Well, the concept of 'tank mixes ' is geared for those who are protecting agricultural crops, orchards, nurseries, golf courses, and similar. The directions for combinations are pretty explicit. And that's pretty much the extent of my experience. The efficacy of mixing ready-to-use products is really out of my comfort zone. My sense of it is that the end result would be diluted....with the active ingredient in each being diluted with twice as much carrier (water) . It's not something that I would suggest. In this particular example, I'd be tempted to use the spinosad as directed and add a very small amount of a horticultural oil as a sticker. Oils are often used that way. Since we are both talking about mixing stuff together, it's probably a good idea to mention that these combinations can't be made with everything. Some 'brews ' can end up being downright dangerous, either for us or for the plant...or both.

That's odd, Misty., I'm not that far from you and I've a full garden of many varieties and they all do well, year after year; in fact I even have to dig out some that have layered and taken root. The super market varieties, mind you, are mostly annuals; look for the perennials, and most are very 'dry' tolerant. Most of mine come from Sue Templeton, down Albury way, she's regarded as the Aussie guru for salvias. B.

check the open gardens web site to see if any local gardens are open to the public....the botanic gardens are always worth a look see - the link below is to the australian botanical gardens web site - they list all of the BGs in Australia the australian open gardens web page is http://www.opengarden.org.au/ If you are interested in bananas the Nambour research facility may be running tours?? unsure of that - they can be emailed via the DPI site - the contact button at the top of the page http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/ enjoy Tony Here is a link that might be useful: australian botanical gardens

I have to post a couple more pictures from the incredible Blue Mountains Botanic Garden at Mount Tomah. It was my favorite garden on this trip. Although not having the variety of Rhododendrons that can be found in Olinda, the scenic aspect of it is just mind boggling. I can think of only 2 other gardens I've visited with such an amazing natural setting and attendant sense of place - UC Berkeley, and Villa Taranto on a mountainside next to Lago Maggiore. (In fairness, I should really wrap in Isola Madre and Isola Brissago and just say "the absolutely incredible Gardens of Lago Maggiore". The latter two merely sit in the lake, while Villa Taranto allows you to climb at least a couple hundred feet up and feel like you're in the clouds looking down, as does the UC Berkeley garden. As close to the Horticulturally Edenic as you will find, I think.) Looking at these pics years later, I now spot, for example, that there was a Glyptostrobus (probably!) that I hadn't even noticed. Here were some of their native grass trees, albeit smaller than ones I saw in coastal Victoria: A few more from Australia. Here is the lush undergrowth of the Blue Mountains. The is the biome that the Wollemi pine comes from. Phil explained to me what this plant was. It looks like a South African Erica, but is actually the Aussie version. It's either also in the Ericaeae, or is another plant family that co-evolved to look similar. Sorry, can't remember! Finally a view of the forest-y part of the Sydney Botanical Garden. Looking and feeling every bit like being on a tropical island, but quite a ways from the tropics. Sydney is as far south as Myrtle Beach is north. 33S. Good luck creating anything like this in Myrtle Beach! Practically any plant recognized by northern tourists as a 'tropical' plant grows here, barring coconuts. You have go closer to the Queensland border to find those, they simply can't deal with the frost-free albeit slightly chilly winters of Sydney. On to Christchurch! A quintessential NZ scene at the Christchurch Botanic Garden. NZ Flax, of course! Tree ferns, of course! Weird little conifer - probably one of the shrubby Podocarps, of course! Nearby was the bizarre looking Phyllocladus alpinus, aka 'Celery Pine'. You can grow this in the milder parts of the PNW, definitely not in the eastern US. Typical plantings...a young Telopia, a Callistemon, and Kniphofia northiae. Although clearly not as mild as most of the gardens I saw in AU, it's still pretty damn mild, as is evidenced by the fact they can use Clivias as bedding plants! I suspect Christchurch is probably 10a in the milder parts, 9b if you get away from the coast or 'urban heat island'. IIRC the guy who used to post on GOTE from there put 9b in his profile. I saw, for example, winter blooming South African aloes, but far more infrequently than in AU, and maybe only in sheltered north facing gardens har har har.