Trillium grandiflorum 'Flore plenum' was my most expensive perennial. I've lost track of how much I've spent on various hellebore and epimedium. I can't seem to stop myself when it comes to shade plants in general. I got VERY lucky early in my gardening days that a local nursery was selling double bloodroot for about eight bucks per plant. Everyone in my family was given one. That was way too good a deal to pass up! I'm one of those gardeners that just can't stick to a budget. It's a terrible affliction when I'm in a nursery surrounded by great plant material and I just can't say NO! Time to check out Garden Vision Epimediums to place an order for Christmas. Who knows, maybe after today that trillium won't be my most expensive purchase! LOL!

You should come to Florida instead. Myrica cerifera is very common throughout the state, and all the New Yorkers are down here right now anyway.

Results with Jubaea in the Pacific Northwest with Jubaea have been mixed. While there are no known large, trunked specimens in the region, some have persisted here in sheltered gardens since the early 1990's without protection, and others have been damaged or killed in severe winters. Jubaea seems more likely to survive a severe winter if it is not pampered with too much water and fertilizer during the growing season. For the best chance of survival it should be in full sun, and it should not be watered or fertilized in late summer or fall once it is established. Old, established plants in Europe and elsewhere have been known to withstand temperatures in the single digits without harm. Certainly any effort to grow this magnificent plant is worth the risk.

>>For some reason, I mistakenly believed the Seattle-area winters were milder than they apparently are Most people think the other way around--that it must be about as cold as northern Maine because of the latitude. The mountain ranges block most of the coldest interior weather, and the water offshore is warmed by the Japan current. My lows are probably higher than yours BUT...of longer duration! You probably get frosty nights followed by warmish days. We can get a week and a half of freezing weather here. The real problem tho is that the peak of our rainy season is late autumn early winter, meaning that a lot of plants have tissues that are saturated with water when the cold hits. I did have a look at Mr. Irvine's website. He's got descriptions of a lot of the newer hybrids, which is how I found it when I googled their names. You're right; the climate here is close enough to that of the UK that anything that does there does well here, and vice versa, with a few exceptions. My climate is slightly warmer but also slightly less equable, and the rainfall here is very seasonal, like a cooler version of a Mediterranean climate. I read your bio. Fruit and nut trees, eh? Well, I live in the city but I have a good-sized lot as city lots go, and I have squeezed in a mini-orchard. I'd love to grow nuts, too, but those are usually big trees, except for the Hazelnut/Filbert. It would be fun to grow a Gevuina--Chilean substitute for Macadamia nuts (same family, but a hardier Chilean version)--but I can't find any cultivars selected for big nuts and the default is hardly as big as a cherry pit. My fruits are Peaches, a Nectarine, an Apricot, a sweet Cherry, Strawberries (including a wild native, F. chilensis), Raspberries, Blackberries (including "Marionberries"), Black Currents, Gooseberries, and Arctic Beauty type Kiwis (they're better than the fuzzy kiwis, which also grow here). I technically have a "Pineapple Guava" (Feijoa sellowiana aka Acca sellowiana) but it got a bad case of Phythophthora last year and might not live much longer. Ugni molinae ("Strawberry Guavas" aka "Chilean Guavas") also got the Phyto and will need to be replaced. I think Passionfruits are probably a dream up here, but we'll see what I can come up with. P. carulea produces its fruits with abandon but they don't have enough pulp to bother with. Yes, it's too bad about the Tacsonias because I've heard they have the tastiest fruits. Judging from the posts I take it that a lot of the contributors here are amateur lepidoterists (sp?). I'm too far north for those kinds of butterflies; all we get here are common ones like Swallowtails, Angel Zephyrwings, and Cosmopolitans. Hmmm...I followed one link to another link and discovered we have another common interest. Pleased to "virtually meet" you.