Sumognat You are on the right path. I live in Delray Beach. The thrips here are 11 months a year. I have discovered the hard way that if you spray chemicals for disease you will have major thrip problems. It kills the beneficial insects that eat the thrips. On the other hand if you don't spray for disease the roses are a diseased mess. So it's a pick your problems situation. I have discovered that if you go with old roses that are disease resistant you can have beautiful roses without disease or without insect damage, atleast it is mimimal. I would highly recommend the china rose, Vincent Godsiff. It stays small and blooms it's head off 12 months a year. My Don Juans, grafted on fortuniana are about the only modern roses that haven't bit the dust with disease. Best of luck.

Roy, A palm friend who lives in Old Mayakka gave me my B. textilis in the spring of 2004. I bought my one gallon sized B. oldhami from Crowley's Nursery nearby. Crowley's had many species of bamboo, although they don't specialize in bamboo per se. I only knew of B. oldhami so I only bought one to try. I sure wasn't disappointed. Now I would like to get other species of bamboo (of various heights) to help me with the "jungle look" I'm trying to achieve in a particular area of my property. I also want to use some as screens to block neighbors. I guess I will have to peruse the bambooweb.info for ideas. Thanks for the link. BTW, I was wondering what speices of bamboo this is in linked photo below? This is one of many clumps of bamboo the guy who gave me my B. utilis is growing. Walt Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo species?

I would like to thank everybody who attended the plant swap today. I don't know about anybody else, but I just don't get this opportunity outside of gardenweb, to talk for hours about plants and to learn more. I had a really nice time today also, though I may have eaten too much, and got sunburn on top of my sunburn! It really was a treat to talk to everybody today. I think it was the smaller crowd that allowed us all to get to know each other, and made it easier for me to host my first plant swap. It was also the first time that I had met most of you, and I certainly hope to see you all again at future swaps! Thanks for coming today, Lynn. I know you're pressed for time with so many things to do. Wishing you the best in your adventure. Bring home something interesting for the 2008 plant swap ;-)

Thailand has a great culture of gardening, I'm surprised you're not looking locally for what is grown there. Being on an island, apart from year round warm temperatures you'd also have very high humidity. Most plants you were accustomed to seeing in the UK wouldn't cope there. But your gardener should be able to indicate what would. I live in a climate which is relatively similar to yours, except not an island and a bit inland, so it gets hotter here and also colder, although rarely anything around 10C. But the biggest problem during the dry season (winter) is the heat and low humidity. That's not a good combination for many plants, although it does mean some summer mediterranean climate veggies we can grow during winter. But I'd say your humidity would prevent that. Good luck with your venture.