1) To show people that native plants are beautiful, excellent choices for landscaping, to help stop foreign invasive plants from being used. True, but often natives just do not respond the same way to cultivation as they tend to be soil specific, requiring more aeration of the general clayey type soils that constitute the fill that is used in lots homes are built upon. And as people tend to have lawns the way the lawn is handled is generally how the rest of the yard is handled, and that is as easily as possible. 2) To support native plants and animals. These plants were selected because a number of native California butterflies, birds, moths, etc. feed on them. We are also trying to expand the territory of the lonely little grey fox that lives near the conservancy. While many of the plants you list may be attracted to butterflies and moths as well as hummingbirds, you need plants that produce seeds that birds will eat and in your list only the Ribes appears to be so. Plants that are annuals or biennials that produce small seeds for finches or larger seeds for the larger birds of your area, which you need to research. Also butterflies need plants such as milkweed for their caterpillars to feed on. "Lonely little gray fox"??? Grey foxes are solitary hunters! And they can climb trees which is one of their escape routes from dogs. You need large trees with cavities in them for the fox to hide in. Also you will need debris piles, such as piled up branches etc for rodents to live in that the fox can feed on. 3) the bushier plants are meant to discourage trespassing. There is a real issue of homeless people basically invading sections of the river and destroying it. We want to use these plants as a barrier to save the last pristine section of land, which is only maybe a fourth of a mile long, less wide. None of the plants you list can create a suitable barrier apart from the Cornus and even it is not enough to dispell intruders. You need plants like THISTLES fronted by NETTLES to form a wall at least 5 feet deep to discourage intruders but once these idiots learn you are growing Datura then forget it as they will simply find a way to destroy your barriers to get to this plant that is used as a drug. I could not believe that you would list such a dangerous plant like this. It should not be encouraged to be grown. 4) open the door for more native planting projects. If this one is successful, we would do greater habitat restoration projects, where we would actually plant more things that would naturally occur in the area. I really think you people should contact the California Native Plant Society in your area and really talk this over with them. They have the knowledge and resources that can assist you. Check the link. Here is a link that might be useful: CNPS Santa Clara Valley

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum, but on my third year of plumerias. We went to the show last year and this year. Since we are kinda new, we aren't to picky about which one/type yet so we went on Sunday at 2:00, so there was only two hours left of the show. Let me tell you last year there was plenty to pick from, this year, there was almost nothing left! JJ was the only one who had quite a few left. So that being said a couple vendors were offering to make a deal with the couple that they had left. My husband and I each went with $50.00 to spend, of course we brought the checkbook just in case!! Right away my husband struck a pretty good deal with two of the larger plants that were outside on the patio. The seller marked them both down right away for a total of 45.00 for both, one white and yellow, one yellow and white, both with current inflows and both having an inflow about to open! So then it's my turn, we have plenty that are one to two years old, I kinda wanted one larger one and no more white and yellow. I already have three JJ's... but they do seem to be my strongest plants so why not another one, again a lot of small ones, a couple larger ones for $100, but that over my budget.. so I was going to settle for one for $40.00, I don't even remember what is was, and John saw me and said, no don't get that one, take this one, it was a Rio, with an inflow about to bloom, it was marked $55.00, but he marked it down to $40.00. Still white, but has colored edges, he showed me in the catalog. So I was happy. Then I came across the Aztec Gold, I loved the smell, but they only had a little one left, but the vendor automatically took $5.00 off for me. So for going at the last minute we are very happy with our afternoon at the sale. We left at exactly 100 with a good group of plants. The two on the left are the ones my husband got for a total of 45.00, the one in the back is a JJ Divine for my mother in law, she loves mine, the little one in the front is the Aztec Gold, and the one on the right is the JJ Rio!

Ok, I've had a laugh about the eye allergy thing. That is just too funny. Because honestly I have two that do have that issue. Well.... 3. DH, DD and MIL. However, I can one-up you all on that. How do I deal with a person who believes and I mean seriously believes that my house plants take oxygen out of the air? Honest to gods, My MIL believes this with all her silly little heart that the house plants take oxygen out of the air! LOL And she's starting to convince my DH of the same silly notion! *groans* It's absolutely silly, to be honest. And I just do not know how to cope with it. Nor have I figured out how to teach them both that they are wrong! LOL =) I've gone the passive aggressive route so far. Each time either of them mentions that my plants take oxygen out of the air, I go buy another one. ROTF ~Tina

Marcelo, Yes, there are at least 3 varieties of Tabebuia that do quite well here in the San Francisco Bay Area. T. chrysotricha is in full bloom right now, I have several planted out here in the Berkeley hills in full bloom right now, and also one right on the bay in Alameda, which is not as far along, but also budded up with flowers. T. impetiginosa, lavender flowered is also grown here, and is known to repeat bloom after the first spring flush. This is less commonly planted out, but both these species grow and bloom here, and will easily handle our normal temperature range, and can also be grown in the inland valley areas such as Walnut Creek, (there are very floriferous mature trees of both at the Ruth Bancroft Garden). There is also a hybrid of these two species, more commonly seen in SoCal. I would have to admit that they flower even more profusely where spring is warmer and there is more accumulated heat, so that I generally try to plant these in protected courtyards or against south/west facing buildings for best bloom. They are unusual enough here in the SF Bay Area that most people don't know them, I love the taste of the tropics they bring to a spring garden here in Berkeley. We also have Hymenosporum flavum in full bloom here, and a Delostoma roseum tree in a client's garden is so fully budded up that the next couple of weeks should be spectacular,(this one blooms nearly all year round for me). Of course, the Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' are so loaded with flowers right now that it seems more like summer than spring, and the trees can be 15 feet tall here. Charles Grimaldi never is out of bloom in my own garden, even in January.