You may want to try the place below.....they're in S.F. All American Topsoil in Oakland also carries a large selection of stone. Here is a link that might be useful: slate

I love my 'Springfire's, looking forward to them getting as big as the one in your photos. The plantings look so fabulous, the house needs something to match it. The house needs some wider trim around the windows, or something, some architectural detail up higher, around the windows, just up somewheres. The gorgeous garden is outshining the house something terrible.

For whatever reason Yamagami's (in Cupertino, but not far from Sunnyvale)seems to carry a lot of P. edulis fairly late (August or September). Perhaps that's when it's easiest to get plants with flowers, buds, and fruit from the wholesalers. You should check with them and see when they will have NG and Black Knight, and make sure they special order them if they don't plan on selling them. I remember them selling both of those varieties in 1 gallon pots, as well as a couple others such as Red Rover and Frederick. Maybe Frederick was 5 gallons (?). A 5 gallon plant will probably run $40 or $50, a 1 gallon $20, so this can make a difference, particularly if you want more than one variety. Sometimes they have big sales in September where one can get 60% off. Nancy Garrison is a regular speaker there, so it makes sense that they carry that variety. It's worth getting on Yamagami's mailing list if you plan on buying things there. I've never seen Frosty anywhere. If you are trying to track down a variety possibly someone who posts on the Cloudforest Cafe would have something. I think there are more CRFG (California Rare Fruit Growers) members who post there. I have not seen that much in the way of P. edulis elsewhere in the South Bay. Frederick and I think an unnamed variety at Roger Reynold's in Menlo Park. That's about it. Even fruit is hard to find for sale--I've just seen it at Cosentino's (now gone) and the Milk Pail (Mountain View). Here is a link that might be useful: Yamagami's contact form

Got my brazilian cherry at wholewood, too. Victor is quite nice. They do tend to spam craigslist a little bit, but it all seems legit. Be careful, though...his prices do change, so this is one area where it's worth it to order more than you might need. Also, get the entire list of wood you need from your contractor. My guy was not at all organized when it came to the stairs, so I had to keep going back and forth with Victor as to how many risers and whatever other little parts they need to build stairs, and there was no bargaining room by then. if anyone wants to work with a chinese cabinetmaker in south san francisco, you can try Gao's Group. I think they have a website. I pushed them, and they got my cabinets done in just over 4 weeks. of course, now I've been in for 9 months, and there are still a few little things left, but he did get the important stuff done when I needed it! They actually make the cabinets, I believe, and definitely have staff who speak english. They were also 20-30% less than Precision cabinets from Brentwood, partly because they'll give a discount for cash. I got my floor tile/slate at Terico tile (absolutely love that place - I'm not one to need 10,000 choices, so this actually worked for me), and my backsplashes at Bedrosians, with some Terico, Unitile, and some Oakland place mixed in, while looking for my granite.