Hi, I have become interested in South African and Australian plants. I have: Dombeya Cacuminun Barleria lupulina Berzelia galpinii Isopogon formosus Passiflora tetandra Telopea speciosissima I haven't tried Leucodendron though. It is interesting how some of them are totally different species like Barleria lupulina, but resembles a Cassia. Dombeya Cacuminun grows similar to a royal poinciana, I don't know if these similarities to Florida plants would help them adapt.. I have researched this topic and gardeners in California seem to be successfully growing some of these plants. The Australian natives seem to prefer a warm Mediterranean climate, and overfertilizing and overwatering seem to do them in. I have just started my collection, but so far, so good with my plants. The data varies on the hardiness zones, I think since they haven't been introduced widely some nurseries estimate.

I'm no expert on propagation of Waratahs (genus Telopea) but I do know that the best method of propagation is seed for naturally occuring species and then by cutting for hybrid species. You could certainly try propagation of your cuttings but make sure you remove the flower head and leaves so as to direct as much energy as possible to the generation of roots. Good luck! More information of Telopea propagation can be found here: http://www.anbg.gov.au/telopea/index.html http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info/Plants_for_gardens/Growing_waratahs And just as a passing observation related to the beauty of the Waratah flower; it's a crying shame to visit our national parks and see that the rangers have to spray the flowers with blue paint to stop visitors from stealing the flowers and deny the plant the opportunity to develop seed and naturaly propagate. The poor old Waratah is too beautiful for its own good against the personal greed of human nature.

Thank you everyone. I thought it was planted, not cut. They are two separate plants and in Googling the names you have given me, you are spot on. Here I thought they were potted and one was just a bud and I was looking for advice on how to care for it...dah...LOL. Thank you all.

I have to post a couple more pictures from the incredible Blue Mountains Botanic Garden at Mount Tomah. It was my favorite garden on this trip. Although not having the variety of Rhododendrons that can be found in Olinda, the scenic aspect of it is just mind boggling. I can think of only 2 other gardens I've visited with such an amazing natural setting and attendant sense of place - UC Berkeley, and Villa Taranto on a mountainside next to Lago Maggiore. (In fairness, I should really wrap in Isola Madre and Isola Brissago and just say "the absolutely incredible Gardens of Lago Maggiore". The latter two merely sit in the lake, while Villa Taranto allows you to climb at least a couple hundred feet up and feel like you're in the clouds looking down, as does the UC Berkeley garden. As close to the Horticulturally Edenic as you will find, I think.) Looking at these pics years later, I now spot, for example, that there was a Glyptostrobus (probably!) that I hadn't even noticed. Here were some of their native grass trees, albeit smaller than ones I saw in coastal Victoria: A few more from Australia. Here is the lush undergrowth of the Blue Mountains. The is the biome that the Wollemi pine comes from. Phil explained to me what this plant was. It looks like a South African Erica, but is actually the Aussie version. It's either also in the Ericaeae, or is another plant family that co-evolved to look similar. Sorry, can't remember! Finally a view of the forest-y part of the Sydney Botanical Garden. Looking and feeling every bit like being on a tropical island, but quite a ways from the tropics. Sydney is as far south as Myrtle Beach is north. 33S. Good luck creating anything like this in Myrtle Beach! Practically any plant recognized by northern tourists as a 'tropical' plant grows here, barring coconuts. You have go closer to the Queensland border to find those, they simply can't deal with the frost-free albeit slightly chilly winters of Sydney. On to Christchurch! A quintessential NZ scene at the Christchurch Botanic Garden. NZ Flax, of course! Tree ferns, of course! Weird little conifer - probably one of the shrubby Podocarps, of course! Nearby was the bizarre looking Phyllocladus alpinus, aka 'Celery Pine'. You can grow this in the milder parts of the PNW, definitely not in the eastern US. Typical plantings...a young Telopia, a Callistemon, and Kniphofia northiae. Although clearly not as mild as most of the gardens I saw in AU, it's still pretty damn mild, as is evidenced by the fact they can use Clivias as bedding plants! I suspect Christchurch is probably 10a in the milder parts, 9b if you get away from the coast or 'urban heat island'. IIRC the guy who used to post on GOTE from there put 9b in his profile. I saw, for example, winter blooming South African aloes, but far more infrequently than in AU, and maybe only in sheltered north facing gardens har har har.