They didnt have little gem at Armstrongs in Claremont. I also went to a few nurseries nearby and they also didnt have little gem. I did see a lot of spring flowering magnolias. The only grandifloras they had were the 15 gallon size I think and they definitely werent little gem. One nursery said the the smallest pot size magnolias they can get is 5 gallon which is too big for my patio and would be difficult to haul. I guess I will have to order sticks online since this is frustrating me. Thanks to everyone that posted. Does anyone know if Lowes or Home Depot carry Little Gem? While out looking for Little Gem, one thing I notice is that nurseries tend to have an awful lot of camellias which is ironic because I rarely see camellias in the yards of So Cal. So many plants at nurseries, but I can never find what I desire.

I live in Long Beach. We do get coastal breezes. But because of our proximity to Palos Verdes Peninsula, the large "hill" blocks the northwesterly sea breezes, so many times Long Beach can reach into the 90s in the summer while south in Huntington Beach or north in Redondo Beach, the temps will be in the 70s. But for the most part, temps keep moderate year round. I'm luck to have a large yard and big enough for several large greenhouses. If do prefer the coast. San Diego county is beautiful. Take a drive down to Quail Botanical Gardens in Northern San Diego county. Vista is nice. Capistrano is nice too. The O.C. is nice, but you will find a lot of track homes. Large homes, yes, but not very big yards. Fullerton is nice. The old part of the city. But it does get warm in the summer. Not too bad. If you go north, try Ventura County. Ventura or Carpinteria. Forget Santa Barbara or Goleta unless you have big bucks. The housing market has slumped. But not to a point where you can buy a house along the coast for less than a million. (Though you will find some nice homes in the $800K) Hard hit areas where homes have been foreclosed will be the outlying suburbs (tract homes) in Corona, Riverside and much of Inland Empire where many new homes were defaulted on. I for one hate these types of neighborhoods. Cookie cutter homes (large) but no yard. And basically but up against near desert. I would avoid Porter Ranch and Santa Clarita. Right now the area is ablaze. Planned neighborhoods, fancy tract homes, and small yards. But again, fire hazard areas. Also we have a bad drought, so you will be limited in watering. And if you do choose to live in a dry area, well, you will have to change your plantings to reflect more native plants, grasses, and cacti. San Bernardino County is up in the foothills. The base of the mountain. Fallbrook is nice, but gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Good for fruit that need winter chill. Again, if you want to grow more exotics, more tropicals, then you need to move to the coast. Mornings will have marine overcast. Which is nice. And will burn away to sunny, mild days. You will have more micro-climates too. Here in Long Beach, I grow mainly orchids. But also pineapple, plumeria and hawaiian tea bushes.

I know most of the conversation on this thread is on the JJ's, but I picked up one of the 'generic' dwarfs from Hines nursery at Lowe's. As there were many others available (which are now all gone), and I wasn't satisfied with 'Plumeria Assorted', I contacted the nursery and they kindly replied within 24 hours with the following: "Plumeria âÂÂDwarf Singapore Pinkâ (Plumeria obtusa) This new dwarf hybrid of Singapore Plumeria is a seedling mutation from Plumeria obtusa. If kept warm and in bright light, it will remain evergreen, keeping its leaves. Also, it will flower all year. The plant is a dwarf, well-branched small tree that grows well in containers. Leaves are long, leathery and glossy green. Bloom clusters appear at the terminal tips of branches." I'm putting that to the test here in So Cal! It was transplanted after a day at the house at it was water logged after being purchased and now sits in a mix of 1/3 Perlite, 1/3 Pumice, and 1/3 Big R. Time will tell. Cheers! Dan

Jen, WOW..WOW..WOW.. 2 posts in a row lol. Your on a roll, you must be on vacation, or maybe since your babies are getting ready for their naps you have more time lol... J/K ;P I was told by an importer and seller of Thai plumies, that no plumie in Thailand is an exclusive as there is so much theft as most of the growing fields are acres and acres of land, in some cases over 40 plus acres. Even if someone like JJ or Kukiat has a seedling that blooms that they own, a worker/random person/even friend of the owner may steal/get a branch or the whole plant. That is why you see so many plumies that are supposedly exclusive 1 of a kind plumies, being sold by another seller or a few from Thailand selling them on Ebay and other places and with different names. Example is Fireblast being imported and sold by BBB this season on Ebay, there is also another seller from Thailand that sells it for under 20.00 under a Thai name, not Fireblast. This seller sells legit items as I have bought from them in the past and has been on Ebay forever. A friend of mine bought hers 2 yrs ago or so from this seller in Thailand and her FB bloomed true for the past 2 seasons. With Thai Peach it was a JJ's exclusive in Thailand. Per John the Mother tree was either lost/stolen or destroyed. Since 2005, I have seen a few Thai Peaches being sold on Ebay from Thailand, but not sure it is the same as plumie photos from there look different than the ones grown here. All I know is that Sonia did more to market, sale/distribute JJ's Thai Peach than anyone else. In 2005 Sonia bought out all the Thai Peachs from John that she could find (5gal multi tipped plumies for 55.00 back then from JJ's). Sonia then resold the Thai Peach's and cuttings to other people. Thats how I got mine in 2005 (5gal was about 4ft, multi tipped) along with the Morgan's and many in the Inland Empire area. Sonia also sold stuff on Ebay, so I am pretty sure the one Lopaka has is from Sonia aka JJ's variety. As for Brads I am not sure if that is one of JJ's/Sonia's Thai Peaches. Sonia actually got the name Thai peach from the Thai Ebay sellers in 2005 as it looked like their TP, Sonia in the early years helped John with a few names for his plumies like Golden Ray, Thai Peach, Big Red and others. Since Thai Peach was a good seller and Sonia and other bought out Johns (jjs) inventory, John went to Thailand to replenish his inventory he stated that he could not find the Mother tree of TP. So since John could not replenish TP, and did not even have one for himself, what ever is currently being sold privately and @ Plumie Society sales are most likely recirculated JJ's TP from people who had it or got it from Sonia or a few who had it still. I gave a bunch of large multi tipped cuttings to Irene Jones a few years back as my tree blew over and had all these branches break. I do know that Irene was selling some at the SD Plumie Society sale recently. So again do not know if Brads is the same as JJ's. So as of current Thai peach is not commercially avail, so you will never see it at Lowes or HD. PHEW.... That was a long one..lol Hope that answered your question regarding Brads TP..lol Laura Thanks for the compliments. Cheers y'all