Kind of hard to shift mental gears and come up with non zone 9/10 plants, plus I've no experience with Japanese beetles here in California. On the other hand, some of those recommendations of plants which are tender perennials here, such as the Nicotiana sylvestris and the various Angelica species are also great performers here in the SF Bay Area. Along those lines, I'd also recommend tall accents such as Verbena bonariensis, Helleborus argutifolius if hardy for you, and that Fringe tree is also fantastic in bloom here. And surprisingly, Hostas can be grown well here if carefully sited by keeping well separated from the rest of a garden by wide swaths of pavement which limit snail access. I would look into some of the hardier Euphorbia species such as E. myrsinoides and E. rigida. Eryngiums are another group of perennials with that something "extra". A rather tropical touch can also be had by adding herbaceous perennials such as Hedychiums, Colocasias, Cannas(Canna 'Pacific Beauty' is a particular favorite for outrageous orange color). Check out the on-line catalog for Plant Delights Nursery or our local California Annie's Annuals Nursery for tempting unusual mail order listings; both ship across the country and both have excellent web sites with lots of photos.

Hi, A couple of questions: -Would hardy pricklypear cactus (Opuntia humifusa/compressa) be the only hardy pricklypear to endure zone 6 winters? -Would sweetshoot bamboo (Phyllostachys dulcis) be suitable for zone 6? -Comment: Pawpaw, Asimina spp. (including Asimina triloba), contains the compounds associated with increased risk of atypical Parkinson's; you'd have to it is frequently enough, I would suppose. -Comment: I believe that ginko nuts must be eaten in moderation - I remember reading some materials describing them as toxic to some extent. I wonder if making tea out of the leaves would be a good thing, however. -I know Lucky has some varieties survive his zone 6 winters, but anyone have any varieties of Pomegranates survive zone 6, 6a or 5b? - and fruit? -What are the best Amelanchier spp./Juneberries/Serviceberries w/regards to taste? I think that the only berries I absolutely loved must have been A. alnifolia - 5' thin suckered bushes with dark, sugar-sweet berries; the A. canadensis and A. canadensis x laevis I've tasted are not as good as what ever variety that happened to have been. -Will American hazelnut/filbert & American beaked hazelnut hybridize with the European species? -If I were able to obtain a true American Chestnut selected from a stand that showed great disease resistance, would the taste hold up to the Chinese and/or English varieties? -In comparison to a straight D. virginiana or D. kaki, would there be any taste improvement in the hybridization between American x Asian persimmon? -Would you think that a fully ripe Wild Mandrake/Mayapple would be at all toxic; or would it be risky if consumed in excess? -What are cold-hardy, reliable varieties of Black Mulberry (M. nigra)? [non-hybrids] -In zone 6b, my 'Brown Turkey' Fig never dies back to the ground; I do nothing to protect it. -I purchased a grafted D. kaki 'Saijo' and a friend of mine showed me his orchard containing grafted Asian persimmons - the grafts reject after several years; he explained that if you had an American x Asian hybrid as the inter-connection between the D. virginiana rootstock and D. kaki scion, the graft would last indefinitely. I hope the tree will last, contrary to this - probably won't. -Are the berries of native/American shrub-dogwoods and tree dogwoods (other then the toxic Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood) really edible? C. sericea/stolon., C. alternifolia, etc.? -Besides Black Oak, any other good oak nuts? -I'll contribute a few I can think of here (edibles): Salmonberry, Thimbleberry, 2 varieties of Ligonberries - American/European, Bearberries, Wild Wintergreen Berries, Berberries spp., (water lily and lotus/parts, arrowhead/parts, pickerelweed/parts, Acorus - sweetflag, not iris!), various man-made blackberry x raspberry hybrids, the man-made 'jostaberry' - ribes spp., a wide array of vaccinium spp. (blueberries, deerberries, bilberries, false huckleberries), Garden Huckleberry (not a huckleberry), varieties of cranberry, Akebia, Orange trifoliate, Crabapple spp., nuts: chinquapin, species of hazelnut/walnut/varieties of hickory (including pecans), forbs: daylily species, various flowers, Monkey Puzzle Pine, Pine Nut species, syrup from Walnut & Maple species, Prinsepia, Asparagus, Globe Artichoke, Jerusalem Artichoke, various greens, various man-made stone fruit hybrids, foxgrape (including 'Concord' & 'Neptune'), purple passionflower, Mountain Ash species, Aronia spp., Western Sandcherry, Buffaloberries, native Silverberries, Sala, Yuka spp., Magnolia virginiana for tea - leaves and culinary, chokecherry, wild black cherry, pin/fire cherry, American wild plum, Chickasaw plum, Beach plum, cloudberry/bakeapple berry, smooth & staghorn sumac, teas from birches, American larch, and others - be cautious, tall & stinging nettle tea, the species of Jujube, Streptopus amplexifolius - I forgot the name - I call it watermelon berry, but it's not the above mentioned Che/Melonberry which is a good one to have. ____ When you think about it, there really are only a few fruits out there: Apple (4 types), brown or green Pear, Cherry otherwise know as Bing or Yellow Cherry, Melon, Apricot, Nectarine, Orange, Grapefruit, Grape, Kiwi, Plum, and Pineapple - if you don't believe me, just go to the supermarket or your local cooperate sponsored fruit consumption advocacy materials. Well, they do have around 5 other rare ones: Starfruit, Date, Fig, and Fruit-roll-up Fruit.

