Thanks for the laughs. I especially liked the site, Curious Taxonomy. 20 years ago I worked in a biological research lab (Invertebrates), and the curator I worked for, Dr. Alan Solem, had a lot of fun naming new species. He liked to brainstorm new names with the staff that were both meaningful and funny. When reading that site, under puns, I ran across one he named while I was there. Ba humbugi Solem, 1983 (endodontoid snail) from Mba island, Fiji. He was describing the snail a day or so before Christmas vacation. Actually, he really liked Christmas. The genus name of this group was already "Ba", and he just couldnÂt resist. Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusc) These are smaller than molluscs of the genus Bittium. Houbrick was a malacologist from another institution my boss worked with. I think one-up-manship was going on OK, OK, I know this has nothing to do with plantsÂ.but I enjoyed travelling this tangent.

In the Bay Area... I second the UC Botanical Garden. (I'm a member, it is a gem.) Nearby you can visit our beautiful Redwood Regional park. Walk the French Trail & the Chown Trail for a good workout among huge trees and an amazing stream. Wear your hiking boots, it can be muddy in February. Along Skyline Boulevard, between the Botanical Garden and Redwood Park is a place called Huckleberry Nature Preserve. It is a beautiful, mostly flat mile or so long trail that has an interpretive guide. In San Francisco, you could have a great time walking through Golden Gate Park and Crissy Field. Strybring Arboretum is fabulous, and there is a living roof on the new science museum that is pretty cool. Walk up the hill from Crissy Field to Pacific Heights and enjoy the mansion gardens. (Hint, there is not a weed or fallen leaf for blocks and blocks.) Sonoma Horticultural Nursery is a great place to visit, even if you don't want to buy anything. Their grounds are fabulous-acres and acres- and some of their rhodos will be in bloom by then. There is a demonstration garden outside Sonoma called Crossroads (I think.) It is series of changing gardens done by designers. I could go on and on... Here is a link that might be useful: East Bay Regional Parks

g'day paradisi, for me i can't understand why we should expect the authority to solve our gardening problems. water is getting to be a scarce if not a very expensive commodity and from what i see and read behind the picture portrayed by the administration on tv it is going to get a whole lot worse and there is no qick fix, may never be a fix at all? the way i see it if we want gardens then we have to do gardens that need little or no water (basically survive on rain water alone), to get the best result then you will need to have some understanding of your micro climate as that will play a major part in what you can successfully grow in a near waterless garden. eg.,. if you have a western aspect then your micro climate will be far more extreme than someone with a northern aspect. some steps to get real serious about are: 1.. install at least 1, 3,000 gallon tank 5,000 gallons is even better and 2 will be even more so. you don't have to pay to have pumps or gutter pipes fitted that is DIY stuff so very easy, just have the tanks delivered and sited where you want it/them. 2.. i've said this before and i guess i'll keep saying it because it works! your gardens will have to be very heavily mulched with spoilt hay type mulches and as the mulch breaks down redo it, on vege gardens keep it around 10"s thick around trees and shrubs around 20"s 3.. in hind site you may find your cottage type annual gardens are going to be very resource wasteful (just like lawns) or high in use at least so minimise them and keep those plants in one spot of your landscape. we all love ferns and stag's and tropicals of any sort but they are becomming impracticle as they often consume large amounts of water. 4.. get real about capturing and using all your waste water, the system doesn't need to be expensive, yes it may take some effort on the gardeners behalf but it is going to get valuable water to your plants, mostly for your vegetables as it is very difficult to make vege gardens that waterless as most veges need good moisture levels to produce. guess a lot of bad habits from affluent times are going to have to be changed, but good habits can become part and parcel just as much as bad habits are. there are businesse around that will supply recycled water and water your gardens for you so if you realy want to continue with your gardening style maybe that is a way for you, that way you alone pay for the excesses not others in the community. from all media i have seen from the administrators they are clearly saying grow indemic native plants in your landscape, they are not promoting anything else. all i have written above i have already done so i know it works and i will continue to do so even back here in the burb's, water restrictions aren't concerning me in the least. maybe it's bit the bullet time?? maybe go from pretty to practical?? if you need some help or advice or some analising of your situation or some lateral...

Anton, is very much the one to ask! Margaret's book is also very much worth the buy. Most of the photos taken in Australia were taken by Anton. Ill let Anton know that he has been spoken of so highly! Kris