Thanks to everyone on this list for the info. I've been looking for a year, including two failed attempts at an online plant order and online seeds. Yesterday, I purchased one from this nice lady out by Tracy (Mountain House, to be exact). She has a listing on Craigslist at this URL: https://stockton.craigslist.org/grd/d/curry-plants/7287455404.html. Huge number of plants - 400+? Many different sizes, including up to 6ft tall. All looked very healthy. And she has been doing this mostly by word of mouth, so I sense it will all work out positively. BTW, I called Regan's and probably about 30 other nurseries, including all of them on the Suncrest Nurseries list - nada...So was really grateful to find this craigslist listing. Happy gardening to everyone!

The "best" variety for your area would be the native species, Myrica (now Morella) californica. It is well adapted to the west coast climate and periodic rainfall/drought conditions. It is used frequently for privacy hedging, even as far north as up here in the Puget Sound area (there are some native colonies of it on Vancouver Island), and is not fussy about soil conditions. Needs water to establish well but once established, it is very drought tolerant and should not need any summer irrigation. Full sun will provide the densest growth but shearing or pruning will also help the shrub to 'fill in' :-) Finding them in the size you want may be difficult. Very few growers offer them in that large a size........the demand for the plant is great enough that they sell them off long before they reach that size. But it can grow pretty rapidly....as much as 24" per year....so even a smaller shrub to start with will make a significant presence in just a season or two. Will easily reach your 10' height (can get as tall as 30' but rarely in a garden setting). And pretty much pest and disease free. FWIW, it is also rare to find myrtles other than the native species for sale in area nurseries. They just don't do as well here nor is there much demand. The native will win out every time.

Manila is the taller one. About 11 years old. The Ataulfo is fronting it. It was started from seed over five years ago,pushing six. It had a LONG period of almost no growth adapting from pot to dirt. It had very compact flushes and I even came close to digging it up. Then,it took and has been fast for local conditions of mild summers,cool summer nights (60f).

Hi melange! I was looking through some rose catalogs and happened upon a rose called Talisman that looked like the rose in your first three pictures. Here are some photos and description of the rose: 'Talisman' Rose Picture 'Talisman" Rose Description I hope this helps! damask_rose : )