My lowest temp. for this morning was -1.4 Celsius. I live in a very sheltered location approx. 900' ft. from the ocean. My highest wind speed last night was only 4.8 mph with a wind chill of -4.4 C. Most of the winds were coming out of the south east, but today we have slight north westerly breeze. Humidity today is only 41%. In my unheated cold frames I have more than 2,000 potted palms and they are just fine. Cold really is a matter of perspective and by all means this is not cold. Winnipeg is cold with their low of -46 C. predicted. In most areas along our coast you probably won't find any Cordyline australis that have frozen this past Winter. We still have March to deal with, but I have a feeling this may be the worst of Winter. Sure we may see some flurries in early March, but min. temps. that late in the season usually aren't that bad. I still have large clump of Hedychium growing in a sheltered spot close to my house and it looks just as lush as it did in the Summer. Good luck with your plants. Eric, you've done the right thing. What was your min. temp. early this morning? In town here on SSI the low was -0.6 C. Cheers, Joe

Jim, I figured it was your secret weapon against plant theivery:) Especially planted by the sidewalk. Our neighbors by the Florida house had a big one and the points can become very dangerous if you bend down by the agave, please be careful gardening by it. They can cause bad eye injury. People down there in FL cut the points off, and in our case the neighbors actually got together to remove this monster because the spikes were so pointy and growing to eye level. Luara, Hopefully someone can help you with your agave. Promise to make hubby or the kids a cake if they help:) The agaves you gave me as growing just fine in pots.

It certainly pays to hang on to a dormant tree fern for quite a while. One of my D. antarctica lost its fronds in January 1996 and I gave it up for dead, but left it where it was growing. In September 1997 it put out a frond and I moved it to a better position where it grew a full head of fronds. A few years ago I noticed that the crown looked a little odd, broader than usual, and to my delight, the crown began to split into two. So if damaged, this can happen although the self-sporing can also happen too in a very moist environment. Eventually my fern will, I assume, have a beautiful twin crown. Most of my tree ferns have been sporing for some time and I was very pleased a couple of years ago to find little Dicksonias all over the place - before long I'll have to hack my way through the jungle! Referring to the discussion about the basal regrowth, I don't know of any evidence that Dicksonia antarctica is capable of doing this. Dicksonia squarrosa certainly can - my 5ft specimen lost its crown through a falling branch and began to grow a basal shoot. I cut off the stem above the shoot and potted it, leaving the shoot to grow in situ, and to my surprise the potted stem grew another basal shoot, so I repeated the process and it grew a second shoot! I think now that it's had enough and the trunk is now beginning to rot! Still, two freebies was worth the trouble!

The nothern Ca coast is perfect for a road trip, with many sights along the way. To make it easy on yourself, fly into the small Santa Barbara airport(if possible), and rent a car from there. Santa Barbara itself is a lovely, wonderful, bustling little village with plenty of shops, great food, the pier, and of course the magnificent beach! Oh, and USB is right on the ocean. You'll only be about an hour(a gorgeoous drive!)from San Simeon where Hearst Castle is located, but you would need to book your tours online beforehand~we dId two, one after the other, but don't recall which. I swear the views from the estate are a look into heaven! You will also be close to San Luis Obispo, a great little village with a ban of fast food chains. There's a tree~lined street you can't miss, which is reminiscent of a scene out of Gone With the Wind with the mighty Oaks and also the college with it's gorgeous grounds. I can't remember how far you will be from Solvang, but it's a short drive and well worth seeing this bit of Sweden-in-America! Monticeido and Summerland, are other small villages worthy of a bit of time, and close to each other. As an aside, i'm also somewhat of a 'food snob' and was happy to learn the majority of the small restaurants along the way have their own organic gardens and if not, the produce is bought locally from organic farmers/farmers markets. It's definitely a trip i'm planning to do again, and will take in Monterey and Carmel, possibly as far as San Fran/Sausilito. As for San Diego, I lived there for 27 years before moving to Austin, and it can get crazy on the freeways. Parking places at the beach are rare, restaurants can be a 2 hour wait, and if there's a baseball game, traffic can be at a standstill in every direction. The Del Mar Fair is in late June ending on July 4th, but two weeks later horse racing season starts~all this creates more traffic, etc in SD. Just a heads up, as it can become frustrating(and overwhelming!)and may be more than you bargained for. Just something to keep in mind if you plan a visit. Looking forward to your decision. You've been given some great ideas!