hey Al, the mangos would need winter protection. The condo mangos, sugar apples, and carambolas can be grown in pots and brought indoors, or at least moved to a covered area. Warning, if you do the large potted tree thing, in a few years you will start looking into a greenhouse. So far, I have not tried a feioja that I like (I've had smooth skinned and bumpy). Tropical guavas on the other hand can be quite good. If you like sweetish fruit, strongly consider planting a white sapote in the ground. Possibly you could find some fruit at a farmers market to try first. Seedlings grow fairly fast, you could then graft over to a known flavor later. Make sure to keep one branch of your seedling to try the fruit, just in case it is cultivar of the future. You could also just buy a ready grafted variety to make things easier and achieve fruit faster. Jaboticaba would also make a great conversation piece for your yard. -Ethan

I have no idea! I am a new transplant from the northeast:). But, yes, I've heard about winter crops. I was reading about that yesterday, actually. The article mentioned late July as the latest for a winter crop. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Will have to outsmart the squirrels (currently very interested in my petunias) and the many, many birds that visit the coast oak grove out back. There are several crows who have taken up residency. I'm sure they'll love to dine on cherry tommies.

I find Euphorbia tirucalli "Firesticks" to be a temperamental plant that is hard to grow in my zone 9b environment. Having gone through several seasons with this plant in different container soils, I have concluded that it really prefers to be in zone 10a or higher. Does anyone in zone 9b have experience planting it in native California clay loam, and any tips on how to increase the chances for survival? My first Firesticks was planted in a moderately large container using The Gritty Mix for soil. That mix used rather large stones (about 3/8 inch). The plant grew fantastically in Summer, but in Winter with a lot of rain outside, it rotted from the deep roots up. It looks like the bark in gritty mix might have held onto a bit too much moisture after so many rainstorms that year. Having failed to grow the plant outdoors in The Gritty Mix, I tried pure pumice. That was way too dry. The plant never took a liking to that soil and simply dried away. I was not going to water the plant every day. The third try was regular store-bought cactus mix, but that plant was kept in a porch area and kept away from the rain. The plant grew well and I side-stepped the issue of rain tolerance and simply did not water it for the Winter. Now this weekend I went to a local nursery and saw they had a spectacular-looking Firesticks planted in the California clay and thriving. It is next to a huge Bougainvillea in the photo below. The store manager told me the plant has been there for five years now. So I am going to take a risk and plant mine in California clay. The questions: * How can I maximize the chances of surviving given wet California winters and clay that hangs onto moisture during rains? I could build a large raised bed of California clay, or I could build a faster draining soil in a raised bed over the clay. Which would be better for this case? * Does anyone have an explanation of how this plant can root rot in The Gritty Mix, while apparently thriving in the store's California clay in-ground planting? What is it about Gritty Mix that might make a plant more subject to root rot than an in-ground clay planting? I am not sure if this was just random luck or if there is something about the soil itself that explains this result.

The crotons in your decorative slope post are medium sized shrubs that get 6 to 8 feet high by 5 feet around in their preferred tropical habitat. They are too close to the steps. The good news is at repeated temps below 50 they will be stunted and highly prone to dropping all their leaves. Keep looking for the Delosperma when you go to the big box. It can be tucked in between the salvia to get a groundcover going. It can also be fun and enlightening to go to a quality nursery and their prices can often match the big box.