Just sent you an email. Kris

Anna Was just digging through my pix as I got a Bonsai convert down in Hollywood who is also using the compressed sphag. as a media.lol Couldn't find the really good pix of it and it looka a bit sad since the cold spell. It got its first root pruning in 1985 and is now a true dwarf. Leaves are a half inch and flowers consistantly at 1 inch now. I started adding epiphytes about 4 years ago.. It's not really a Bonsai because the media is incorrect and it's a secondary planting.. I can't get pix of the Lace plant as it's a submerged aquatic located in the large tank. It's the only vascular plant in the world that has no tissue in the leaves . lol Just a series of veins .Looks like window screen lol. It flowered for me two years ago and produced viable seed but seedlings couldn't hack the summer. It emerged from dormancy at the beginning of Dec but has already produced leaves over two feet. Unfortuneately my tank is only 28 inches deep and it's being over run with some Amazon swords and Crptocorynes. I'm so proud that this is it's third dormancy break!! I've killed so many of these I was fearing arrest by the WWF lol. I wish you could see it one of the strangest looking plants in the world. gary

Daffs - limp, but look OK overall. The flowers that were already nearly fading will probably do so, those that are still in bud or just opening may well surprise us. Lilacs - don't expect blooms. They'll re-leaf, but won't bloom. Roses - no issue. The new buds are surprisingly resilient and each bud has an auxiliary bud next to it. Tulips - may look tattered but will probably still bloom. Maples - don't expect many of the "helicopter" seeds this year. Apples - probably OK. Pears - Marginal - might do OK. Peaches, Cherries, Apricots, J. Plums - toast. Will leaf out but don't expect much fruit. Just my $0.02.

Howdy Donn wHo . . . :-) I don't have much plumie experience but I do live in SF with a few plumeria in the garden. From the little I've learned I think you should be better off than I since you're in San Leandro and get a longer hot season there. I have a peculiar spot on the east side of Telegraph Hill that almost never gets fog and so it's possible to grow plumeria here, there's enough heat and sun in the right sheltered location. What I did discover this season though, is the danger of a bad rainy year. One of my two big trees (6'+) was done in by excessive rain. My other big tree (an Aztec Gold) survived almost unscathed (had to prune just one tip). From this lesson I would echo Mike's comments above about planting in raised beds to maximize drainage and once this growing season is over I plan to replant my Aztec Gold 8-10" above it's current location with lots of sand and perlite underneath it. The Aztec Gold has a rep for being one of the tougher plumies, I don't know if there are others in this same category but it's definitely worth searching for these tougher varieties if you want to grow plumies in the Bay Area. Since you're starting with cuttings you may want to just keep them in pots for the first few years. Like that you can bring them in over the winter and then just plunge the pots back in the ground in the spring. Personally, in San Leandro I wouldn't worry about winter temperatures but I would be concerned with an abnormally long, wet winter.