Personal experience here: even if you do have a clear idea of what you want, and a drawing, if someone else is doing the rock placement you may not get away with only one single placement session. Make sure that whoever you tap to move the rocks understands what you want esthetically, year-round, from the area. That means you need to think through the minutia of each season in this specific area - use, your maintenance tolerance, investment tolerance, etc. It will be tricky to maintain water in this situation year-round because the volume of water will change so dramatically that you'll have a hard time determining the size and power of the pump you need to turn the water over at least once an hour to keep it from going stagnant; you'd have to accomodate the highest water level but unless you've got an adjustable flow pump (and you're meticulous enough to be out there adjusting it every few days) you'll be pushing the water too hard for most starter fish when the level is extremely low. My pond has water and fish year round and rocks stairstepping around the edge, down the sides and along the bottom because I, too, wanted the look to be as natural as possible. It's nearly impossible to prevent the collection of fallen leaves, muck and fish waste under and around the rocks at the bottom, which is just nasty as well as unhealthy, tho they do make organic products (not cheap) that I add at least twice a year which dissolve the yuck. In hindsight, especially in Zone 4, I would recommend going with the non-fish, non-pump method and use mosquito dunks religiously when you've got standing water. You can also utilize filtering plants whether or not you have fish. Keep in mind that all rock placement (not just 'dry stream beds') in nature are imperfect. The only person this project needs to please is you. It's not rocket science or brain surgery. Enjoy!

Hi Living in s florida there really isn't much choice except for tropical.lol Interestingly without supplemental heat it does get cold enough to kill everything. .I added heat two years ago and setup the 150 gallon aquarium in the shadehouse which is really outdoors. I connected it to the 1000 gallon pond last year as an experiment . keeeping the water warm through the winter has been no problem but find it did allow the air to drop too much. 37 was the low last year so not much of a test. i'm attempting to make sort of a rainforest out of the shadehouse rather than a grow. area. So far I'm thrilled with the results and thee main problem has been GROWTH lol.My rainforest quickly turned into a jungle.lol This is my first attempt to maintain an aquarium in direct sunlight. So far . between the marsh area and the algae eaters have been able to control it. I'm trying to grow Madagascar lace plats in the tank and it seems that a cool down is a great benifit. I actually got flowers and viable seed last year. but the seedling could'nt take the summer. gary

We'd love to see you there Diane! We now have a confirmation that Dr. Croat will be spending the afternoon with us at the Myriad Center Garden so if anyone has questions about aroids this would be the perfect time to get an answer from the world expert on this family of plants. You'll find Tom to be very friendly and always willing to help you find the answers you need! Since his schedule is very hectic this is a chance many aroid growers may never have again. The Myriad Center has also told us they will be providing a guide for the afternoon so you'll have a double chance to ask questions on plants int their collection. Please RSVP to Zach DuFran zach@zachandchristie.com or to Steve Lucas at Steve@ExoticRainforest.com so we can have an approximate count. We'll see you in Oklahoma City in just a few weeks! Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge on November 21 at 1:00 PM. Here is a link that might be useful: International Aroid Society MidAmerica Chapter

So many tropical do well in SF,it is more what does not do well. Cold winter rain will also kill some tropicals even without any frost, but most sturdy tropicals will do well. Jacaranda is a nice tropical tree that does well in SF, but look around, most of the street trees are tropicals. Flame eucalyptus, Victoria Box, Indian laurel (Ficus indica) and Acacias are tropical trees used as street trees in the city. Palms come in two basic types, fan and feather. Fan palms are hardier in general and you can grow many many types. (Chuson, Windmill, California, Mexican, Mediteranian, Palmeto, Chilian Wine, to name a few), Feather palms (like Coconut Palm)are more cold sensitive. Two basic types do well in SF. Date palms (5 or 6 species)and Queen palms. A few other feather types will grow in SF, but are rarer, blue palm and jelly palm come to mind. In really protected areas you can grow Raphis, Kentia and bamboo palms but they are all relatively small scale plants. The big palms on Dolores and up Market are Date Palms. Mexican Fan Palms are the most common fan types and are seen everywhere in CA. They are cheap and fast growing. Most other fan palms are slow growers Just about any type of banana will grow in SF, but won't produce fruit. My fave is the red or Abasynian banana. As well as bananas, also think about giant bird of paradise and giant taro or elephant's ear. The only problem with these plants is that wind will shred the leaves. When they get big enough giant philodendron and monstera have arial roots. I live in Sacramento and can grow 90% of what you can grow. I have mexican fan, queen, windmill and pigmy date palm, bananas and giant bird of paradise. I also have some philodenron with arial roots. The low humidity is the most limiting factor. Most of the tropical trees I mentioned don't grow here because of it, but oleander and gardinia do great here and we can grow plants like crepe myrtles without too much fear of mildew, which is a big problem in the Bay Area. I guess it is a trade off. Happy planning