Jen, I can send cuttings of the plum. I have not tried to root them and was wondering if you had. I might try to root the Guthrie after it leafs out more. I can also send a bulb of the Eucommis. You can propagate Eucommis by carefully pulling a leaf off and planting the base of it in a small container of good potting soil. The leaf will gradually produce 2 small bulblets by the end of summer. I think Chickasaw Plums require 2 different plants to pollinate before they can fruit. The Indians had hundreds of cultivars, probably lost now. Does Cerinthe major grow easily for you? Mine keep dying. Mexican Petunia, dwarf pink is one I don't have. I'm waiting to see if Mirabilis longiflora comes back. It has smaller but very long stemmed white flowers with a fragrance similar to M.jalapa. I can swap you for a seed or two of Senna didymobotrya. I have Cassia or Senna hebecarpa, similar to C. marylandica. Have Salvia leucantha- Velvet Sage in two varieties. We may get seed of Sinocalycanthus this year. It had a few pods last year. Mike

Sorry Lainie - all undeclared hitch-hikers get gassed in Customs. They won't let certain pests onto foreign shores - bad luck! :) Gonz - Andrew showed a range of photographic techniques. He was swayed by his artistic alter-ego, Penelope Boozer-Pitt, to steer clear of black backgrounds, as P.B-P. thought them boring. So he tried a light flat grey background (yuck!), and then a pukey green one (equally yuck), and showed us the "greenie" a la natural approach. General consensus was: black background looks best for the silvery tills, or even navy/prussian blue? What do you and others reckon? Mike - I will certainly be side-tracking to Florida after New Orleans, and California is looking tempting, with a Hawaiian stop-over on way home too. Yay! Cheers, Excited Kerry :)

Hi oska, and Welcome, sadly there is not much traffic here these days.. I have the same problem as you in my garden so many tall gums trees on the 3/4 acre block masses of roots everywhere so we have to dig rather large holes if just to loosen up the soil and add other soil from down the chook yard plus home made compost you really have to keep working at it and we mulch thickly and buy large rounds of Sugar Cane mulch when we are able. I have just bought two beehive gingers and a red torch lily and even thought they are under those trees and have only been in the soil for four weeks there is lots of new growth coming up. I also have bromeliads there too some with coloured leaves and flowers.. I too have a heliconia or two and find they do better out of the sun in dappled shade same as the ginger which needs a fair bit of water to get them going.. I am a great believer in Seasol and shower the plants after putting into the garden and every couple of weeks because if the drought. With no shortage of rain up where you are in the summer and you say you keep up the water I am surprised that your Gingers have died what a shame.. Broms are great for colour here are a few of mine I have no ideas of the names as I buy them from the Sunday Markets down here. Love the red flower on this one. This one came with a bonus. I also have the ones with the bright pink edges Neon's I think they are called. Elk or stag horns the trees, begonia, orchids, Canna lilies, ferns at the base of trees, cycads are nice even the sago palm looks good under trees.. And don't forget the bougainvillea if you don't want the big ones how about the dwarf or bambino ones in pots for some colour though they like the sun. Evita. And the hibiscus for a bit of colour sometime the white gives such a cooling effect. Swan Lake. Louisiana Iris are supposed to grow well in wet areas. I hope this is a little help. And good luck with your garden...Misty.

Craig, A simple answer would be Sexy Pinks and Orthotricas. However,when considering which tropicals to put in for cut flower production you are better off starting with a little bit of everything and seeing which grows for you in your climate, soil, etc. You should also consider your method of freight (flower weight can be a big issue when things go by air)Season it flowers, are you exporting, 'fashion trends' Darwin growers tell me 'pinks are in' and don't forget beehives and torches. There are other South African growers, it may be a good idea to have a chat with them. People can be a bit strange in niche market horticulture, so the wheel has to be reinvented over and over. I prefer to think if we all work together we can improve quality and productivity which in turn will increase the tropical share of the cut flower industry. Good Luck!! There is a cut flower section on the website linked. Ann Here is a link that might be useful: el arish tropical exotics