Mersi, which nursery, 'did you buy' mites from? :) + :( But seriously, was it Logees? Is Logees owned by different people, (in the last 10 yrs?) Logees was my favorite place to shop, locate those hard-to-find rarities. Plants were insect-free and decent sized. They still send catalogs. For the life of me I can't figure it out.. :) Thanks Mersi, actually surgery is this coming Tues, Mar 31. I am soooo scared. One out of 3..sheesh. Mike, so are you saying Logees doesn't sell grafted citrus? If that's the case, another point against them. Mike, all my citrus are grafted. The only non-grafted tree was one started from lemon seeds..It was very pretty, but thorny as a Cactus. Ironically, its leaves were lemon scented, something I don't detect in nursery-bought grafted lemon trees..strange. Mike, don't be surprised if they won't sell the 4" Gardenia. Many nurseries keep a plant for display purposes. A local nursery had the biggest, most Beautiful Variegated PonyTail Palm ever. Not common variegated with stripes. This tree has long leaves with yellow circles. It was absolutely beautiful. On the bottom were 4 offshoots. I asked the owner how much it cost..he joked saying, you'd need to take out a second mortgage..lol. He had many offers from other nursery owners all over the US, but he refused to sell. He got hold of this tree in the 40's..they tried rooting offshoots, but they either died or grew in green. I wanted to try one SOOO bad. Anyway, we stopped at this nursery in Feb. The owner is in his 70's or 80's and has since lost interest. The PT was thrown in with other tall plants, all crunched together. Its ends were brown, soil so dry it cracked..I don't see any easy way to repot since it's been in the same 32" container for years. It looked terrible. I asked a clerk why the owner didn't have it on display, she said he lost interest. It's ashame seeing such a beauty smashed with other trees. Sometimes, when plants have disease or pests, they place a Not For Sale sign. But in your case, I think they're keeping the Gardenia as a model, an example of what another 'denia will look like. It sure doesn't hurt to call. I hope they agree to sell. If for some reason they owner declines, try not to be disappointed. Keep us posted..Toni

Welcome oregontejano, I have lived in Texas most of my life and I LOVE the coast here. You can grow many tropicals on the Lower Coast (from Corpus Christi southward), even coconut palms from North Padre Island southward, and they are becoming quite popular in the Brownsville/South Padre area. I would suggest that you move to the Corpus area or southward, because this area is Zone 9B/10A, and there are so many neat things you can grow in this region, and the fishing and snorkeling/scuba diving is pretty good too, especially in the summer and early fall. Last July, while snorkeling at the jetty at South Padre Island, I saw 10 sea turtles in an hour and a half! Anyway, for palms (my specialty), you can grow queen palms, Medjool date palms, Canary Island date palms, pygmy date palms, Senegal date palms, pindo palms, Mexican fan palms, California fan palms, Texas palm (native to the Rio Grande Valley), the dwarf palm (native to East Texas and the Upper Coast), Mediterranean fan palm, Chinese fan palm, lady palm, various Chamaderea palms, and I am sure several others that I forgot to mention. You can also grow my two favorites from North Padre Island southward to the Rio Grande Valley, and those are the coconut palm, especially the Mexican Tall (the coconuts of which wash up on our beaches from spring to the fall, and yes they will sprout), and the royal palm, though the royal does better with some protection from salt spray. The coconut however, loves salt spray. As far as flowers, try: hibiscus, bougainvillea, mandevilla, oleander, ixora, bird of paradise, etc. The croton does well here too, especially with some protection from winter winds. For flowering trees, the ordchid tree does well here. If you move to the Rio Grande Valley, you can grow large beautiful royal poiciana trees, and they produce a lot of beautiful red blooms in the summer, and even seed there. For fruits, you can grow: sea grapes (close to the coast), mangoes, avocadoes, papayas, pineapples, guavas, pineapple guavas, coconuts (the coconut palm will produce coconuts in the Brownsville/South Padre Island area), lemons, limes, oranges, tangelos, grapefruit, etc. Welcome to our own little tropical paradise. Just be advised that every 10-15 years the area gets hit with a really hard freeze, but some tropicals will recover afterwards, and the others grow so fast, that all you have to do is replant the following spring! And remember to be willing to provide extra water, since as it was stated above the area is semi-arid. But other than the occasional hurricane (the Lower Texas Coast has the least incidents of hurricanes of any part of the Gulf Coast!), it is a really great place to live and much more reasonable cost of living wise than many coastal areas of the U.S. If you have any questions, just email me at: mr.coconutpalm@yahoo.com John

Hey! I think you're in my neck of the woods! Are you talking about the fern that smells like maile? If you are then you would have to cut them at the base or when the "runners" develop roots. I've seperated them this way and raised some in the past. As for fertilizer--I don't know. Usually it grew around other heavy feeders and I just used anything from fish emulsion to miracle grow. Just to let you know though, when I planted, I dug really deep and wide and put my own mixture of potting soil, compost, and mulch. What are you growing? I have vigna caracalla, roses, keffir lime, regular lime, pink lemon, meyer lemon, edible ginger, soybeans, yardlong beans, watsonia, passion fruit, Sweet William banana, pakalana, puakenikeni, chives, long green onions, eggplant, dianthus, butterfly aster, coreopsis, grape, ti, red sealing wax palm, piper nigrum, guava, paklan, acerola, green tea, pigeon pea, and a few I can't think of the names...By the way, where do you live around here? I've noticed that there is no garden club here and have been thinking about starting one. Anyway, it's nice to see someone from around here posting.

You really are in a good herb-growing area! You're in the tropics, I'm in the subtropics, not so far removed. Let me tell you that coriander will not do well, however. Even here, it's too hot, even in winter. It will bolt to seed before you can blink, even if you keep it in the shade. Give it 2 weeks, tops, to live out its life-cycle. If you must have it, expect to succession-sow every 2 weeks. Instead, grow the Asian Coriander, Eryngium foetidum, which is a perennial. French Tarragon is another one that doesn't do well in my climate. Instead, I grow Winter Tarragon (Tagetes lucida) which dies right back to the ground in winter. Don't know what it will do for you! The Mediterranean herbs do wonderfully well in my climate - they might do less well in the tropics, but are worth a try. The secret is excellent drainage and plenty of room to allow air-circulation all round the plants to help prevent fungal infection. So a raised garden is definitely the go for you, and put your plants on the top of a mound, or on a sloping area if you can to increase that drainage. These plants can really take the sun and heat, so that won't be an issue. You'll have a wonderful time with assorted Asian herbs - lemongrass, cardamom, turmeric (partial shade), ginger, galangal, turmeric, Vietnamese mint - Polygonum odoratum - (will need watching because it's an aggressive spreader, though not a true mint). I grow all these. Try Fish Herb (Houttuynia cordata) which really tastes like fish. Use it anywhere you'd use fish sauce. Also try Curry Leaf Tree (Murraya koenigii) - but in a pot or in your climate it will become a weed, and Kafir Lime. Don't forget a Pepper plant (Piper nigrum). Maybe a cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao), allspice (Pimenta dioica syn. P. officinalis). Stevia does well for me, here. Try fruits like carambola, pawpaw, mango, sapodilla, lillipilli (go for Syzygium luehmannii, S. australe, or S.oleosum for best flavour), rambutan, mangosteen, dragon fruit, black sapote, banana, guava. Raspberries, choko, and any of the Asian greens (bok choy, choy sum, mizuna, tatsoi, kangkong, mitsuba etc) will do very well. Here is a link that might be useful: Tropical herbs