Does anyone have any neat and/or unusual tree, shrub, vine, or hardy shade-loving perrennial seeds to swap? I am especially interested in uncommon tree or shrub seeds that I could winter sow. I would like to swap for things that are hardy to at least zone 6b. I am only interested in things that are properly identified. It's hard to know if I could use a "white flowering bush" or "some type of evergreen tree". I don't have nearly as many types of seeds to trade as some do, but I'm trying to get "started". Here is a link that might be useful: My Exchange List

Carolyn .. I am in Arlington, Tx We are still negotiating, but I think I am about to walk and look elsewhere. I discovered that the supposed recent comps sent to me by the broker actually had much older deed dates. Out of the 26 I based my offer on, only 5 were sold in 2006..some of the others were as old as 2001. I reevaluated my offer, due to the comp price average being much higer based on the 5 that sold in 2006. I countered with $74,000 with me still paying my closing costs. The declined it and stayed firm on 78,000 with me paying my closing costs. I researched it further, checked out homes in the area that were listed within a $3,000 higher or lower range and found that they didn't meet or exceed the quality of the one I am looking at buying. I found out about an available grant to 1st time home buyers and being as keeping my monthly payment in my affordable range is the most important thing for me..I checked into it. It turns out that I meet the criteria so, based on that I made the decision to go with their asking price of $78,000 with the contingency that the house pass the inspection arranged by the agency issuing the grant. The grant money, which I would use as a down payment would keep my paments where I need them to be. I went to a 6 hour class yesterday that is required for the grant and they had a real estate broker, mortgage lender, insurance representative and an inpector for the Texas Real Estate Commission conducting workshops. It was really informative and I asked the inspector if the house being older and not having the electrical outlets grounded would cause it to fail inspection. (the inspection for the the grant is different than a standard inpection..in this one it passes or fails and no grant if it fails) He told me it wouldn't be a problem, but that they could not have 3 prong outlets installed if it wasnt grounded. Basically, can't appear to be grounded when it isn't. Well .. it has 3 prong outlets and when I told the real estate broker, he said "that's the problem they had with the last attempted sale .. same thing caused it to not pass FHA code" Now I know the reason that they insisted on only accepting a conventional loan offer from me and based on all they have said, I find it highly doubtful that they will switch out the outlets plates to make the sale. Although there would be a little rewiring involved ... from what I was told, it is a matter of just 2 wires per outlet and very simple and inexpensive to do. I checked with an electrician, then called the real estate broker and told him I would pay for it to be done. It was less than $200.00 and was worth it to me. I meet with the broker this afternoon to finalize the contract at their asking price .. with the contingency of the inspection for the grant added and my offer to pay for the electrical switch. He says they are firm on not changing it, based on what they told him about the last experience with this, but said he will present it to them. If they decline .. I give lol .. it will be time to move on. Hopefully, I will know something this evening or tomorrow.