Your really not familiar with the bay area climate. You also dont realize that if a 12' dragon has gone through one of our largest freeze's fine,then what more hardiness will it have as its trunk fills out and it adds more mass? And of course D.draco is not native to soucal,so growing them there is also not natural. Anywhere but the Canarys aint natural. If you like,you can compare climate data with several areas in the world such as Melbourne,Johannesberg,Lisbon, and many others where D.draco is grown..and those cities are virtually identical in climate to the bay area. From your perspective they seem utratropical,here they are more of what we are used to seeing-South African,Australian,Mexican with islands from Lord Howe to Hawaii adding palms and tree ferns. Consult your Sunset book and see how they rate D .draco as a z16-24 plant. Most of the bay area is z16-17. Did you see caudex's photos of large bay area tree Euphorbia's and Aloe's in El Cerrito? You really have to visit the local botanical garden to see new subtropical plantings. Cycads to Dragon trees.

No soup? I haven't heard about that Marie but probably will. Being small has it's benefits as nearly everything we serve is made from scratch, including the soups. Our patrons then doctor the food to their taste. We accept 'donations' from the patrons; we can't charge them. Our collection box must be out of our sight so we can't tell who pays or who doesn't. No one wants a summer home where I live either Maybee; too cold and too many bugs. I'm talking about the north end of Rich county, through a mountain pass, where the climate is milder, the bugs fewer and the view (to some, not me) is more spectacular.) Someday my side of the valley will be filled with houses but only when every other available space in the state is taken. Add Wyoming to the list of CA-haters. Those who couldn't find a place in Oregon or Montana settled in Wyoming. It makes me sick to see the houses where all the dryfarms and alfalfa fields and cattle pasture used to be. And those people too move in then try to change everything then wonder why the natives get testy. Personally I'd like to see that oil well come in and other fields developed. Oil makes counties wealthy which can (if managed properly) provide lots of services and takes the burden off tax payers. Lori

Davidtay and Andrew, Still trying to get my head around these lighting controls. I think the Lutron RadioRA2 is what we prefer. Please help me understand what we would need to buy for each main room (let us assume there is at least a 3 way switch in each room and some have 4 way). In other words, our open concept house will have at least 2 spots in each room where lights can be turned on and off. Presently, the plan was to have multiple switches in each location (which I hate do to confusion of which switch operates which circuit). So, with the above preamble, what do I need to buy for say one room with a 3 way switch (two locations at different entries where lights can be controlled)? In that room let us assume there are 3 circuits needing to be controlled (say dining room chandy, mood lights and say pot lights all on a different circuit and all we desire the control to dim as needed). If you could help me understand what I need to buy for one room with the Lutron RadioRA2 scene control, I could then figure out what I would need to buy to have similar scene controls in all the main rooms (kitchen, great room, dining room and media room). Any general guidance on pricing of necessary products for the above scenarios? If these scene controls are controlled wirelessly, what if any in wall wiring do we need to ensure is in place before closing the walls? Do we need to hire a contractor to commission these scene controls or can they be DIY installed (DH is handy/knowledgeable enough to do some of our wiring). Do the scene controls in a room eliminate the need to have the multiple groups of light switches (or are they in addition to the multiple switches)? In other words, if we have 3 circuits needing to be controlled in a room, do we have one Lutron scene control beside a 3 gang regular light switch (room for 4 light boxes)? Sorry for all the questions -- even if you can answer some of them I would be very grateful. Also, if you can point me in the direction of where we can learn the nitty gritty of what needs to be bought and how to install these scene controls that would be very helpful. We do not have the budget to hire out the whole install and design so have to find a way to learn what needs to be done and how to do it. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Lutron scene control we prefer

Butcher - I look forward to your Jersey Boys ripening and looking inside of the fruit that grows on your vines and see how it compares in taste and appearance from my results! Your plants look great - it won't be long now! Wormgirl - There is no obvious preference between Jersey Boy and Better Boy for me - All I have done is complicated/improved my growing list by growing Jersey Boy because now I want both Jersey Boy and Better Boy in our GH !! The plants appear identical in plant vigor, production, truss size, fruit size and fruit color - all great!! The Jersey Boy is a bit flatter fruit and the Better Boy does have that green gel you mentioned and I did notice that Jersey Boy does not have the green gel. I have not seen the green gel yet in the Jersey Boy tomato. Haha - that is interesting you don't prefer the green gel - now I will always look for the green gel when I eat a tomato - haha - I never really paid much attention to it in the past. I agree - the green gel doesn't look quite as appetizing though!? Better Boy has always been a great performer for us!!