Streptocarpus do well here. In fact, a local home nurseryman has them planted outside and they thrive in shade in spite of our 100+ daytime summer temp and 73 nighttime temp. I had some outside during the winter in pots and they even survived 70 inches of rain. We don't have your humidity during the summer though so maybe that helps them survive the heat. I don't grow any of the other gesneriads yet.

The custom here in my area (Silicon Valley) seems to be found nowhere else in the country: the seller pays for a full inspection, termite report, earthquake report, and even separate pool and hot tub inspections where relevant. Some items found during inspection might be repaired, but not always - this is indicated on a separate form. The seller also fills out complete disclosure forms, and puts everything in a big binder. The binder is readily available during open houses, and most agents upload all forms online for download as well. Buyers rarely pay for their own inspections, but of course there's always the option to do so. I didn't think the pool inspection was complete enough when I bought my current house, so I had another one done. The market had slowed down here late last year and early this spring, but seems to have picked up again this summer. The usual process for a new house on the market is for the sellers to paint/stage/update/landscape ahead of time, sometimes taking months to do this (unless it's a tear-down, then it's sold as-is). The house goes on the market on Thursday, broker tour is Friday, open house is Sat/Sun, offers taken the following Tuesday. My neighbor's house went on the market last Friday; they got 7 offers on Sunday and the "sale pending" sign went up Monday morning. I think the market is heating up again. Even for California, this is an unusual pocket of real estate activity. But like most places, sometimes it's not the price that determines the sale, it's the terms (ability to rent back after close of escrow, in particular). Sellers almost never leave refrigerators, washers or dryers. All of the bathroom mirrors were gone when I moved into my current house. Oh, and it's no longer sufficient to be pre-qualified for a loan; buyers have to come armed with an approved loan application from a lender.

Well, I came out at 80% Dixie. Isn't Southern pronunciation supposed to be closer to British? Didn't answer the aunt one - aunt rhymes with can't or aren't. We don't do toilet papering, but I have heard of it through another forum with mainly North Americans on it. Called the sandwich a sub but only because we now have Subway. I picked 'you all', but I was thinking of a sentence like 'would you all like coffee?' For other uses it would just be 'you' although unfortunately many Aussies say 'youse'. I didn't know about the bug and would probably say water fountain but nowadays doesn't everyone carry a bottle of water? *VBG*

What a coincidence this was bumped re: crape myrtles. Because I almost did so myself. I really think they are way over planted (down here), but I also think they are useful plants and wouldn't mind having ONE in the garden. Years ago I bought a supposed 'Siren Red' from a mail order company but was not initially sure that's really what it was. Then later, out of some idle curiosity about whether any 'vintage' cultivars had an equal or even superior red coloring, ordered 'Cedar Lane Red' from Woodlanders. This is the pre-1990s cultivar imputed to have one of the best red flowers. Well, the final result on the color front is that I think 'Siren Red' has trouble developing a good color here - the fact my plant is in some shade doesn't help, I'm sure - but it is an improvement over 'Cedar Lane Red'. But the REAL downer is that 'Cedar Lane Red', died to the ground, while 'Siren Red' didn't. At 0F with as I've noted repeatedly, incredibly deeply frozen soil. I was always skeptical of the claim that guy in Oklahoma was ALSO hybridizing for hardiness...figures like -10F were being thrown around a few years ago...but, it certainly doesn't seem especially tender. So, the 'Cedar Lane Red' is already "bye bye" and I'm keeping 'Siren Red'. You can't really keep space for inferior cultivars, and I needed a spot for X Gordlinia 'Sweet Tea' anyhow. One more sad change to the above: something very bad is going on with Taiwania. Either...delayed winter damage, or root rot, or root rot triggered by winter damage. This is one of my favorite conifers and I supposedly had the hardier form which is rarely offered, so this might just be the worst development of the entire winter. Eucalyptus parvula, Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane',Cistus 'Ledon' and Rhododendron 'Cloudburst' are definitely gone, but those are hardly irreplaceable and for some of them known to be borderline so no shock. If it was cold that killed it, I'm surprised 0F killed the Taiwania because it had really grown well last year, after sulking in a pot for years. I did untangle the roots and maybe untangled them a little too much: but again I wouldn't expect it to have looked so good going into winter, if that had been the case. Maybe it just needed another year of establishment: since it clearly wasn't happy in a pot I should maybe have planted it spring 2016. There's one little branch that still looks semi-alive, but all of the others have dried up and died, so I think it's a goner. Since my post above it's been on an agonizing downward spiral; though I wonder if it was already dead and just taking a long time to look dead compared to my other rarities!