Just a follow up on Nick's comments: $7.50 TABLES, not table--quite a few, actually. We're talking dozens of different kinds of plants. And not just common things--many that I at least have never heard of. That's what makes it so great--you can rapidly and cheaply expand your collection beyond the "ordinary" stuff. These are mostly species. They'll even sell you by mail ten or fifty plants (their choice, but tailored towards your growing conditions--I assume there are no repeats. I just checked and it even says they will try to honor your preferences. http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ooddate=2008-07-14 If you're lucky (and it helps if you're there early), you may be able to get something with a couple flowers or that will bloom soon. I bought a $7.50 pseudobulb of Cuitlauzina pendula that immediately put out a spike, before I had a chance to pot it up. Unfortunately, I soon managed to break of the spike! It has since flowered in N. California. Their code for plants that grow outside in much of Southern California is "temperature toleerant", and I *think* they label their $7.50's as such. Certainly they tell you something, or if all else fails you can just ask. Of course there's no guarantee the plant was grown outside--just ask. Last I heard Paul Gripp will tell you that he doesn't work there anymore. He's just a "volunteer", he says. His kids now own the place, I understand. The Trader Joe's plants are dirt cheap, but most of them were grown in greenhouses. However, if you know what you are doing (and many of them are labeled), you can keep them inside until they finish blooming, then put them outside and cross your fingers. At a minimum, you've had the initial blooms, which is what most people pay for. The Cymbidiums, for example, should rebloom. If you're interested in getting started on plants adapted to your climate, I notice that Nick mentions Ansellia. I have an Ansellia that is putting off keikis. I've read that they don't normally do this--undoubtedly it's because the plant needed to be repotted long ago, and possibly also because it just went through a move and its first winter in N. California. The keikis look perfectly healthy, as far as I can tell. Anyway, there are a variety of sizes, and while I'm using a few of the larger ones for trades, I could certainly spare one of the small ones--a freebie. I could simply put it into a padded envelope (with more padding, and pick a fairly flat one while I'm at it...) and hope for the best. This would be a TINY keiki, but with very healthy roots (as big as the plant). I don't think Ansellias are that easy to find. This is Ansellia africana 'Garden Party' HCC/AOS, originally from Cal Orchid. Again, it's tiny, but at least you would know what it is. These eventually make fairly large plants. Let me know if you are interested.

You have a great set up. I would concentrate on growing things that are simply not seen in your area. Do you belong to an orchid society? You have a good start with Disa, Pterostylis, Diuris and Ophrys. To me Kingianum is next to Dandelions, when they get too big here, the gardeners trim them with the weed whacker. Add a swamp cooler and a humidifier and you can dive into the wonderful world of 'Cloud Forest' species. Keep humidity at 80%, summer temps below 80F daytime, 55F night time and you can grow Dracula, Pleurothallis, Masdevallia (many of the Masdies which will grow in your current set-up), Stelis, Dryadella Scaphsepalum and many more. Odontoglossums are fabulous, will survive in your current set-up but not bloom properly, in cloud forest conditions they are spectacular. Many of the Cloud Forrest plants do not have spectacular flowers, some are not practicable because you cannot share them. Dracula will not survive a trip to your society unless you bring them in an ice cooler, the flowers will wilt otherwise. To do something different and spectacular I would gather a collection of outstanding Masdevallia coccinea and Odontoglossum. If you should be able to go to the San Francisco show in Feb, the displays will blow you away. With your set-up, you can duplicate this with a little effort. Just a thought. I also noticed the large aisle you have, with a wide house like yours optimum bench area is achieved by imaginative arrangement. 2 benches result in wasted center space, not enough room for 3 benches. One straight bench and one zipper like bench with protruding islands gives you maximum use of available square footage. A bench should be across the end. That fern uses up the space of 100 orchids and causes a lot of shade.

