I've been on a tear lately, getting all sorts of plants I've wanted: neon pothos variegated philodendron chordatum 'black gold' sansevieria a lithops wandering jew- i didn't know how 'retro' these plants look. these and the sans make me feel i'm back in the forties. i have to start getting selective, because i'm running out of room. if i had all the space in the world, I'd get: monstera delisiosa african mask plant- i find these guys stunning, but just no room! I would like to get a fern of some type, but i don't know which would do best in my office.

I live in southern cali, about 35-45 min. away from newport beach. I have been growing a few coconuts for about 7 months here, but it is starting to get a little cool now, and I am very concerned. I dont think you'll be able to grow one for very long in england. If you want to give it a try i would suggest a few things: Portable greenhouse soil warming cables greenhouse heater grow lights It probably wouldnt work for long, but you might be able to get a few extra months out of it. I never let mine see outside temps lower than 75f and the same for the soil temp. At night when the temp is lower than about 72f I bring them inside were i get the soil temps up to about 80f. Also, I have mine planted in a sand and soil mix. I think that might make a difference. I only water it with warm water, I dont' know if that helps, but I'm sure it cant hurt. And there is a hormone that i give to one of them, and that seems to be the one that grows the best. Its called superthrive, and you can order it onlie. as a matter of fact, the one that i give the superthrive to is starting to get the pinnate leafs and the fronds are bigger on that one also. When winter actually gets here, i will put mine in a portable greenhouse with a heater just to be on the safe side. Oh yeah, I only water it when its very warm, and usually no more than once a week.

I have seen small ones for sale at nurseries in Sydney from time to time - even at Paddy's Market they say they come from nurseries in Qld.There are books in Garden sections of bookshops that tell you where to obtain plants. I grow them from seed - not too difficult.

Some of the easier to grow palms that will take a bit of frost and are drought tolerant, would include Butia capitata, Brahea armata and B. edulis, Washingtonia robusta and W. filifera, Phoenix canariensis. Most of these are pretty big palms with age, and you may not want anything that big. You might also consider Syagrus romanzoffianum, which requires abit more care to look good, but should suit your purposes. If the Giant Bird of Paradise is hardy in Melbourne, (ie. do you often get more than a degree or two of frost?), then Strelitzia nicholai is a tough, palm look alike. If you really aren't much into caring for plants, you might be better off with a Cordyline australis or Yucca instead.