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Go to the Palmpedia site, there you'll find the Croton Society forum. It's quite interesting with great pictures and loads of information.

despite the impending & often actual rain many so-calians attended the pssc meeting today,11-20-10. the PRA team was among those many intrepid so-calians who braved the elements for their palm obsession & nearly paid the ultimate price---the ire of their spouse. palmgrover(bob weas) & i were a bit ahead of schedule so we dropped in on bs,man about palms. new red leaf brightens up the container ranch. bs man reveals the secret to the EXPLOSIVE growth of his palms: dr.pepper drip irrigation. after a pleasant visit with bs man we drove away as fast as we could until we reached the home of bob dejong. there just happened to be a garden tour that very day. coincidence? maybe? i didnt have the heart to tell palmgrover that bob dejongs was 4 houses up the street.

The weather was not so good, but the turnout and palms were happenin'. The Robert de Jong (pogobob) garden has been covered pretty well on PalmTalk, I hope to just fill in the blanks a bit. First wide shots of the front yard.

Don - very special Birthday Wishes to you !!! 59 already? Ron

Definitely Paysandisia archon, sorry I spelled it wrong in my previous post Imported into Europe from Argentina with shipments of Trithrinax campestris Unlike the Red Palm Weevil this bug is very cold hardy and will kill plants in the colder regions of Europe This picture of you shows the typical damage Just like this one A pic of the moth And a link http://secure2.csl.gov.uk/plants/publications/plantHealth/documents/PPN49.pdf

What a great turnout! I didn't think we'd see more than 3 or 4 people, but the weather calmed down and I bet we had maybe 150 show up! Thanks to all who came out and all the nice words and shareing of our passion for palms and plants. Sometimes it's easy to take what you have for granted, but thru shareing with others it can open your eyes and get fresh perpectives of what a fine group of folks we all are!

i didnt recognize bob without his 'stache. he looked 3 hrs younger. dypsis plumosa. & d.onilahensis.

palmgrover can't always remember PRA team members so i have to coach him: "thats mattyb,remember mattyb,the one who smells like pee?" and of course there were palms. triangle teddy cross. bob only has 2 fan palms in his actual yard as far as i can ascertain & one of em was a "volunteer."

bobs street. everyone is afraid to say "NO" when he asks if they want some palms. palmgrover spotted this interesting way to "dress-up" a garage or carport. awesome roystonea & we're not even to bobs yet! could that be it? could it?

Great shots Terry of an awesome garden ! I can see alot of familiar faces in the crowd ! The chatham Island Rhopalostylis you mentioned is actually the Rhopalostylis sapida Great barrier island ,the Chatham is on the other side . Looks like Bob is still wearing his Tassie cascade beer Hat

I'll post photos of Rick Luna's garden later, but will leave this as teaser. The first thing you see when you approach his house!

There were al least 3 species of mature Burretiokentia. Oddly I didn't take any individual photos of the tallest Chambeyronias I've ever seen. I did snap this hiding Pinnanga coronata, something I can't readily ID, and a parting shot of the famous Syagrus "Abreojos".

I lost count of how many mature Hedyscepe Bob has. Also included here is one of his fatty Rhopalostylis sapida "Chatham Islands".

I wasn't expecting so many Cyphophoenix. Included here are elegans, nucele and alba.

Now to the backyard, with towering Rhopies, Burretiokentias, Hedyscepes, and Howea. A nice-sized crowd and some familiar faces.

That last pic was Bob's Decaryi X Leptocheilos, which I coveted above all other palms in his collection. Here is a closeup, plus photos of his Dypsis onilahensis, Dypsis albofarinosa, and Dypsis ambositrae "kindreo".

i did some pruning today and here are my results (there wasn't any odor comming from the infested trees here are some pictures any idea ???

Few from my area

As Jeff said, here's a link to where the experts hang out - The Croton Society main page that contains links to the Croton Encyclopedia and Forum. HERE And here's a direct link to the Forum. I'm sure if you asked the experts there what are the most cold hardy, or all around most tolerant for SoCal, you will get some feedback. Then have fun trying to make the accurate IDs needed to locate them. FORUM

A few weeks ago I innocently looked in the tropicals section on my way to pick up something else at my Virginia Home Depot and saw an employee pull a little triangle palm for the sale rack which is only a few days before the dumpster. Actually, I probably used the "need" for something else at the store for an excuse to check out the plants. Anyway, when they put a $4.99 price including the "decorative pot" with NO drainage holes, I knew the "tropical palm" needed to come home with me. Unless I'm mistaken, it's a triangle palm and we only have two of those so certainly need a third, right? With some TLC and a pot allowing drainage , it perked right up and passed inspection to end up flying with us to our Puerto Rico farm. One photo shows the coqui frog inspection on our porch and the orange flagging tape and PVC pipe in the other photo show its location after planting. Perhaps this qualifies as a fairy tale ending for a big box palm ?

This is from 11/2008 And today, Brandon is 10 years old. 7 years of growth from a 5 gallon pot.

Welcome to the Keyes Hotel in Moshi, Tanzania, the rendezvous point for trekkers and guides preparing to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Ravenala madagascariensis Our detailed plans began two years ago, carefully selecting a week with a full moon during the season with the greatest incidence of clear skies, coinciding with the great migration. Cocos nucifera with full moon After months of training and preparation, we have reviewed the checklist with our guides; our bags are packed and ready. The mountain awaits.

