Banksias in Northern California

Anyone out there have any experience growing Banksias in Northern 
California?  I would appreciate any advice... there's not much information
on growing them in California, though "The Banksia Book" by Alex George has
a lot of good information about habit, growth rate, and

I purchased three of them from Jo O'Connell's nursery outside of Ventura
about a year ago (which Jane Reese wrote about earlier today), and while B.
ericifolia quickly died within a week of getting it home, B. menziesii and
B. baxteri are doing really well, even through the four or five days of -5
degree C temps we've had this winter.  Both are about 60cm high, and are
ready for planting out now that danger of frost has passed.

Given banksia's real scarcity here in California, I'd like to give them the
best shot they have.  I'm in the middle of the Santa Clara valley, where we
get 12 - 20" of rain a year (300 - 500mm), and warm dry rainless summers
with days almost invariably at 28 - 30 degrees C here at the house.  Winters
are mild, with temps from 10 - 15 in the day and around 5 at night, dipping
down to around 0 a couple of times each winter and to -5 or so every five to
ten years.

I might also add I've seen the extensive banksia plantings at UC Santa Cruz,
but I'm afraid that mild maritime climate is somewhat different from ours
here.  Still, it gives me hope, as their sandy loam soil is very similar to
mine, and I hear drainage and soil fungus is the biggest challenge.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Dan McKean
San Jose, California
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