I am about 1.5 hrs north of San diego and 1.5 hrs south of Los Angeles in the Inland Empire, it starts getting cold here at night about mid September to mid October. I bring almost all of my hoyas inside from the time the night temps drop below 55 degrees and keep them inside until April or May when they are back up to around 55. I was in Europe this past September and had my sister staying over to take care of my dogs and plants and I didn't think it would be a big deal to wait to bring them inside until I got back because temps were about 60 degrees when I left, they abruptly dropped to just below 50 while I was gone so they were in shock when I returned, I lost my Aldrichii and cv. Joy. My sister has hoyas too so I am sure it was the temp drop that shocked them and not the way she watered them. I am surprised you have been able to leave so many of yours out through the entire winter without mass casualties! This winter it was close to freezing for several weeks, and was even under 20 degrees a few nights here. I left my Carnosa outside through the winter because its way too big to bring inside and it seemed to do fine. My Variegated Kerrii was subjected to those super cold temps inside my house and tons of leaves froze, then turned black or started to yellow, and dropped off :( It was too big to bring into the kitchen where I keep the rest of them during the winter, so I left it in the back bedroom next to a window and I guess it must have even gotten too cold in there for it... It has bounced back, but I'm assuming that's because of its size, if it was a small plant, I surely would have lost it. Any new leaves that have grown since the freeze are solid green, not sure if that is from the shock of the cold or what but I'm not too worried about it, I know the whole plant can revert to solid green because of this but I'm ok with that, I'm just glad it survived because it was in bad shape. My hoyas that were in shock in the low 50's & high 40's: Latifolia - this one is pretty sensitive so I won't be putting it back outside unless temps are consistently above 60. Balansae Meliflua ssp. Fraterna Cv. Joy - eventually lost Diversifolia ssp. El nidicus - almost lost this one too Balaensis Pentaphlebia Naumannii Aldrichii - eventually lost The ones that were ok in the low 50's/high 40's but I brought them inside anyway (and they seemed grateful to be indoors): Australis(not sure which ssp., purchased at local nursery & it was not labeled) Davidcummingii Obovata Pubicalyx - did drop a few leaves but was still ok Heuschkeliana Compacta Kerrii Plicata I am slowly bringing them all back outside now :) Hopefully that gives you a good bit of insight from another Southern California Hoya lover. I have also developed my own little system I would like to share that helps me be sure not to over or under water my hoyas regardless of the season, my trick is checking the mature leaves first before checking the soil, if they are stiff I know they are not ready to take water yet. If the mature leaves are soft, I then check the soil, and if it is dry, I can be sure they need water. If the leaves are soft and the soil is moist I check the leaves the next day and most of the time they are stiff by then and just needed a bit more time to soak up the water from the soil. Basically, I rely on the stiffness of the leaves to tell me if the plant is ready to be watered and I have not had over or under watering problems since I started doing it this way :) My only hoyas large enough to take cuttings from are my Carnosa and Kerri, which are obviously pretty common, maybe we can do some trades next season once my other ones are large enough to take cuts from :)

Thanks for the words of encouragement and photo ideas grannybj65, I have a really nice digital camera and plan to take LOTS of photos all along the way as I develop the garden. The photos linked here were taken by a good friend. I have an eye for good snapshots so once I'm down there I'll be taking dozens of photos from all angles and different weather conditions. The joy of digital photography - you never run out of film. LOL One of the things I like to do is take a series of photos from the same angle all day long on a sunny day to get a general idea of where the shady and sunny spots are. Doing that a few times throughout the year as the Earth changes kilter I'll perfect an image in my mind of where best to place different plants based on their light/shade tolerance. Looking at the photo of the front of the house dead-on, I just got a great idea. Facing the house, the living room is on the right side with the single window and the kitchen is on the left side with the double windows. In front of the double windows inside is the kitchen sink, so it is not a spot that will have tremendous "looking out the window" appeal. So, as the cogs turn in this hard head of mine, I'm visualizing lattice from the center pole on the porch going to the left corner, then around to where the porch meets the house. Then cutting a rectangular window out of the center of the front of the lattice and framing it a bit so there is a clear view out to the road from the kitchen window. And then I can visualize the lattice painted white (or more likely light gray as I'm not too fond of white outside) and covered in Scarlet Runner Bean and Clematis with maybe some "Joseph's Coat" (Amaranthus tricolor) in front and some dwarf Cannas with some "Love lies Bleeding" (Amaranthus sp.) along the side. The scarlet, violet, purple and deep reds and burgundys will all be in harmony with one another, at least until I decide on a totally different look down the road. I can have a nice metal frame rocking deck seat out on the porch hidden away behind the wall of vines where I can sit and enjoy the shade - and a good spray from the gardening hose on all the vines will create a nice cooling breeze. Well, it's a thought anyway. :) I saw on eBay this evening someone in San Diego California is selling several batches of Tillandsias (the common T. ionantha). They are offering them as a box of 50 child fist-sized clumps of them for around $20 if I recall - quite cheap. I immediately thought how neat it would be to buy 50 or 100 clumps and then carefully wire them to a wire-frame wreath for a living, blooming front door wreath, especially once the front porch is semi-latticed in and well shaded. A few sprigs of Spanish Moss draping down from the wreath here and there would further kick off the effect. It would live on the wet air, constantly regenerate itself with new growth, and bloom off and on throughout the year. During the colder months I could bring it inside and hang up it in the living room window where it can get plenty of bright indirect light. Ok, I'll shut up now.