This freeze has separated the hardy from the tender of the Southern Hemisphere stuff as well. I'm looking mostly at my container stock that didn't make it into the greenhouse, whose damage to their upper parts is still instructive regardless of the state of the root system. My best Callistemon by far is C. viridiflorus (that's the real C. viridiflorus, not the Youngblood Nursery mislabeled one showing up in Seattle area retail nurseries lately).... easily hardier than others including 'Woodlanders Hardy'. Corokias are all pretty much tender.... none really did that great but C. cotoneaster was the best. Cassinia x Ozothamnus is impressively hardy, as is Brachyglottis monroi, Olearia x haastii and O. paniculata. Pittosporum colensoi is my best NZ Pittosporum. Araucaria angustifolia (100+ of them) has burned leaf tips but growing points are still fine. Astelia... forget it, dead. Eucalyptus are mostly dead but I'm really impressed with a couple forms of E. rubida and E. camphora which I'm surprised to see unharmed. I'll do a full report later but I want to wait just a little bit longer so that my information will be as accurate as possible. The lowest temperature here was 13F, which was reached in both the morning and the evening of the coldest day. I'm planning a better organized eucalyptus test garden to trial some of the best provenances of the hardiest species. With good documentation this time and a more limited, deliberate selection of plants, I hope it will prove to be an instructive test. I'll probably skip E. scoparia; I just don't think it is that hardy although it continues to persist in Olympia. I hope I can get this project underway this year.

I think this is improving, but one feature I would try to move away from is the creation of lines of "hedges," one in front of the other, as if you are creating a hierarchy of edgings. The same plants placed in blocks (instead of lines) will look better. Where you question "Too large a space for just filler?" ... I say absolutely not. Whether it has been stated, or not, I can't help but think that creating a pleasing view to passersby is one of the objectives of making changes. Creating some unification and making the "design" easier to read/grasp will make it seem "stronger" and more effective. For myself, I prefer the lawn without the stepping stones. But if you had to have them, I'm including a suggestion for one possible way of arranging the path. Naturally, I would not implement it without mocking it up in marking paint first. It can be the greatest help for visualizing an element and determining if one really likes it, or not ... before going to great expense and effort. As long as one grasps the basic, most important ideas, there is not too much cause for a gardener to fret over the details of planting design. It could all come together rather quickly and offer itself up for serious reevaluation. If it's determined then that there are obvious changes that need to happen, it's not difficult to move smaller plants around and improve the scheme. BTW, I applaud your efforts at ACTUALLY WORKING ON A PLAN! It's what most people seeking advice here should be doing. It tremendously clarifies communication. I also note that there is a radical improvement between your first design and the most recent. For sure, this would be a great project to come back later with a photo of the "finished product." Not sure if discussed or not, but I would consider planting the mulched area around the main tree with a single variety, very low groundcover. Green and leafy is just better than brown and crunchy.

Thanks Robert! Sorry to make you choose a favourite child;) Btw you are leading me down a dangerous path with your brugs and bruns. (Wikipedia says brunfelsias are small trees!) So will I one day be dragging these monsters into my basement?! Oh my poor back! I finally fed my gardenia and it has rewarded me with a wealth of huge flowers. Huh, flower food, who would've thought:)

Virginia, drainage is one of my big problems: I've lost some beautiful Teas to root rot. Still mourning 'Anna Jung'. I've tried a camelia or two in the ground, but they're just not suited here no matter how much I amend. The rainfall distribution is part of the problem, as winter is our rainy season and summer is dry, the Mediterranean pattern. You've told me some things about camelias I didn't know, thanks for the info. I know there are places in Italy where they're magnificent, but those are pockets where conditions are suitable, I believe, and not very common. Our local woods, in our arid gray clay (there are areas locally where the still-clay soil is much better) are deciduous oak, flowering ash, and field maple, with willows and poplars down in the drainage bottoms, and colonies of black hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) and the hated Ulmus minor scattered here and there. Elderberry, hawthorn, Cornus sanguinea, hazelnut, blackthorn, honeysuckle, wild clematis, brambles, Viburnum lantana, Euonymus europeus, fly honeysuckle, Cornus mas. The number of native woody species is not that large. It's like anywhere else: the limitations of our growing conditions determine the character of our garden, making it different from all other gardens. As I said, I can't grow azaleas, but then the few daphnes I've been able to lay my hands on have done fine. Not everyone can grow daphnes. I've never had any luck with hollies, and have found osmanthus iffy, but sarcococcas are happy here. This is great country for the temperate climate fruit trees and for the European once-blooming old roses, for lilacs, mock orange, honeysuckle. I think what we can grow much of it you would also find in the milder parts of England, mixed with a good population of Mediterranean climate plants. Nik, I don't consider all magnolias impossible here, but their placement is very difficult. With us it's either bake, or drown in the low spots, and we must choose between woods, with their web of roots, rocks, and shade, and open fields of pure gray clay, blasted by sun and wind. None of the in-between, moderate conditions I believe they like. The amendment you're talking about is pretty formidable, too. People grow M. soulangeana locally and I've seen M. denudata as well, though those were down in the valley bottoms. We have a magnolia of our own. I suspect that what the nurseryman got for us wasn't what I asked for and it will turn out to be a Soulangeana, but it has been growing satisfactorily for two or three years, and should bloom soon. What I would like would be a M. x loebneri: they're supposed to be easy, beautiful, fragrant, and able to grow in clay. I have a spot in mind. If I had the conditions for them I would have a garden full of deciduous magnolias. Full. I think they're the most beautiful flowering trees there are. P.S. Another cross post. Grazie a te, mustbenuts! In italiano un "ornamental garden" si chiama "giardino" ("vegetable garden" invece è "orto"), quindi "bellissimo" è corretto. Sono contenta che ti sia piaciuto. Anche per me è un posto molto tranquilizzante.