"I was wondering what are the easiest, most fruit bearing trees to plant in Southern California. (I just put in a dwarf avocado and I also have two figs, a pomegranate, lemon, lime, and orange. Do you think its wise to try apples or peaches? The citrus trees seem to have a lot of different maladies, while the figs seem to be thriving on their own.)" "Sunset Zone 23 has always been Southern California's best zone for avocados"-Sunset. Natural, ideal fit for Suptropical So Cal - Avocados, Figs, Pomegranates, Persimmons Jujube Loquat Citrus (great evergreens, but recent disease issues) Low chill Apricot/Aprium, Low Chill Plum/Pluot, Low Chill Nectarine/hybrids Mangos, Bananas, Guavas & other tropicals (esp. if you have a hot, south-facing wall.) Fussier Trees - Peaches (climate), Cherimoya (hand pollination), low-chill cherry (Royal pair can take 7 years to sync up & produce fruit), apple of any chill rating (grow just fine, but one blight can wipe them out), pear (grow just fine, but one blight can wipe them out) Consider first: Sunset zone information - quite helful How "low chill" do you need? (Compare to Sunset maps) If you want fruit, you have to select varieties with chill requirements less than the number of chill hours you get in the majority of years. (If your chill range is 150-500, a tree rated 400 might give fruit prolifically one in every seven years.) I would set the Dave Wilson Nursery tool under your median chill hour to look for varieties. Not trees, but good perennial fruit: Kiwi, Grapes, Passionfruit, Low chill southern highbush blueberries, Low chill hybrid caneberries (boysen, olallie, rasp, black etc), Gogi, etc. --------------- One more link: Here is the VERY helpful Dave Wilson Chill Zone selection tool. It's a very long link, but I've adjusted the settings to get you started. Make sure you adjust these settings for just under your average chill hours per year (set here for 300) and your USDA zone (set here for 10). If you have FROST (most don't), then maybeadjust the harvest dates too.): http://www.davewilson.com/product-information/quick-screen/fruit-varieties-zone-chill-testing?field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=apple&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=apricot&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=cherry&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=fig&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=jujube&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=nectarine&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=peach&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=pear&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=persimmon&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=plum&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=interspecifics&field_product_fruit_group_value%5B%5D=domestica&field_product_zone_lowest_value_op=%3C%3D&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bvalue%5D=10&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_zone_lowest_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_product_zone_highest_value_op=%3E%3D&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bvalue%5D=10&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_zone_highest_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_product_chill_hours_value_op=%3C%3D&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bvalue%5D=300&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bmin%5D=&field_product_chill_hours_value%5Bmax%5D=&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Byear%5D=2012&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bmonth%5D=1&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmin%5D%5Bday%5D=1&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Byear%5D=2012&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bmonth%5D=12&field_harvest_date_value%5Bmax%5D%5Bday%5D=31

I hope you have resolved by it now. We have a hill in the back yard as well and I was looking on here for ideas. I would mix some stones into it (as simple as limestone rip rap)to help slow down the erosion. Mix some topsoil in. Sow some sunny wildflower mix seed. Maybe even make a few paths and small sitting area that will draw you up there. A bird bath maybe. Keep it low maintenance. I hope that wall has some drainage. Hills are for heroes.

You are probably right that the russelia might appreciate more sun than your coastal conditions provide. A shame; I love that they are always in bloom for me. I have a 14" Lochroma 'Royal Queen' planted for them to taste eventually, but the darned thing is growing at such a snail's pace I partnered a Callistemon rigidus with it. The winner of the most vigorous shrub award wins the garden spot. Hamelia--A nemesis plant. Whenever I go to look for it at the nursery, they aren't being offered. Then I plant something else in the spot, and there they are for sale again. They usually are available during the summer, when they would quickly become sun-crisps if I were to plant them then. Maybe a brief holdover period in a pot would allow for planting in cooler weather. I just have to remember to do that. So many plant options, too little garden space. :)

Definitely Ficus carica, edible fig. There are hundreds of varieties, but if that one just "started growing" it's probably a bird-dispersed seedling and any fruit (a seedling might be male or female) will be of doubtful quality. If you have plenty of room you can let it grow, and you should get fruit in just a couple of years. You MIGHT get lucky and find it edible, lol. John EDIT: I just noticed it looks like it's growing right up against a wall; NOT a good thing. Figs have massive, invasive roots. If you want to keep it, you'll need to move it as soon as it goes dormant (or as close to dormant as it will get in your climate). DO NOT leave it next to the foundation of your house.