Nice list, thanks! I have a dog, so the indoor plants I have are nontoxic: an african violet, a nontoxic fern, culinary herbs in hubby's Aerogarden, and a goldfish plant (which I love!! It is so cool looking.) Used to have a Persian violet which was fabulous and fragrant-- smelled great for about 2 months, but it eventually finished flowering, sickened and died. It was replaced by the goldfish plant.

Hi all Crazy weather this year, esp along the Northern NSW/SE Queelnsland coast where many of us live - Jack, Kerry, Ross and some I haven't yet met I don't think. Very few plants rotted, and no Alcantareas died despite the cms of mud impregnated into the bottom of the pots. Unfortunately I lost plants of some N carcharodons, some Hohenbergias esp castellanosii clumps and a few large Vr fosteriana forms. Even the T tectorums among the rocks in full sun (rain at the time!) are fine. It rained for months and I've recorded over 2.5 metres for the year so far. Now it's getting dry with no rain for 42 days and temps starting to get well over 25C with over 30 forecast in the next few days - very warm for August but the nights are mostly cool/cold still so not much grows. We don't usually get the freezes like in the States, though a couple of yrs ago was another crazy year, not with rain but severe frost as Kerry sure knows. Lisa, the Navias like arida and ignesicola can't take the months of cold nights I get, mostly well below 10C. They are low altitude species but the ones from the tops of the tepuis are even trickier I gather but should take the cold. Cheers, Pedro

as noted by many .... there are a slew of spring yellow picea abies.. which otherwise are a nice green the rest of the year ... there is a yellow dawn redwood... gold rush .... and deciduous .... skaylands for yellow... again.. i am not checking zone.. that is your job ... will abies concolor work for you.. incredibly scented crushed needles ... and blues ... with large sapphire blue cones ... wates golden or cheif joseph for winter gold.. or mugo winter gold .... i know i am being lazy on the names.. good luck with that ... lol ... pladycadus breckmans for a nice yellow .... bunches of blue larches ... whats the budget.. lol ... buy small.. buy many .... morgan turns purple in winter.. thuja i think .. real lazy ... and cham heatherbun does also .... otherwise both are weird greens .... i should say.. out of the ordinary green.. lol .. oh.. green .. ahhhhh .. the rest of them .. lol ... some pine 'oregon green' is nice.. p. thun thunderhead is cool ... again.. check aone ... abies kor aurea.. is way cool ... i have a balsam called ranglely blue.. which is a nice green blue .... more green ... how about one of the twisty.. contorted pines ... there are a lot of nice green mugos ..... that ought to keep you busy for a while.. and wish you had a bigger budget ... you are perusing coenosium .. and richs foxwillow for ideas.. yes??? ken

"if this accurately represents tree hardiness, a number of trees deserve colder ratingscolor>" Let's look at which trees those might be.... From experience (three winters) I would say Picea breweriana is quite happy in my zone -- versus the Z6 designation above. Especially this year, the new shoots are extra long ! By contrast, I would probably move Pinus thunbergii from Z6 to Z7 -- no end of grief with this one (yet). My Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata Aurea' is doing a lot better, despite being rated the same Z6. That Z8 rating for Sciadopitys verticillata seems totally out of whack with what I've been told recently on this forum, although I have no experience with it myself. Z7 for Picea sitchensis seems a bit overblown too.... and probably likewise for Cephalotaxus harringtonia. And Pinus contorta rated Z7?! ....give me a break ! Not easy to find a reliable list, that's for sure.