Thanks for posting these! For those who don't know, the white pine at the bottom of the page is called the "Yamaki" pine after the family that donated it to the United States. It was growing in a garden in Hiroshima, Japan when the bomb fell, but the trees in the garden were sheltered from the blast by a large wall.

Hi Growhappy, it's a pity we can't see the trunk of that plant, that would make it more easy to find out what it is. Variegation of D. amoena varies (lol) and without the trunk I would not even be sure of neither genus nor species. And my plant never made leaves as big as hawaii50 described. But my plant is only a "railroader's plant" in an office-spot. And it makes different leaves depending on the state of thriving: first leaves after pruning down* to the soil look like in the picture, later they have mor white. * I did this to be able to move the plant to my new office. Bye hermann

Nice plants. I would certainly not like to repot the first one (Mammillaria magnifica). The single stem on the plant I once had caused enough trouble with those hooked spines that get stuck in everything.

Lovely pictures, Dax! I just happened to be browsing around and caught this thread by chance... I work at the Nat'l, and the Acer sinense you photographed grows at the top of the section I care for, and has recently undergone a second phase of excavation to expose its long-buried root flare. I hope you enjoyed the trip in spite of our drought-stressed gardens. I can also vouch for the incredible toughness of Acer truncatum - a young sapling planted near the bottom of the collection in terrible, heavy soil (actually left there from the digging of the Metro) in baking sun is positively thriving. I can understand why it would be a prime candidate for planting in Texas and the Midwest - just so it doesn't become the next invasive exotic species!