Some amazing tropical survivals.

	Dear Medits,				18-7-99

	As many of you know I suffered an accident which left me paraplegic
	on 1-7-99.  I've been out of the hospital since 4-24-99 and am
	making adequate progress.  I'm broke of course between purchasing
	wheelchairS(sic!), commode, walkers, and finally an elevator.  But
	I was lucky to have friends who finished the jobs I was contracted
	to do and have been accepting new commissions.  Recently I ran my
	my first educational opera tour since the accident and survived
	12 days in SF at a hotel and gave six lectures, one of which was
	professionally video taped and will soon be sold.  It was hard
	but with my beloved Karoline and friends like Sean, Vee, Fred Coe,
	David Smith, and Tillie Eichbauer plus fabulous nurses, physical
 	therapists, members of this list and others I subscribe to I remained
	and remain optimistic.

	At a later date I will share some of my plans for the future.  They
	are exciting.  But for now I just wanted to tell you about some
	unique survivors of my coldest winter in Kensington, Zone 16-17
	in 29 years.

	I have been growing  Trevisia palmata var, 'Micholovitzii' (sp.?)
	since 1984.  It was killed to the ground in 1990 but recovered and
	in 8 years developed a 20'+ trunk with a 12' canopy of enormous
	snowflake shaped leaves.  It was one of the amazing trees in my garden.
	By December all the foliage was damaged and beginning to rot.
	By the time I returned from the hospital it was a perfect flagpole
	which looked as if some well meaning friend had cut off the entire
	rotting canopy.  It had a 3' sucker which looked fried but soon began
	to put out growth.

	Six weeks ago I could see a bud 4" from the top of the trunk begin to
	swell-using my binoculars.  Karoline couldn't see it but Fred Coe
	agreed.  Six weeks later there are a dozen branches way up high
	developing a new canopy.  I am thrilled.

	No sign of life on my 25 year old Tibouchina organensis but it
	reappeared above ground in 1994 having been destroyed by the '90

	freeze so there's a long time to hope again. My Bambusa textilis
	is recovering after defoliation but only Begonia grandis has
	survived from my "hardy begonia" collection.

	The biggest loss was my 15' x 12' Grevillea 'Long John' which should
	have survived after six years in the ground but didn't.  Major losses
	among my succulents including an 11' Aloe dichotoma with 8 beautiful
	blue-violet heads but miraculously several A. bainesii survived in
	the ground and in a huge pot.  Happily my only specimen of A. speciosa
	seems completely unharmed.

	I beat the first freeze by 24 hours with my 200+ vireya rhodies
	which we had under cover in time.  Three different clones of
	javanicum died anyway and a few really difficult species.  Only
	one other major tree bit the dust and that was Pittosporum
	phillyrioides which I'm sure drowned as it handles desert cold.

	The winter and my hospitalization certainly revealed a host of
	"fair weather friends" some expected, some shocking: Marcia
	Donahue, Jana Olson, Barbara Hopper, Francine, Roger, the Dicks,
	the Parer, the Miland-Sonenbergs, John Greenlee, Betsy Clepsch,
	Peggy Quaid, Jaen Treesinger, Sharon and Dennis Osmond, the entire
	Cal Chapter of the ARS except Richard Starkeson and Leona Wilson, Rolle
	and Gwen, Kathleen, Paul Molinari, Martin Grantham (yes, I know he's
	overextended), Mary Wildavsky, etc.  The shock was short lived and I
	guess that as generous as horticulturists and gardeners are with
 	plants--that's where it ends.  No time for the handicapped!

	I will not again have total access to my garden but perhaps with
	luck and $$ 50% of it.  We have decided to stay and enjoy our
	real friends: Nina Ham, Sylvia and Fraser Bonnell, Tim Cooke, Kitty
	and The Creek, Steve and Victoria, Bob, Sheri and Michail, Maybelle,
	Joel, Eva and Henry, Vanessa and John, Anthony, my brother and most
	recent sister-in-law, the Katzes, Joan Cohen, Steve Sokolow
	and the pets-the roller canaries:Pippo, Maria, Renata,
	Eva, Splash, Haensel, Gretel, Kip, Buster and Rima; the turtles,
	Timmy and Teri; and a new member of the family, a Blue Fronted
	Amazon baby parrot.

	Glad to be back, good gardening to you all,


	Michael D. Barclay




Michael D. Barclay, Really Special Plants & Gardens, Kensington, CA
Cal Hort Council
opga@wenet.net   Growing 2,000 species fifteen miles from the Golden Gate!
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