http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JohnKugen/SAM_0035.jpg I got to this event early, this is what I picked up from Ian,from left to right, Banksia marginata,three Grevillea, juiperian v sulphurea, another one that I thought I had the tag to but didn't, and miqueliana, and three Callistemon, Eleanor,Woodlander's Hardy, and saligus. http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JohnKugen/SAM_0034.jpg I hit the jack pot with Cistus Nursery. On the left is a Fatsia polycarpa which the owner, Sean(sp?) said is hardier than F. japonica. Then a Schefflera delavayi. I bought one from them three years ago and it hasn't suffered any set backs from all three hard winters, so I thought I would try another one. Then a Olearia xmollis 'Zennorensis' and a NW native from eastern Washington/Oregon: Chamaebatearia millefolium. The last one smelled good, the deciding factor in its purchase. It is still open tomorrow, Sunday. I bought plants from other nurseries and probably would have bought more, except my wife put the brakes on my spending. I'm like a kid at a candy store with these sales. It's getting so bad many of these vendors know me by looks if not by name. This sale is a lot of fun for someone like me, don't miss it.

I think you've missed the point, shax...., my purpose, as always, is to portray the delicacy, intricacy and fleeting beauty of the inflorescence of Australian native flora; not the often untidy, ramshackle sprawl particularly reminiscent of many banksias. To further emphasise my point I'll include here one I showed a year or so ago on this page: B. coccinea. I was lucky with this one, I got 5 years out of the plant. Now while the bush (small tree) is not so visually attractive, the leaves are. Experts'll tell you it is virtually impossible to grow in the Eastern states. I grew it just west of Tweed Heads, NSW.

Thanks for the feedback. I have had a good look on the web and have ordered some chelated iron (which also contains magnesium) and will give them a foliar spray. It seems that the worse thing to do is to be too kind to them and fertilise them. However they can suffer from iron and it seems magnesium deficiencies. Our soil is sandy and light so it is well drained. Have bought and planted some banksias from an English nursery that specialises in them (The Old Walled Garden in Kent) and they are surviving well, although one of them is looking a little yellow (*gulp*) so I'll go down the iron/magnesium and no added fertiliser route. If this works then I'll have a go at some more seeds. The mix that I started them off in was a mixture of sand, potting compost and perlite, roughly thirds. Thanks for the help and encouragement.

I'm so sorry your garden is still struggling, Ingrid - I was only thinking recently how beautifully fresh everything was looking in some recent photos you posted - I'm not sure if I posted a comment, but I thought it. Adaptability to changing physical realities must indeed be the key to survival - of all sorts of dreams as well as gardens - but I know sometimes that can be so hard, even to know what or how to adapt successfully. Just out of interest, have you tried interspersing any of your tough Californian natives amongst the roses? I know it's a tricky one to pull off here, since many of our native species cannot tolerate phosphorous, and so would be harmed by rose fertilisers, but I am planning/hoping to try putting in a few toughish/species/not-too-far-from-species roses (Rosa Primula, Golden Wings, and Autumn Delight - the hybrid musk) this winter to mingle with our locally indigenous Callitris Gracilis (a columnular evergreen), Banksia Marginata (scrubby tree/shrub with yellow candle-like inflorescences, Xanthorea Semi-Plana (local grass-tree), and Acacia Pycnantha (golden wattle), with a yellow tea or tea-noisette (maybe Duchesse d'Auerstadt) climbing into the wattle tree from a different bed where I can feed it; along with various dark and bright green/ grey/ purple-leafed ground covers. I'm hoping they might all agree to be friends, if the roses will put up with starvation rations, and harmonise visually in a rather delicious semi-wild sort of yellow/ grey/ green/ purple mosaic on my roadside verge. (I have pictures on Pinterest, but no idea how to get them out of there and into Houzz, otherwise I'd post them.) Do you grow R. Californica/Californica Plena? It looks very pretty in photos, but don't know if it would do well in your conditions. I'm sorry to have to confess, that's the only Californian native I know of. I love the idea of mixing wild and slightly-more-cultivated plants into a not-quite wild, not quite tamed landscape! Comtesse :¬)