Sorry,I meant to get back to you earlier but wasn't sure of the best advice to give.I live in SE England and have 50 different JMs so you'd think the garden would be a blaze of colour in autumn.The truth is it isn't.Autumn colours are very variable anyway but we rarely seem to get the right conditions for a good display.Invariably I just get a hint of what might be as the last few leaves turn lovely colours. Having said that this shouldn't put you off,choosing a very sheltered position will help greatly as will autumn sunshine(our downfall ha) If you want bright red,'Osakazuki' is renouned for this,having a slight orange hue it really can glow and after 3years mine is finally showing this trait.It will be plain green the rest of the year though.You can also take your pick from the many red cultivars out there,they nearly all have red autumn colours however 'Bloodgood' here has never shone for me despite being one of the few still with leaves on at the peak time.The rest of the year they're all dark purple here,despite claims none really shine above others.A constantly reliable performer for me has been 'Sango Kaku',again plain green the rest of year,it always produces good orange then yellow autumn colours,and the younger stems are bright red. Sorry I can't be of more help but autumn colours are simply not guaranteed here.

This year I found a 'maurelii' banana at the local nursery so have a couple along with my musa basjoos in pots and flower beds. I also found a musa zebrina (blood banana) but I really don't think it's liking full sun. Interesting though, there's an impatien plant in the same pot that's doing well in full sun. My cavendish banana from last year is indoors as a houseplant and seems to be doing much better, I guess it didn't really like full sun when it was outside. I bought an 'improved meyer' lemon and so far so good (nice growth). My spindle palm is about to open it's only new leaf of the summer. My bismarck and fan palm from last year are only former versions of themselves (from growing indoors in poor light for the winter) but are back outdoors and doing good. My latest thinking, with this cool summer, is to analyze tropical plants that seem to do good no matter what the summer. The moonflower, morning glory, persian shield, begonias, nicotiana, petunias and even easy-to-grow marigolds seem to be doing fine. I am coming to the conclusion that my mandevilla is growing so slowly that it's not really worth the effort especially in a cool summer. It's only two feet high and not really filling out a trellis. Every gardener can probably relate to planting something, giving it a prime location and hoping it makes a big impact, and then have it just sit there and do nothing. I also have my rubber plant growing outside for the summer and am trying a Wollemi pine - I just had to have it. Part of my thinking for this year was that summer, even when we have nice summers, are so short. Therefore for alot of my plants I started with ones growing in a pot (example morning glory) rather than start from seed. Happy tropical gardening, Glen

Sounds fun, guys! If you shout a few weeks before ideal shipping time, I can give you ideas about what else I've got that needs adoption. I love the idea that my little guys will travel to far away places and end up in the hands of plant lovers. And anything that fares well in Arizona would do great here effortlessly. Cheers!

Yes, Jason is a very nice fellow. I managed to get a very nice three gallon plant of Prairie Peace from him two summers ago. This is a rare treasure for certain, as it is not an easy plant to strike cuttings from. That plant will be going into it's 3rd summer at the Summerland Ornamental Gardens this year as a focal point shrub against the wall of the Superintendent's House. I you click the link for Hybrid Spinnosissima from portlandmysteryrose's original post, you will find a couple of gorgeous images of this rose. Fraser Valley Rose Farm is yet a small nursery, by appointment only, as Jason has full time job. But this is a nursery that those of us in British Columbia should really try to support. We have lost several exceptional small specialty rose nurseries in this Province over the past 20 years and it is really nice to see a new one come along. Cheers, Rick