherwise they taste more like wild plums. Some people don't like the flavor of Goumi's but I flat out love them and plan on growing an entire row of them this year. Sweet Scarlet is very prolific but Red Gem has better flavor (with only a fifth of the fruit). They taste kinda like a cranberry and more berry like than their cousin Autumn Olive which is highly invasive. Years ago I stumbled upon a very tasty form of native passionvine. I have allowed it to escape into my yard and so far it has behaved. The fruit is nasty looking but tastes like Hawai'i to me. It makes a great smoothie mixed with orange juice and guava. I have European pears which do fine but lack any great flavor. I have two Asian Pears but only one of them has produced so far and the raccoons got all the fruit. I have apples which do ok - I haven't sprayed in the past and the fruit really suffered. I have peaches but they didn't care for the high heat and drought of the past two summers. I have no problem growing raspberries and blackberries and elderberries. I am growing but so far have not gotten any fruit from: fuzzy kiwi, hardy kiwi, pawpaw, wineberry, pineapple guava, service berry, cornelian cherry, shippova, quince, che, medlar, mulberry. I've already ordered sea buckthorn, aronia and honeyberry to plant this year (they should show up in early April). The greenhouse is full but worth all the hassles to keep it warm - guavas all fall and citrus all winter - yum.

Joe, I live in the Myrtle Beach area also (Murrells Inlet). I have been growing different types of palms from seed for a while now. The trouble with palms are that the fast growing ones are not native to this area thus they have many problems such as cold in winter months, too humid in summer months. I would still recommend the washingtonia robusta (mexican fan palm), or the washingtonia filifera (california fan palm) they are the 2 fastest growing palms for this area with the robusta being the fastest. However the robusta is more sensitive to the cold so you must be prepared to protect it, especially while it is young, (would make a nice container palm for a couple of years). Now the filifera is more cold tolerant than the robusta but you need to remember it grows in a dry arid climate so it struggles with funggal attacks while it is young in our hot humid climate we have. The filifera grows somewhat slower than the robusta and you will still need to offer some protection while it is young from both cold and humidity. Pindo's grow slow but will not be hurt by our cold and after some time they can get to 20' tall. Sabal's are easy to grow from seed as well but will take some time to look like a palm. I am not an expert just some stuff that I have picked up from this board, I hope it helps. David Stallard

No, it's not a whack idea at all. I think it depends on the species and its particular natural and evolutionary history. Sea Buckthorn seeds should be specifically adapted to germinating only after being frozen in the fruit, since they are produced late in the growing season, persist on the trees into freezing weather, and therefore must remain viable until spring. Germination definitely cannot take place in the fall, as the soft-tissued seedlings would quickly be killed by the first frosts. So I guess what I'm saying is: give it a try! It might work. By the way, I also love the fruit of some of Elaeagnaceae, such as Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus multiflora), and certain large, red-fruited cultivars of Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia). They're all very high in vitamins. I suppose you can't order any plants from the US, but Miller Nurseries (www.millernurseries.com) sells what they call "Sea Berry" but which is probably the same plant. If they can't ship to you, maybe they could send some dried seeds? Good Luck, Chris

I don't know about Dallas but there are several places in the Houston area that sell natives for reasonable prices. I just purchased a Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum in The Woodlands at Pineywoods Nursery for $6.00 (1 gal. but he has other sizes). Here's Jason's web site: [HYPERLINK@www.thepineywoodsnursery.com] Jason's normally there on Sat. (also Tues & Thurs. I believe) but you might want to call. He has lots of other hard to find native trees and plants and can often get them if he doesn't have them. Arbor Gate in Tomball, TX is another place you can find some natives. Regards! Bill