Ho-kay! So now all we have to do is get back down again... Fortunately, we take a different route down, which mostly involves 'skiing' down volcanic sand banks. It's very fast. We get a 2 hour break, then pack up and hike down to the 10,000 ft. level at Mweka Camp. Hurray! I can see clearly again! It's our last night on the mountain, and we relive our experiences over dinner in the mess tent. In the morning the porters thank us with a rousing round of song. These guys have done an amazing job of carrying the bulk of our gear, setting up camp, and feeding us, and they have earned our affection. It's a short 3 hour walk down to Mweka Gate to sign out, pick up a souvenir, and board the truck. Patch of honor Back at the Keyes Hotel we can relax and sample the local brews while preparing for the next leg of our adventure. Cheers!

The sun has risen, the wind has died, and we reach Stella Point where we take a break. What? This isn't the top? I can't find Steve; he's behind me somewhere, but I cannot see people's faces. Murray from Toronto says it's the altitude changing the shape of my eyeballs and reassures me that I'll be able to see fine when we go back down. Steve arrives and has been taking oxygen to help relieve his exhaustion brought on by the altitude; otherwise he is cheerful and ready to make the last dash to Uhuru Peak. About forty minutes later, we stand on the highest point in Africa, Uhuru peak, 19,340 ft. A picture- and hug-fest ensues. Glaciers Crater view with Mawenzi Peak in the distance

The next morning we eye the vertical face of the Barranco Wall that we will climb after breakfast. It looks intimidating, but turns out to be my favorite part of the hike. There is a lot of scrambling over boulders and up fissures between rocks, and the views are boundless. After a hot lunch on the trail we begin a long steady ascent across a lunar landscape. Everything seems really big and open up here. It is early afternoon when we reach craggy Barafu Camp. 'Barafu' means 'icy' in Swahili, and it is very cold here at 14,950 ft. We layer on more clothes and rest. At midnight we will begin our last leg of the hike to the summit under a full moon. After hiking with our companions these last few days, we are now bonded as a team, and are looking forward to every member reaching the summit around sunrise. At the appointed hour we assemble and take our places in line according to the guides' instructions. We are nearly unrecognizable to each other in our bulky layers with headlamps blinding each other's eyes. The trail starts off moderately, then hits a very steep section. Scrambling up the steep granite slabs takes my breath away for a moment, then the slope moderates a bit, and we continue. It's really cold now and we have to remember to blow back the water in our drinking tubes so it won't freeze. If I remove a mitten to adjust a zipper or open an energy snack, it takes a very long time to warm up again inside the down mittens, and my toes are cold inside my boots. The temperature is estimated to be - 10C, or 14F. The wind kicks up, and after awhile the gusts are pushing us sideways. It continues to blow harder and harder, slowing our progress and intensifying the cold. Afterward we discussed the wind and how it affected us. We all agreed it had an isolating effect because we couldn't see well in the dark and had to concentrate very hard on our footing, plus the wind made it nearly impossible to talk to each other. So for hours during the climb, it was like we were alone inside our heads with only our thoughts for company. Funny what goes through your mind in that situation... Somewhere around 18,000 feet I begin to notice my vision is foggy. I think it is the wind drying my eyes, or my hair whipping my eyeballs, or maybe the volcanic dust irritating them. My vision gets worse and worse, until I can just make out the black gaiters of the person in front of me. I realize if I fall behind by more than a couple of steps I could get lost, so I alert the guides to my problem. Since it is only an hour until sunrise, they assign a guide to hold my arm and point where to place my feet (I have lost all depth perception), and we continue the climb.

We crouch behind some rocks to get out of the wind while we break for lunch, with a view of the Lava Tower beyond. (Note the tiny people on the trail to the left.) So many people have fallen to their death while climbing the Lava Tower in the last few years that our trekking company does not permit its hikers on the tower, but we can see many people clambering up the rocks. The guides enforce a slow pace to allow for acclimation to the higher altitudes. I don't mind it when going uphill, but on the downhill slopes after the Lava Tower, I feel like I'm in a nursing home pushing a walker. It seems to make the day even longer to walk so slowly, but eventually we can see the camp in the distance as we pass giant Senecio kilimanjari growing alongside the stream crashing down the rocks. Feet weary, we stumble into camp and are greeted by an enthusiastic round of song in Swahili from our porters. These guys put on a great show. We are in Barranco Camp at 12,850 ft., only a little higher than yesterday's camp, although the trail peaked above 14,862 ft. today. After tea, the clouds part for a moment to give us a glimpse of the glaciers on Kibo.

Arriving at Shira Plateau, 12,480 ft., we realize the large numbers of hikers making the ascent with us -- it's a tent city here. Morning is very cold, ice crystals all over the rocky ground, and the early sunlight brightens the view of Mt. Meru: This day is a long slope upward through fields of rocks tossed out by the volcano in ages past.

The rainforest: It seems to get wetter as we hike up the trail, and the mosses and epiphytes get thicker. The porters have arrived and set up camp long before we make our appearance. Machame Camp There is hot water and bowls for washing up, and the mess tent is waiting with hot tea and snacks. Still Life with Blue Carafe

We are a group of eleven hikers with three guides; our transportation arrives: Some of the guys speculate this is a troop carrier from World War II; we think it more likely dates from the 70's. The important thing is, we all fit in the back! Of the many trails up the mountain, we will take the Machame Route, which is jammed with trucks, hikers, and porters when we arrive at the gate. To our surprise, our group of eleven requires more than 40 porters who will carry our tents, sleeping bags, food, chairs, tables, as well as their own necessities, and they will do it with ease and grace, loads balanced on their heads. Machame Gate The trail begins in the lush rainforest.