And yet those natives just keep getting better and better. Sorry if it sounds like climate bragging, but winter is our season of rebirth here in coastal northern California, and things are just jumping. I've already seen the first Califoria poppies blooming, (along with seeding a whole hillside of them on this latest spec home landscape), and shrubs like the Silk Tassle, Garrya elliptica are looking fantastic right now with their long dangling earrings of white tassles against verdant green foliage. The first of the Ceanothus/California lilacs are also popping, and I have been munching on the Miner's Lettuce, a local native that can actually be kind of weedy in a garden setting, for weeks now. The flowering season will just continue to get more and more colorful through about the end of April, and the Baby Blue Eyes and several species of Clarkia I planted out from 4 inch pots from Annie's Annuals here in Richmond back in December are already bursting into bloom as well. The real possibility of severe water rationing starting later this spring is still threatening us locally, but we even have some 2 days of rains forecast to hit tomorrow, ending this unseasonably warm spell with low 70'sF here in Berkeley. I spent the day up in Sonoma County yesterday wholesale nursery shopping, and enjoyed the scenery immensely, especially the green hillsides with the massive Valley Oaks dotted here and there. I must say, a lot of the Coast Redwoods planted along the Hwy 101 freeway medians did look rather stressed out from several subpar rainfall years, but those redwoods that had planted themselves did not appear to be suffering. The first of the flowering plums are also bursting out in bloom here, as well as all the non-native Acacia dealbata and many varieties of Magnolia soulangeana, M. denudata, M. stellata, etc. The first of the South African Leucadendrons are also getting ready to pump up the volume as well. It sure would be tough to be looking out at gray skies and dirty snow and below freezing temps in comparison to our local conditions, but then again, it isn't exactly tropical swimming in the ocean weather here either, but all in all, a gorgeous California winter's day, and the promise of some much needed rains. And I can't get too worked up about nurseries pigging back on this thread to self-promote, even if it is prohibited. I understand the underlying sense of feeling a bit desperate, what with the slow down in spending, but come on! Be a little more subtle about how you do it, and I bet it would be more successful! It does seem to show that there is no one doing what Spike used to do with yanking threads into the ether...

Gee thanks everyone for your efforts in identifying my tree snake. And yep! - that's him alright - so he's the Green Tree Snake. Was a bit worried about the rear-fanged warning Bambi John, as I'd always thought him harmless - but I did suspect he was after the frogs in my broms, the greedy thing. Leave my frogs alone! However, sorry frogs, I'd rather he bite the frogs than me, so I'll be wary with my close-up photography in future John. Tomas, I'd swap your pidgeons for our crows (and lethal brown snakes and funnelweb spiders) any day! Geckos are dear creatures. Sander - you win the bet, we don't have 150 buses going past each day LOL Hope you do really like them! Actually we do have 1 school bus go by each week day (with about 5 kids on it), and about once a week we get a small busload of tourists, mostly Japanese, or European hippies, go by on their way to a nearby waterfall and rainforest national park. Our joke on them is a life-like-but-concrete kangaroo, complete with joey in pouch, positioned on a grassy hill in our front paddock. The tourist bus driver enjoys and shares the joke, so when a passenger calls out "There's a kangaroo!!!", he squeals on the brakes, they all pile out, and snap away with their cameras, then excitedly pile back into the bus, and off they go again. We watch this from our front verandah with great amusement. To this day, our concrete kangaroo probably features in many photo albums, believed to be the real thing! LOL Bambi John, that's certainly an interesting passion and job you have with all those birds, animals, and reptiles. Thanks for sharing that with us. I really enjoyed reading about it. And lovely to hear of such a happy long-term union with your understanding wife. Most people remember the length of their marriage by the age of their kids, not their Amazonian parrots! The platypus is not as timid as generally believed, and I'm sure they are of no threat to humans. But sadly the occasional fox is a threat to the platypus. And no blue-ringed octopus here either as you'd realise. We are inland, and our creek is fresh water. I hope your dream comes true one day of coming to our huge and diverse land - there is always a bed here for any gardenwebbers. And Gonzer, yes our land (and sea) is full of deadly creatures, so gardening is certainly an adventure - especially here in "the bush". But I reckon there are heaps more deaths and injuries from traffic accidents in the urban-jungle, don't you? Cheers, Kerry

G'day everyone! Kristene here from Australia. It was so much fun to read where everyone comes from. I'll have to mark you all down on my US & Canadian map. I grew up in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) but now live in a city called Orange - which is 155 miles inland from Sydney. Kate - Leura and the Blue Mountains are roughly half way between Sydney and Orange. Leura is a very trendy, touristy, craft village, with even a "Christmas Shop" all year round(not many cities in Australia have these).You are correct about the beauty of the mountains being similar to your Grand Canyon - only ours is covered in Gum Trees (eucalyptus).The eucalyptus leaves emit oil which mixes with the air to produce a blue appearance to the mountains from a distance - thus the name "Blue Mountains". The oil in the leaves also makes the trees burn so quickly and easily in bushfires. Regarding Quilting Fabric shops - they are around but NOT in Sydney CBD. That area is for businesses and tourists. The majority of tourists want regular souvenirs (I know we're different). Rents would be cheaper in the suburbs. If going anywhere, it's better to look online and get addresses first and google directions for ease of transport/access. Any proper quilting fabric store would have some Australian patterned fabric - birds, flowers, animals but not always the Aboriginal prints. I usually buy mine on-line from Sydney -needs a larger market to sell this fabric to. My city, Orange, is in the Central Tablelands of NSW where it snows (a little) in Winter and have lovely mild Summers. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, my seasons are opposite to yours, so I am now in Summer and we celebrate Christmas and New Year in Summer in the heat - often with picnics and BBQs. There are 40,000 people in my city and 4 patchwork fabric shops - all within 15 minutes drive from my house! To get Civil War fabrics or any other special fabric, I just go on-line to Sydney and have the fabric within a week. Muslin/Calico - Here in Australia we have both! There are many grades of both fabrics, but generally CALICO is of poorer quality and MUSLIN is of finer quality. When I was faced with using Muslin in a Birthday Block, I asked at my Fabric Store and was told it was similar to calico, but finer and referred to as "Quilters' Muslin" You can get bleached (white) or unbleached (cream) muslin and it's lovely and soft. I lived in Japan for 1 year teaching English, so I adore Japanese prints/patterns/blue dyed fabrics. I brought a lot of fabric home with me (and each time I visit). Batiks also appeal to me with their bright colours that can mingle and mix. We don't have Quilting Guilds in my city, just groups of friends who get together to quilt. My group came about because we all used to have group quilting lessons from the same teacher. When she retired 4 years ago, we decided to band together, find a hall and meet each week to continue our quilting and help each other. The fabric shops all offer classes too. Kristene

Hi everybody! I didn't realize this forum (Cacti in Oz) existed I'd like to take a moment to invite you all to visit the Cacti and Succulents forum. I don't see any names here that I recognize so I think many of you have not tried us out. We have people from all over the world, including South Africa, giving advice and ID's, sharing unique species. Myself, I'm a bit of a Mesemb nut. There are many very knowledgeable people and we would welcome the new voices. I'd be very interested to see if any of you have native Australian succulents. Nobody else has shared them but I know they exist. I don't see why we should be separate. Please come check us out and tell them hanz sent you.