This tree does fantastic in my area, the Northern species atleast. The catalpa worm does not range in my area and these trees are blemish-free all year up here. A Chinese species has been planted in the area with pronged leaves and is seeding slightly, as evidence by the young trees around, but those small plants donÂt survive a really dry summer usually, but there are atleast 3 juvenile plants that are 15 feet tall now. Mature plants are very hardy here. Also pretty, but I prefer the northern.

My two cats love to nap on my bed. So I deal with cat hairs on bedding all the time. I use Downy dryer sheets, they help the cat hairs slide right off. Just toss your quilt and a couple dryer sheets in the dryer on low heat. The hairs get off the quilt and will be in the dryer lint filter.

I have tried freezing. They wind up all mushy when they thaw. Canning is a PIA and they still come out mushier than I like. I cold can a bunch of Hot Hungarian Wax sliced peppers for my sandwiches. But the best bet for me is to dehydrate the other peppers and then either grind them into flakes or all the way to powder and use that to season dishes or let everyone put their own on to their liking. You loose a bit of the taste and texture, but not that much and the heat is still there. Oh, and it takes up very little space. A 4 ounce jar of super hot powder will last a long long time.

Update: Some of the succulents I planted into gritty mix have been shriveling, which I thought was thirst, but watering didn't help... so I realized they're probably rotting. The tall sticks (which I thought were "Minima" Jades but after seeing a lookaIike at Home Depot, I think are actually Portulacaria afra) are definitely rotting away from the tips and new shoots down. :( So I think I need to pull these out, wash the old soil off the roots, remove any rotten parts, and let dry. I have a few questions: 1) if the stem is rotting, what does that look like, and how much stem/leaves should I remove? 2) Can I leave any roots if they look OK, and does drying them out kill them anyway? Or is this essentially like making a cutting and letting it callous and make new roots? 3) Once they dry can I just replant them where they were in the gritty mix? On a more fun note, I went to Home Depot yesterday intending to buy zero succulents and instead spent an hour taking pictures and purchasing 7 new ones! And to my delight, all but one had an actual species ID! Clockwise from top left: Kalanchoe marnieriana Crassula rupestris Crassula "Candy Cane" (with a warning that propagation is prohibited... how would they stop you?) Sedum rubrotinctum "Pork and Beans" Crassula ovata "Ogre Ears" Sedum rubrotinctum "Aurora" ???? that was on clearance with a bunch of very sick and damaged succulents, but it looks healthy enough to me! Here's a closeup of it - anyone know what it is? The Ogre Ears had mealy bugs so I doused all of them with 50% rubbing alcohol last night. I also watered them because their soil all seemed bone dry, which I'm learning maybe I really shouldn't need to do? :/ I want to transplant them to gritty mix today (and do it right this time! Wash off all the soil and let dry). Also at Home Depot, I think I was able to better ID some of my current succulents, like the Crassula ovata "Minima" (#8) actually being a Portulacaria afra. The original mystery plant could possibly be Sedeveria "Sorrento"? Though the leaves look bigger/fatter on this one than they were on mine: OR possibly Sedeveria "Jet Beads"? These leaves aren't bigger but they do seem fatter than what I have... Not sure either of these are it: #3 Could actually be Graptosedum "Blue Giant"? A very similar-looking succulent was labeled this at HD, but I can't find photos to confirm it online. Maybe it's actually Sedeveria "Blue Giant"? #6 I thought looked like a plant labeled Sedeveria "Harry Butterfield," but looking online, it doesn't look right to me... #18 Senecio vitalis (Narrow-Leaf Chalksticks) #19 Graptopetalum pentandrum - EDIT: Actually more likely G. superbum #22 Sedum adolphii (Golden Sedum), instead of Coppertone Sedum? Looking forward to anyone's feedback about replanting and ID'ing these! Thanks!