Ok so what can I plant that grows mad fast like that but will grow indoors? I found a Ficus in a 36" pot for about $300 and was too big to fit through the front door. It would be better to have a tree grow 9 feet a year that way I don't have to wait that long then after it outgrows its space I can make a raft out of the wood. Anyway a ficus is so ordinary too. I want a shade tree not a palm

Gary: Tanks only. At only 12 x 16, a pool large enough to deserve the name would blow out too much of my floor space. I'd love to have one in my GH, but it will have to remain one of those things I can enjoy only seasonally, in the garden. The only solution I can think for your heat problem is what I'm planning for my own, because we get pretty hot weather here too. Abet it's for a shorter time, but July-Aug in the midwest can be literally, killers. You hit the nail on the head about the difference between heat and cold. Build a good one (mine is a Cross Country) seal it well and install a really good furnace, and other than heart failure over gas bills, it can be kept hot enough to grow orchids at -40. But I doubt AC is a practical notion for a GH so all we can do is use shade nets, ventillate, and run fans. However, there is one gadget that helps a lot. I have a large floor fan in the barn, facing the stall in which I keep a very old horse, who in spite of his desert heritage, suffers from extreme heat as much in his old age as I do in mine, so I bought a plastic misting ring that fits onto the face frame of the fan. The first time I used it was on one of those blistering days when the poor old thing would have otherwise needed a cold shower, but the cold water being misted in front of his stall, dropped the temp 20 degrees in just a few minutes. So I might get one for the GH, just in case. They are cheap enough. By only keeping aquatic plants in the GH for the winter, I hope to learn enough to risk some fish later, but I also sited it under some natural shade, so hopefully, when the next hot months arrive, I will have it all figured out. Frozen tank safe water might be a handy thing to have on hand, in shoe box sized blocks. Ice will pop out of plastic shoe boxes just like jumbo ice cubes. Then, just zip bag them and stack in the freezer. It helps keep the freezer from running as much too, by filling what would have been air space, with something solid and frozen. SW tank keepers use small fans in their hoods, to cool their reef tanks, so the same should work on a FW set up. LOTS of possibilities. But only testing them under real conditions will tell. What do you do to keep your Fla GH from becomming an oven?

After looking at the FAQ list, I notice that one newer nursery in San Francisco is not listed, and I'd highly recommend it: Flora Grubb Nursery in the Bayview District. It combines superb mix of plants, including palms and indoor plants, a book shop with a good selection, as well as a coffee shop, and is so popular that it has become a destination for people who come just to see what's new. I would second the recommendation for the San Francisco Botanic Garden(formerly known as Strybing), and would also recommend getting down to visit the University of California at Santa Cruz Botanic Garden, as the winter blooming South African and Australian sections will be in peak bloom. The UC Berkeley Botanic Garden is also well worth a visit. For smaller sized plants that will be easier to lug home with you, do make a visit to Annie's Annuals Nursery out in Richmond, she has an amazing inventory of all kinds of plants, mostly 4 inch size. The Dry Garden Nursery here in Oakland is also always worth a visit, as an example of another nursery that has one of a kind plants from all over. If you are into California native plants, be sure to check out the Tilden Botanic Garden here in the Berkeley Hills, along with the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden, which also has an on-site gift store and small nursery.

Here's a list of plants which are said to do well in low light levels, and might be happier in the short days of a Melbourne winter than some others. The asterisks mark the ones which are best at the low light thing. They are all rather undemanding about water, and grow well in "dry" rainforests, so score well on "waterwise" listings. Acronychia oblongifolia Alchornea ilicifolia Alectryon tomentosus Alyxia ruscifolia* Arytera distylis Auranticarpa rhombifolia Baloghia inophylla Canthium buxifolium Cordyline species Croton insularis Cryptocarya microneura * Elattostachys xylocarpa Ficus coronata * Ficus rubiginosa * Flindersia species Glochidion fernandi* Harpullia species Homalanthus nutans Melicope micrococca Neolitsea dealbata Auranticarpa rhombifolia Psychotria loniceroides * Rapanea variabilis Almost all of these are either small trees or shrubs. Ficus coronata is a non-strangling fig which is said have the best flavoured fruits of all the natives, as well as being small enough to grow in a suburban garden. F.rubiginosa is a small strangler - one of those things that is good in a pot and you can do arty things with the lovely snakey roots, but you wouldn't actually want it in the ground near any foundations. (I imagine all the potted figs would do really well in the situation you are proposing). Best of luck. Trish.