I've also noticed more male "puzzles" than female specimens. Yes, the females litter the ground with seeds for an extended period of time. One puzzle owner gets a hobby grower to clean the yard from these seeds. I notice that laurel seeds germinate with ease in random locations. I actually keep some seedlings because they are deer resistant. But puzzle seeds seem to require help from gardeners. I have planted a small BC-grown Puzzle tree that is being compared to a Dinosaur tree (Wollemia nobilis). The Dinosaur tree started growing at a later date but is faster, especially in warm, dry summer weather. I'll hand out cones to elementary school science classes if the tree produces. That might help spread Dinosaur trees in Greater Victoria if they do well. I'm assuming they do well here but time will tell. We need a full La Nina to El Nino cycle to confirm. Well, it did start off with a La Nina spring. This spring was good for me because I could move many plants later and the summer started with more moisture. The little rain we get in summer was timely. So I'm happy. But sensitive rhodos were lost in hot weather. I hope that you don't loose plants in the dry heat. I used to prep for frost at our latitudes in Ontario because frost was a few weeks away. The first weeks of Sept would bring frost... and important ones by summer's end. Over here in Greater Victoria my concern is how some plants or trees cope with summer drought. I no longer get big thunderstorms with 50 mm in a day. Our rain falls during winter but I can strangely make use of it by growing things like kale. The plan is to adapt the yard for all-season gardening. There's a lot of cemented patio surface to get around so rubber boots are no longer required for winter. Plants & trees are planted in linear rows for ease of summer irrigation. No lawn space because summers demand too much lawn watering. I rather use less resources, time & energy growing laurels, photinia & palm trees. I welcome you to visit the garden when you drive down to Victoria. Cheers Here is a link that might be useful: Male (mature) Monkey Puzzle

I was able to visit the Monardella plant today, and harvested a few seeds. The seedheads seem to have a tendency to break off the plant, and the flowers were dry or nearly dry. However, only some of the seeds were dark in color. I don't know if any of these seeds are viable, but I am suspicous that the light colored ones are not. I split them up into 3 groups in case anyone wants to try some as well. I have had little luck finding out when and how to plant them, whether they need to be stratified, and whether they require light to germinate. I'll keep a third and of those try stratifying half and planting half directly. Given the fact that the seeds are ripening a little before our rainy season, I would suspect that they germinate in the Fall/Winter and grow over the rainy months. Apparently plants can overwinter in areas with considerable cold. I don't know how this might apply to seedlings--or whether they don't germinate until it warms. So I'll send the other two sets of seeds for postage to a couple of people who are interested in trying them. I can include some other seeds: Asarina erubescens, Eccremocarpus scaber 'Cherry Red'and Petunia exserta. If anyone wants any, fruits of Arbutus unedo keep dropping into my yard. The humminbirds are gorging themselves on Arbutus nectar. I also just harvested some Cuphea seeds, and I can enclose seeds of Cuphea 'Triple Crown' (as far as anyone can tell this is just a selection of Cuphea cyanea) and Cuphea ignea white. Both are hummingbird favorites as well, and I can send a few of each of those. If someone doesn't want the Monardella seeds, but wants one or more of the others please let me know.

Razorback, that is an excellent and thorough document. I'm going to look for others from them. The description of areas the plant will grow well match what I have seen in Michigan....slopes, dry, acidic. Good luck with your growing, prhart.

Near street/sidewalk. Area is very exposed to wind and blasts of zone 8b cold every so often. The summer humidity, hurricanes, and 8b cold limits me greatly. Evergreen preferred. Drought tolerant > Disease resistant > Wind tolerant/Shade _______________ Olives Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) - can't find and seed germination looks very difficult Carob - conflicting reports on humidity; tap root sounds very deep KEI APPLE Dovyalis caffra Natal plum - too hot, but would really like Pawpaw - too hot and fruiting will never happen; bigflower pawpaw looks like it would work. Jujube Raisin Tree Would prefer something I don't have already: apple, persimmon, pomegranate, pineapple guavas, citrus, plums, pears, loquat, fig, mulberry, jelly palm,