Our winters are drier than coastal Californian winters. We normally get our rains spread out throughout the year with heavier fall and May/june rains. It can rain any time or not at all. Mostly it is zone 9. The lowest it got last year was was 26 degrees. We are also very warm with an occasional sharp swing down for three days. Our normal lows are in the 40's in December and January with a occasion arctic blast that could take us down to 19 but hasn't for several years. I am still experiencing lows in the 60's. Our rainfall can vary from 34" to 11" per year. When it is really cold it is very dry. I have studied Daves Garden , Arid lands and San Marcus growers hardiness estimates and that is why I am taking a chance. I live in the uplands of the area and drainage is almost too much. Many plants live on my land that do not reside downhill. It is also colder downhill. I have many Zone 9 plants living unprotected. I have a gorge that starts on my property that drains off the cold and deposits it 4 miles away in a friends backyard. She can be 24 degrees and I will be above freezing still. She is at 700' above sea level and I am at 1400'. I guess it is all about micro climates. I am still figuring this one out. I hear about the popularity of Aloes in Californian landscaping and Texas seems similar in some respects but lags far behind in testing these plants out. I am only now figuring out how Californian winters and summers differ from mine and trying to make judgements about plants that would or would not work here.. I have some friends in and around California and this year I have been following their weather on Weatherunderground and comparing highs and lows with me. Yes, I am obsessive. I do have freeze cloths. They do work wonders. I guess I am one to take chances.

Radovane Ako hoces da budes siguran da ce ti grane izdrzati transport od Hercegovine do USA ucini to u toku zime a ne u augustu. Grancice trebaju biti debljine olovke i da imaju 4 clanka, dakle duzine do 12 incha maksimalno. Umotaj takve grancice u vlaznu paper towel (ne mokru da iz nje curi voda, vec samo vlaznu paper towel). Stavi to u zipped najlonsku kesicu i donesi u USA. Pazi da ta kesica ne bude blizu neceg vruceg (radijator i sl.) vec da bude u sto hladnijim uvjetima u toku transporta. Ako taj transport traje i 10 dana nema nikakvih problema. Kad stignes u USA posadi ih u saksiju ili direktno u tlo (bacyard). Vodi racuna da 3 clanka budu uronjeni u zemlju a samo jeadn clanak da viri na povrsini zemlje. Osiguraj da zemlja bude porozna tj. da propusta vodu lako, da je ne zdrzava u korjenu smokve. Smokva voli vodu ali samo da protekne kroz korjen a nikako da se zadrzava duze od 24 sata u korjenovom sistemu Sretno i bericetno Tomo, New York

not cuttings.. they are called divisions... try the FAQ's .. and also look for posts about new deliveries .... also try the hosta library ... ken

Sylvia,Tamera. whoever you are. Try some softwood cuttings, jest for yucks. Treat them with some rooting hormone and put in a mostly perlite a little peat media , keep out of direct sunlight mist the leaves a few time a day, If you have time and see if anything happens.Also keep the media as near as 70 degrees as possible. if it works then you can write a paper on it so the next person wanting to do this won't have such a difficult time finding info. Too bad you don't live next door we would ahve agood time trying to get these shrubs to grow from cuttigs. Thanx for listenin and keep 'em plants growin' Lois