One I care for was rescued from a dump, sat around out of the ground (with a soil ball) for awhile before being replanted. Doesn't seem like you should have any trouble, as far as it goes.

LOL at the "ammending soil" retort. I just couldn't help myself. I added as little as I could tolerate, heh heh. I know they don't need much but I couldn't help myself. Thanks for the comments on the color schemes. I try to keep things somewhat harmonious, but my penchant for hot/bright colors often gets me in to trouble some times. :) I think moist to average soil suits schizostylus quite fine. They do seem to struggle a bit in really dry, powdery soil, but anything other than that seems to suit them fine. I've got mine mostly planted in a sloped west-facing bed which gets pretty dry during summer, though it has pretty good soil. They really are reliable for blooms from October through April or so, with occasional spikes in summer too. I may keep the water feature depending on my laziness. This back garden is very tiny so I was thinking of clearing most things out and having a pretty formal layout (in back) and the pond would alter that plan, but it may become a nice feature and if it's concrete as I suspect I'll probably leave it. I'll try to get some pics and start a different thread on it. Oh, something else looking good this week is Chilean glory flower (Eccremocarpus scaber) which is still in full bloom. I love this plant and wish more people would grow it. It's easy from seed, blooms quickly from seed the first year, and is generally a perennial in most of Western Washington. Mine are still covered in orange goldfish-looking blooms. I'll start a search for the white-flowering bergenias. I'm really growing attached to the plant and have built up a nice little collection of cultivars, though mostly in the pink to magenta range. Keep the updates coming. We'll all have to compare notes after the cold snap that is predicted for early next week. :) Take care, Grant

Hi Pogo, Sorry to hear that nurseries up there seem to have lost the plot :) OK, I am a tad frustrated at not being able to find more info online, but the new varieties seem to be marketed under the 'Colours of Afrika' and 'HN' labels, but pumping either into Google doesnt give me what I want - contact details. Punching in the names of various hybrids ('Carnival Clown', 'Rio Carnivale' etc) is equally fruitless, so all I can suggest is that you ring Neil Fisher at Fisher's Nursery: Fishers Nursery Garden Centre 425 Rockonia Rd North Rockhampton 4701 (07) 4928 2440 Fax (07) 4928 2999 Mobile Service 0408 282 440 Neil is frequently sidetracked due to his workload, but when he told me that he is off to a conference with some serious croton collectors, I believed him. He may very well know someone in your neck of the woods who can help you out - as he points out, some of the best croton hybrids have been developed right here in Oz, and a lot of the knowledge is found in backyards rather than nurseries. The crotons I bought from Neil have been an excellent addition to the garden - they are the varieties with the thin, 'shredded paper' style leaves that look decidely weird in the pot but awesome in the garden. Its amazing how much these plants have lifted a couple of spots which were in danger of becoming a little ho-hum :) Happy collecting, Artie

Those cordylines are really lovely Ian. Do you have trouble with anything eating them? I have two in the garden. One gets chomped and the other one doesn't. Is it snails? I'm so sorry to hear you are still in such dry conditions. It must make it very hard with all that garden to take care of. We've been pretty lucky with rainfall down here. You just seem to take it for granted when it's raining again. I know we shouldn't, but I guess that's just human nature. Cheers, Dee.