If only one the Intercity event would be the one to go to. 3 clubs in one show. Plants sales are great but get the early as all the good stuff is gone in the 1st hour.

My experience in dealing with the permitting process here has taught me never to do it again unless absolutely necessary. They really seem to go out of their way to make it difficult, and not just because of the fees involved, waiting in long lines, taking time off from work to get permits and inspections, etc. I had an inspector fail my bathroom framing inspection because he didn't like deck outside of the adjacent bedroom because there was a step down outside of the door instead of a 36" landing before the step down. It had nothing to do with the project that was being inspected. I had another inspector fail the inspection of my gas fireplace because he didn't like the decorative fireplace screen I had in front of it (mesh too small). I had to go out and buy a $12 fireplace screen at a 2nd hand store to put in front of the fireplace when he came to re-inspect. The cheapo screen went into the trash and the decorative one was put back as the inspector was driving away. So my point is, in the future I'll continue to get permits if it's absolutely necessary (like room additions), but not for things that I could get away without one (like fence posts, water features, etc). John

I am new to tropicals. I have no heliconia yet. I have moist ammended clay soil. Heliconia I am after: tall ones for a narrow bed/full sun and behind a hut in part shade. Smaller ones to mix in some borders with canna, ginger and philodendron xanadu for full sun to part shade, and some of any height that will be happy in containers in full sun to part shade.The online nurseries are rather expensive for experimenting ($10-40.00 plus shipping for rhizome if they even ship to CA). I just bought 10 rhizomes on ebay (Heliconia Psittacorum x Spathocircinata 'Guadelupe'for $35.00 incl. shipping). I really want to find (and support)some good tropical nurseries in Los Angeles/Orange County and I know that GW members know all the little mom and pop nurseries that I can't find using Google. I figure if i find the good heliconia sources they will have other tropicals that i don't even know that I want yet! I would have gone to worldwide exotics last saturday, but the weather bummed me out. My bedding plants: ginger- variegated zerumbet, kahili and butterfly. Cannas- Bengal, cleopatra, yellow king humbert, picasso, futurity red, lucifer and wyoming. Vines- petrea volubilis, Mascagnia macroptera, stephanotis, barbara karst bougie, a new rangoon creeper and several Clytostoma callistegioides. I am very shy in the canopy dept.I have a few queen palms, a large podocarpus and an 'ice cream' banana (1st fruit ripening as we speak!)but not much else to help provide shade. I am open to suggestions. Unfortunately my beds are narrow,2-4'w, and run the perimeter of the yard with a pool/concrete deck in the middle taking up a lot of space. I think i can cheat the beds out a little with containers and some canopy plants.i am meeting with a masonry contractor tomorrow morning to see if we can do something about the "rim border" to make things look more natural and reclaim some planting space from the concrete deck.

I'm looking for L.A Dreamin Hydreangea cuttings. I am in the orange county area (California). I have Angel Red cuttings.