Tapla, thank you for trying to help me figure this out. Each of the four little plants were about 6 inches when I bought them and I wonder if they were just too delicate to survive repotting⦠The first one was Ellwoodii, then a rosemary, then two lavender plants in a row - all died a fast decline, as fast as when cut flowers take that final nosedive. Maybe a couple of days and then there was no saving them. I removed most of the original soil from each of them using my fingers and a chopstick. Maybe I didn't keep the roots moist enough⦠but I immediately put them in the sink and poured a bunch of water through until it stopped draining. Then I let them sit away from sun on the coffee table for a couple of days. I may have turned on the steam radiators or used the gas oven, but the apartment temperature tends to stay in the 60-75 degree range all year. Not too hot, not too cold, but fairly dry. It's been a warm winter here in San Francisco, with spring-like temps outside, about 55-75 degrees since January, actually. My plants can't go outside, so I keep them in my bay windows. (I don't have access to a yard or any outdoor space for plants to live, unless you count the back stairwell in the middle of my building's lightwell.) ~ Mary PS - I'm still sore, so I'm lugging those bags of ingredients through my building a few at a time every day. Next time, I'm hiring a beefy teenager to do the lifting!

When one thinks about buying herbs in the supermarkets, you have to go to better grocery stores and I see these collections of herb in plastic containers. They cost about $5.99 each and you can tell they are all dried up and not fresh because no one buy this stuff. It's too expensive to sell. I don't why grocery stores have all this gourmet produce and it always rots and doesn't sell, so I guess they have to keep discarding it. It's such a waste. If they had 50 packages of mint, they may sell just one package and then all the rest is discarded. So, you can not get really fresh mint unless you grow it yourself.

Thanks for the info! I am west of Novato in the hills, which should be climate zone 16 according to the map and description. What about the temperature range doesn't seem right? I was leaning towards the Bignonia, since it seems like the hardiest option in that list and has very showy flowers, but Distictis buccinatorius also seems like an excellent choice. I also really like the appearance of Gloriosa rothschildiana, so I will try to find another place in the yard to plant a few bulbs of that. I am also trying to find a Bauhinia x blakeana (Hong Kong Orchid Tree) to plant in an empty spot in the yard, which is supposed to bloom in the winter and be cold hardy here in the Bay Area. Do you know the best place to find any of these species? I found a few websites that sell them, but if possible I would like to purchase from a nursery so I can actually see what I'm getting. San Marcos Growers has those plants, but I stopped by Sloat today and they said they don't often order from San Marcos and would not be able to get those species in anytime soon. Perhaps the East Bay Nursery purchases from them more often and can place a special order.

Hope people are still looking at this article. I have had a tough time growing Moringa Oliferia from seed this year. I have clay soil that is very alkaline and the cool weather in the clay soil and poor drainage have been a challenge and I see lots of flecks on the leaves which I gotta feel are insects. I have added organic matter to add to aeration and mininize the watering but my plants seem to be stuck at about 8" before they hit the wall and start to die. Any suggestions with the pock marks on the leaves and getting them to grow tall and fast? Do fertilize? If so, what do you do and frequency. Thanks for your recommendations. James