Wonderful GardenGal! Thanks! I saw a Unedo @ Wells in Medina(and also more @Flower World) but figured I'd pass on it as last time I was wanting one I remember getting negative feedback regarding them pushing our zone boundaries. I'm near the convergence zone in the Lynnwood/Bothell area and we usually make it a few degrees cooler than Seattle does and I don't want a $100 plant dying on me. But thinking back the person who poo-pooed it was a notorious negative nancy, so perhaps it would do fine... Regarding the Abelias, I have them on my longish list, but would prefer something less reddish, as I have a Nandina that I put in last year but find that the red clashes with the other colors going on in the yard already. Perhaps I'll keep an eye out for a different color toned abelia? Thanks for the heads-up on the boxleaf honeysuckle and Indian Hawthorn! I will take them off the list. I was drawn to Hinoki Cypress but when I saw the price (this was at Wells) I was a little put off considering that I am needing a few to cover up the deadwood of the junipers that I will be keeping. I'll look around at a few other locations and see what I can scrounge up. My success rate with Mexican Mock Orange has been dismal, I've managed to kill 3 in my back yard, so I'm less inclined to try my hand at it again, plus it looks like its water needs are higher than I'd like. I have really a very dry location and only a tiny corner of my back yard receives any kind of shade at all. Even with regular watering my tomatoes and dahlias seem to do better when they receive some shade. This area will be getting none. The Blue Star Juniper may be an option. I'm trying to get over my prejudice, and I'm thinking if I got a variety that produced berries, at least I'd get something to make pancetta with! I swung by Lowes on my lunch break and picked up a bunch of half-price salvia that had just finished blooming. I'll keep it around and if I can't find a suitable spot for all of it in the front, I have a good spot in back for it.

For what it's worth--taste-wise, Lattarulla is very nice and ripened well for me last year in a pot. Last summer had cooler than usual weather patterns, but I still got good-flavored figs from Lattarulla. This year, I'm planting it out in the ground as part of a 3 in 1 planting with a Janice Seedless Kadota and a Peter's Honey. Petite Negri in my past experience is a good container fig as it stays truly dwarfed. The flavor as I remember it from 9 or so years ago is sweet with a rich, somewhat acidic undertone. I liked it very much, but killed my fig by letting it go too long without water in a clay pot--it was fried by the end of that summer :(. Of course all this is from a different zone than yours, but there ya go :)

Hi! I finally settled on: some knockout roses, pink pentas, caladiums, mexican petunias, a little purple queen, a little yellow lantana, some pineapples, a firebush (which doesn't seem happy in the full sun spot I chose....), a meyer lemon tree, and some pink crown of thorns. I think I need a couple of other clumps of color or something to balance... theres a spot that needs some white or orange. For white I've thought of maybe vinca (?) but I thought maybe someone else might have a better suggestion... and I am not so fond of them but I know they are drought tolerant and perennial. I think I could also use something with a little height in addition, not necessarily a white or orange flower. The photos don't really do it justice, and it had been so dry I was holding off a little on spending more on plants to fill in, but now that the rain has started I'm ready. And now what I've planted will fill in too, although I am wishing it would hurry up a bit! :-) thanks for any suggestions! Here is a link that might be useful: june gallery

I have heard both Celeste (a large pale fig) and Brown Turkey (smaller and darker) praised for our area. Both should be readily available (best to plant in the Spring, though). If you want to try something different, and are willing to try starting one yourself from a cutting, I have an unnamed fig I started from slips I brought back from Mildenhall, England, when I was stationed there with the Navy. This is a large tree, very hardy, and produces lots of large, golden figs (we dried over 150 this summer!) You'd be welcome to cuttings when I trim it back next Spring. Lynn