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.

Scotty, Floridata is an excellent site for basic plant information with a huge database. See link below. There are several others but GardenWeb prohibits posting links to some of them. Carol in Jacksonville Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata

I am looking for some Bignonia capreolata, cross vine. I have shell vine to trade. Cuttings will be fine. I prefer red or pink blooms and I want an ever green vine for zone 8b. Where I am using it I need at least 2 but would prefer 4. Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the recs, whitecap. I will certainly look for the Sperry book. After doing some more reading, I'm feeling good about the sage but the lavender and rosemary are already wilting and acting like they hate it here and hate me, so I'm already anticipating replacing them soon. The husband wants to put giant agaves out there but I personally am not crazy about that kind of look. Our sprinkler system (almost working) is really good (when working, ha) and I'm actually more worried about overwatering the sage once it's time to program it and let it run on a schedule. I'm also considering a few pencil holly trees behind the sage.