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Click your heels three times, and say there's no place like home!

Large Ficus elasticas are very common here. (These photos are not from my garden, and they are not taken by me ). Also avocado grows here just fine. Mexican avocado is hardy to 18F. And those ficus are not large. Plenty of ficus in Norcal in 9b that get to that size, then every 20-30 years, bye bye. You want to see large ficus? Go to USDA 10a, you will find out what a large ficus looks like. 3-6 feet wide trunk, 50-100 feet tall canopy. Now that's a large ficus.

Axel Surely you mean "the" place to be in USA for palms. The world is bigger than that. This outlook is what I find most amusing in this thread. Steve

Rhopalostylis baueri v. "cheesemanii" in 5g for $30 Most of them are larger than this one pictured and really nice looking. Also, have 15g R. baueri for $75 that will be going into 20g containers soon and 20g for $225. Thanks for your support everyone!

Have 4 in 25gal pots. Making trunk. 1 in a 15gal pot. All are in full sun. Call for price. 949 2356187 Thanks, Ron

My thoughts exactly. The piedmont soils, climate, and elevation (700-1200 feet above sea level) are perfect for Fortunei. After seeing what t. fortunei can look like up here I wouldn't want to grow them further south! Interestingly, the only place in Florida I've ever seen fortunei look good is Tallahassee, which is located in an intrusion of piedmont-type soils, and even has some terrain (although not much elevation). Piedmont species such as rhododendron minus, mountain laurel, and several hardwood species have their southern most populations in the forests nearby, while pre-ice age Appalachian flora such as torreya were able to escape glaciation and hang on until the present day.

Getting started on a blank canvas is very hard to do, but as you get more and more things in it becomes easier because the garden begins to speak to you and tell you where things want to go. Here's how I started my garden and it worked really well for me. 1. Decide where your roads are going to be. Having access for a truck to dump mulch and haul plant and landscaping material in is a necessity. Take some pavement paint and mark out your access road that will circumnavigate the property. Looks like you have a lot of space so if a truck doesn't have to do a 3 point turn then that's ideal. 2. Next you'll want to decide where your foot paths are going to be. Usually after walking around the property a lot you end up taking certain paths anyways because it's the easiest way to get from one point to another. So, make some of those direct foot paths because they'll come in handy when you're working so you can get around easily. And then make some paths that wander and meander. Again, mark this all out with paint, or dig them in with a shovel, or use string/stakes, etc. 3. Then the areas you have left are blocks of planters or general areas for garden stuff. Think about what your sun angles are and devise a strategy for planting. For example you probably don't want to put anything evergreen and tall on the southside of your house because it'll block all your warming winter sun. Don't plant huge shade trees on the west side of an area if that area is going to have sun loving plants because eventually you'll shade out your sun lovers. Hope that helps a little.