Atlas cedars only grow wild in north Africa :-) But that doesn't mean they can't be grown in SoCal - they are found in all areas of California, much of which has a climate like north Africa anyway. And height is relative - grown under tough conditions or in a container long term (a natural dwarfing situation), that species will never achieve the same height it does in the wild. Besides, that tree looks very much like it has been pruned radically over the years......not sure I am aware of any conifer that grows in that form naturally. Sure looks like an Atlas cedar to me. Needles to 1" long, held in clusters or 'tufts', glaucous blue coloring.......it is ony the cone I find disturbing. Doesn't exactly look like a Cedrus cone, which are held erect. Would much prefer to see one still on the tree. And I have to wonder about the reasonableness of inquiring for assistance with ID only to summarily reject all suggestions.......what's the point?

Once you have the new pot with drainage holes, cactus mix, and perlite you can repot. Just take cactus out of the old pot. This will sound strange, but rinse the roots off to get all that old cruddy soil off. Once all the old soil is off. Put the cactus on a paper towel and let dry out for a day. Keep in a cool shady spot during this 24 hours. The next day you can do a mixture of 60% perlite and 40% cactus soil. The mix will be really light. That's what you need for good drainage. Most of the plants above rotted because of poor drainage. It's really important you don't water till you change the pot and mix. The cactus will be totally fine:). Once you have repotted wait a week and then you can water:). If you keep this plant inside you will probably only need to water once maybe twice a month. Inside water doesn't evaporate as quickly. Only water when the mix is bone dry. A good way to test if the mix is moist still. Stick a wooden skewer in the mix all the way to the bottom. Let it sit in there for a couple mins. If it comes up just slightly damp anywhere on the skewer don't water. What you have is a Euphorbia and Euphorbias are prone to rot. Actually it's two plants grafted together. The pretty one on top is a Euphorbia. You may need to give this plant more light. Your balcony may be a good place during the hot months. Always acclimate to the sun slowly or the plant will burn . A good starting point is morning sun afternoon shade. Do that for a week or two and then you can up the light little by little. Euphorbias are toxic. They have a white goo that comes out when cut. That is what's toxic. Don't let this stuff get in your eyes and keep away from skin. Lots of info:). If you have anymore questions just ask. Goodluck:).

Sujafr - thank you so much! Do you have to use a special program to do that? Allison ~ yes it seems to be taking FOREVER (yrs. in planning)! We wanted to be in by now but we've been having a hard time coming up w/ the down payment to purchase both the house and the business together. Together (us, current owner of business/house & the acct.) we thought we'd finally figured out a way to do it by purchasing the business w/ the money we get from selling current house and 'renting' the one we are moving to but then of course the bottom fell out of the market so we're scrambling now. We are praying that we can be in somehow by September for DS1 to begin Kindergarten in that district. We shall see. The current owner is DH's boss and is WONDERFUL to us. Anyway, here are some interior pics of the place: LR (it's so small it's hard to get a pic of the whole thing in one shot): DR: Kitchen: Upstairs (both bedrooms are identical): We will be adding an addition of MBR, Mbath, BDR and laundry/mudroom.

What a nightmare! This is so ridiculous I'm embarrassed to post it, but I'm gonna do it anyway cause it took so long ;) Clone tool in PSP froze up and won't work. That's a first, and why I have nooo idea. You can see where it did part of the floor and then went kaput. So that's why the floor and back splash look crappy. (I had some nice tile for backsplash and a countertop, but since I can't clone it in I just had to flood fill those areas with color instead, darn it.) Can't remove the white valance, either, so I had to put the new one right over top of the original. Maybe someone with software that's not pitching fits can tweak it, I'm ready to pull my air out with PSP today. Mom's really going to have to use her imagination with this one!