Back from the show! We had a FABULOUS time, of course! No drizzle for the show~only during my dog walk earlier. Greg did not find me, so not sure what happened. I saw CactusJordi (& bought plants from him), said "Hi!" (only) to Kelly Griffin, as he was talking with someone. Bought LOTS of cart-jumpers (left a few for others), pottery & a book! My neighbor/friend got 7 plants & a couple books (one-just because my name is mentioned it it-ha!). I'm processing several hundred pix. At least most of them came out this time. =D Back with a new post ASAP.

I second the Muir Woods suggestion; it's relatively close to SF and there are finally some decent places to eat in Larkspur, Tiburon and San Rafael. If you must eat Chinese food in SF, you are better off eating in the Richmond or Sunset neighborhoods, where enormous #s of Asians live (we did, for 17 yrs before moving across to the East Bay). For dim sum, Koi Palace in Daly City or Hong Kong Flower Lounge in San Mateo are cheaper and almost as good as the iconic Yank Sing, which has two locations, both OUTSIDE Chinatown: 101 Spear St. (Embarcadero) and 49 Stevenson (alley in the Financial District). Whatever you do or wherever you stay, try NOT to drive downtown! Take public transit instead. Parking is impossibly difficult; meters are now graduated rates according to time of day and accessibility. San Francisco is the pilot program for the Dept. of Transportation's new program to discourage urban drivers. Meter rates can vary from 50 cents to as high as $10/hr for the same parking space, depending on computerized availability during day and evening. Frankly, the best food in SF can be found in the smaller new bistros, such as Rich Table, State Bird Provisions, Quince/Cotogna, Benu, etc. Although if I were dining with an out-of-town foodie, I would pick Aziza, whose fusion cuisine has wandered far from its original Moroccan roots without disdaining them. Mourad Lahlou and his pastry chef Melissa Chou are both utterly brilliant, creative, and inspired. No other restaurant in Northern CA does the kind of cuisine Lahlou does. It is literally one-of-a-kind" -- never less than very good, and much of it 5-star greatness. Monterey/Carmel is a great area but there are not a lot of big public gardens. Carmel-by-the-sea has lovely courtyard gardens of beautiful container plantings hidden between buildings - check out the back courtyard of Anton & Michel's restaurant (but don't eat there, it's awful) for one of the prettiest, complete with splashing pool. Starting May 1st (tourist season officially begins) is the small-scale Secret Gardens of Old Monterey, which I linked below. Do try to reserve a tour at Tor House in Carmel, too - the little English garden is quite pretty, the setting absolutely superb, looking out over the Pacific. Website is http://www.torhouse.org/. Most people do the 17 mile drive, but don't realize that there's a coastal trail you can walk (weekdays are much less crowded than weekends!) leading to and from Asilomar State Beach, in Pacific Grove. You can actually start at the Monterey Bay Aquarium but I always find it very crowded with both tourists and locals. Almost everybody drops away after Lover's Point, where it's a level stretch to Asilomar Beach, walking along the Pacific's edge - absolutely gorgeous on a nice day! Here is a link that might be useful: May 1st: Secret Gardens of Monterey

Joakim, When you say "bay area", it isn't altogether clear whether you are referring still to San Diego, or will also be visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, or the Monterey Bay Area, which are both rich in plant places to visit. If you are coming to the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to visit San Francisco's Botanic Garden which is in Golden Gate Park. You should also try to visit the Berkeley Botanic Garden at UC Berkeley, up in the hills above town. They have a nursery at the entrance where you can buy rare plants. Also in Berkeley/Oakland, there is The Dry Garden Nursery on Shattuck Ave, right on the Berkeley/Oakland border, which will have lots of unusual plants, but no daylilies. There are several large daylily growers in San Diego County, and if Buena Creek Gardens Nursery is still open, (I heard rumors they are closing?), this is located in north San Diego County in the town of San Marcos. If Tom Piergrossi's nursery is also still open in November, (can any local San Diegans tell us more?), he has been having a going out of business sale and is also located in north county San Diego. The Santa Cruz Botanic Garden at UC Santa Cruz is also well worth a visit, and is likely to have lots of Australian and South African Proteas, Leucospermums, Leucadendrons, Grevilleas, Hakeas, Callistemons, etc in bloom in November, and will show you lots of possibilities to grow in Portugal, but availability of these types of plants is much more limited over there. If you are also interested in seeds, these may also be an option at any of the botanic gardens, as well you should look up www.seedhunt.com for seed of lots of mediterranean/South African/Californian plants. One last nursery if you are down in the Santa Cruz/Watsonville/Monterey area is Sierra Azul Nursery in Watsonville. They have a great range of less common plants, and would also be likely to stock many of the things you may see at UC Santa Cruz Botanic Garden. If you would like to specifically see our California natives in a garden setting, then also include the native section at UC Berkeley, and the nearby Tilden Park Botanic Garden. If you will be in the Santa Barbara area at all, there is also the great Santa Barbara Botanic Garden which is located up in the hills behind the mission. November is still a little early for most California natives to be blooming, but some of the stars this season would include the early blooming Ribes sanguineum, and the beautiful berries on our California Toyon. A few of the earliest blooming Manzanitas and Ceanothus shrubs are also just starting. If your visit coincides with the Ruth Bancroft Garden being open, it is also well worth a visit to Walnut Creek to see this garden. Their winter hours are abit more restricted, but you can visit their web site to see when they're open. A trip out to Point Reyes National Seashore would also bring the possibilities of seeing some early coastal California wildflowers, or a hike ontop of Mount Tamalpais. Carmel is also well worth a visit, and the drive just down the coast from Carmel to see abit of the Big Sur coast line is always spectacular. To really see California at its most colorful in bloom, it is probably better to visit in mid March to mid May, when our natives are at their peak, but in ornamental gardens and the botanic gardens, there need never be a day without flowers or color here in coastal California. Another great nursery to visit would include Annie's Annuals in Richmond, Ca. This is just 10 minutes north of Berkeley in the East Bay. She also has a great website with lots of pictures of plants for our mediterranean climate, see www.annniesannuals.com to get an idea.

Thanks. Kichijokan definitely looks right for the first one. Royal Spine doesn't appear to have wavy edges, unless there's a different Royal Spine which has been SEO-ed off the top results. Actually, the second species looks similar to some photos I've found of the normal A. potatorum (Kichijokan's species), though I don't remember it having spines off the wavy bits as A. potatorum definitely does. The blurry picture makes it hard to tell, but unless someone knows what would look like a spineless normal A. potatorum, I'll assume it actually has spines I'm forgetting.