Mike, from what I've heard Paul has a new "partner" that will be selling his stock on e-bay. His North County greenhouses are close by my house and the new guy Ken, will be using the plants from there to sell. I'm sure Paul will maintain his place up north. I did some research and found that the three similar species (argentina, albertiana and doratheae) all have habitats in Argentina. Doratheae was described as having a scarlet flower and was thought, by H. Luther and Dr. Till, to be a hybrid between argentina and albertiana. My plant might actually be labeled correctly, just a variation of this natural hybrid.

Nova being the hybrid between T.fortunei and princeps was just a reasonable hypothesis we have not yet verified as some palms look like T.fortune which are not necessarily T.fortunei. The judgement is based on the following fact. The Nova next to the mother palm from which we collected seeds remind me of T.fortunei at first glance ,which though some people assumed to be T.fortunei, regardless of the given differences whereas some other palms nearby are more apparently Nova like . The growing result above is that Nova seedlings of the second type are growing far more robust and faster than those of T.fortunei ,plus with adult palms having all their parts larger and longer than the counterparts as well as the commonly slender trunk and elegant stretched petioles like T.martianus , dense wide ligules and brown fur at the petiole backside, So,this makes me think if there are pure T.fortunei in the normal sense from the stone gate if we just judge them by first glance without checking the details or growing them to see if the seedlings are different. The seeds of the first kind of Nova were collected by the farmer who said he collected at the valley I did not see in eyes. I once saw on the french forum showing photos of T.princeps in the habitat and a slender Nova with elongated petioles maybe many also saw as well.So that could be the first kind of Nova. Here is the photos of mother Nova from which the seedlings are of the second type with wide leaflets. It is a pity I did not take the full photo of the mother Nova as I was attracted by the enormous ligules along the trunk and the brown fur at the backside of petioles and also there are some other trees blocking the view at one side of the palms and overhanging cliff at the other side http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/108/Nova2(1).jpg Here is the juvenile Nova next to the mother Nova of the second type in the place where it is bit of shady and the Nova 200 meters away stand far more upright which is coincide with Nova's special characteristics growing toward sunlight.The ligules are affluent and cute. http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/108/Nova2(3).jpg http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/108/nova3(1).jpg This photo of Nova is taken 200 meters away which stand more upright with compact appearance ,though slender and bare trunk as well. http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/108/Nova4(1).jpg http://www.palmsociety.org.uk/_forumimages/108/IMG_3534.JPG For a new idea about the hypothesis on the relationship between Trachycarpus princepa nd Nova and fortunei, check the link http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=24720 Here is a link that might be useful: Hypothesis on the relationship between T.princeps and nova

Agreeing with what bmore said, plus, you didn't want cleanup mess on your island...and now what would be the use of all that cabinetry in the vestibule? --Time to quit thinking! ;-D Really, I do think maybe some of this needs to stew a bit. If you can with the current kitchen very much in the way, try to wander through your space and do a lot of imagining. Look from every angle, in and out of the kitchen. What do you see? What do you want to see? How will it be to walk here and there to perform different tasks? Can it work right if the sink and frig are back where they live now, with other things so different? Or do those need to change, too? Will it feel the same and be disappointing that you didn't 'fix' that when you had the chance? And I don't mean walk around quickly and decide what 'can work, even though it's just a little inconvenient'. I mean really feel the space and the layouts and let your gut do some of the talking. Go with how you'll love it. You've never headed toward what's expected, but yearn for something unique, but that works, of course...but for your family, not someone else's. Think of what YOU have in your frig and freezer and how you need to use those appliances... Remember how you wanted the snack area to function and 'see' where it will do that best. Remember the other things that were important on your list. I spent hours staring at renderings and plans for our kitchen...Getting to know it, imagining how it would feel to walk into it and work in it,...and sometimes realizing something needed fixing or changing. It really did help. Maybe you need renderings of both ideas. You know where to get them! You've put in a lot of time and work to get you to this plan with these 2 alternatives. I hate to see you take a step or 6 back, and start changing the whole thing again. But, of course, I'm with you if that's really what you want to do; if you feel that with this plan you'd be 'settling.' We don't want that!

Josh, thanks for the comparison. To me, the second you posted has leaves that look a lot like a miniature version of 'Hummel's Sunset'. Is this one one that is considered to be true 'Crosby's Compact'? My minor looks a lot like your first picture now but in the summer it was bright yellow. Unfortunately I don't have a saved picture of it from then on the computer I am using. I actually bought it as a regular jade from Wal-Mart and noticed that the leaves were never getting to the right size just this past summer season! Is the smaller one in the third picture the same as the one in the first? I have a minor cutting from Nancy that never turned this color over the summer but it is a very young cutting. Crenda, I think it is very interesting to see how something so simple, such as a change in the type of pot being used, can completely change the way the leaves look. This is what made me really wonder about whether there are truly separate types or sports of C. ovata minor. I know Christopher has the Himeougonkagetsu but his never turned that golden color that I have read about from what I remember. Is the Himeougonkagetsu similar to the Crosby's in leaf color? guimeixen, what a wonderful transformation from when you bought it! -Erica