I recently ordered a couple trees from Peaceful Valley because they had they had the varieties I wanted on Citation. One tradeoff for their lack of cold storage is their cheap price of $20 per tree. I figure it is worth the experiment. I plan to pot them in a well drained tub and keep them in a cold storage shed until it is time to plant. I figure I can keep them better hydrated in potting soil. I prefer prepping the ground in autumn when the ground is solid. Usually the clay is way too soggy in the spring to work with. I remove sod in 6' circle and dig the soil so it is heaped around the rim of the hole. Depending on where it is, I will dig a small drainage channel to make sure it doesn't hold water. In general, I would say it is fine to plant them as soon as the danger of deep freezes are over. The seasonal low is usually in mid January, so some time after that depending on your location. In an El Nino year, however, the winter low could be in February or March. Obviously unpredictable El Nino weather is the biggest risk to any plan.

Hi Jack,I work for myself too, as a gardener, but never let work interfere with play!!!!! tee hee. Thanks to the other thread, I now have a picture of you in mind when I write. Thanks very much. (I'm not game to show my face yet, but might one day.) See how we go getting closer to the date eh? Its on a Saturday, so I'm tossing up if a night in Brisbane is called for. I guess it also depends on who can share the driving. Anyway, I'M GOING! WAHOO! Hey Matt, cheers for the offer. Are you going to go to the open day too. Maybe we can all meet for a face to face, and a get together at your place sounds like a very kind offer. What should the GW members wear to recognise one another? BA

"Roughly speaking, how much of the flora is unable to grow on the West Coast?" Seems like it's usually more like what won't grow here? (Often with bad consequences, in the case of invasives.) For instance, my mother is endlessly frustrated by my interest in native plants (she is in New Mexico), as she says "You can grow ANYTHING there and you plant plain old Apricot Mallow???!" lol. Of course, I still have a lemon tree, orange tree, palm tree, tea tree, orchid tree, hibiscus, hydrangea, avocado etc....Full disclosure: I am a newbie and just got some actual dirt a year ago - but it has been amazing to learn about this amazing climate - which is Mediterranean btw. Often I wish there was a California version of every forum here - particularly veggies, since our planting times are totally different. Some books I like: Mediterranean Kitchen Garden: Growing Organic Fruit and Vegetables in a Hot, Dry Climate by Mariano Bueno, Pat Welsh's Southern California Gardening, and California Native Plants for the Garden by Carol Bornstein et al. The Sunset Bible is also on my shelf. The micro-climate is crucial - I am in East LA and have a totally different zone than you will in Santa Monica. One thing that I'll add to look into for native plants is the Theodore Payne Foundation which is local - it's really a neat non-profit nursery and educational resource.

Hello again Rodaf, I've done a little research and come up with the following list. A couple reinforce my previous thoughts. I think you may already have considered and discounted some of the others, and some may be long shots. But if I was in your position, I would try them all and see how I went. Cheers, Frank Angophora floribunda Geijera parviflora Brachychiton populneus ssp. Populneus Brachychiton rupestris Brachychiton australis Petalostigma triloculare Flindersia maculosa Flindersia australis Atalaya hemiglauca Pittosporum phylliraeoides Pittosporum rhombifolium Santalum lanceolatum Ficus platypoda var. platypoda Erythrina vespertilio Agathis robusta Grevillea robusta Euroschinus falcata var. falcata Callitris glaucophylla syn. C. columellaris var. campestris Araucaria cunninghamii Syzygium corynanthum