Ginny, it is never too early or too late to learn something new, especially when it comes to gardening, growing edibles is an investment in our health. I am very careful about not wasting anything that the garden produces and is fun to try the many different recipes that you can come up with the harvests, tomatoes are always the main stars of the garden. It is so easy to make sauces and put them in the freezer, the oven dried tomatoes are good as decorations in a dish or a salad. I just made a chili with some saved roasted tomatoes from the past season. In the meantime I am growing the tomato seedlings to be planted soon. Hi Amber! I am so glad that the tomatoes are doing well for you, I am trying new varieties this season, beefsteaks and cherries are my favorite and the most versatile in recipes. My atemoyas and sugar apples are ripening in the garden and my dogs are letting me know when to pick the guavas. When I was a child, I was in charge of making some kind of guava sweet that I had to stir in a giant copper pot, since I don't have that I made them in a double boiler and it came out so good! The stuff that they sell in stores doesn't even come close to it.:) And soon, I will have persimmons....plus it is time to plant squash, beans, cucumbers and plan for the cold weather veggies. Silvia

You can have as many of these leaves as you want for free. This tree dwarfs their house visually, its a problem of scale and proportion. People really should think more carefully before planting trees. Its a particular complaint of mine. Sometimes a single tree is preferable, for instance, not 4 or 5 different kinds and shapes in one front yard struggling for sunlight and fighting for attention. I like well chosen trees. I grow full sun loving SW native plants that need drainage, air circulation and have a mostly all gravel xeroscape with lots of prickly pear cactus, agaves, yuccas and native grasses mixed in that are not fun to clean out. These leaves are not my friend and I spend all winter cleaning them away and raking boat loads off the roof which has a parapet that holds them, so the gutters stay clear and won't leak in the house when it freezes. I haven't met a gardener or homeowner yet without some problem to put up with however. I wanted to add on the mulch question that snow makes an excellent mulch when its there all season like in Colorado. Here we experience a lot of very warm days alternated with cold dry windy ones. Mulch is a good way to protect the freeze/thaw damage and cold drying winds or freeze damage. Here it keeps the temperature from too great of a fluctuation for the plants. Our ground can get pretty dry in winter and warm up pretty hot in the sun and doesn't really freeze much except in shady spots, sometimes not at all. Mulch would be good here but maybe not necessary where you are. I have never had problems with rodents etc, and mulch. Plants always look nice, green and fresh when you pull it away in spring. I recommend some kind of protection. I have used thick polyester quilt batting on less cold hardy cactus and succulents because it wicks away moisture. It works great where you need something dry to avoid rot problems.

I know this is an old post. I just didn't want to start a new thread for basically the same thing. I also rescued my "Apricot Hibiscus" from Lowes an live in Middle Tennessee. I got mine this summer(just a few months ago). It's been blooming and doing wonderful with the care and the pot I put it in. I've been really worried about what I should do this winter. The tag reads "Cold Hardiness Zone 10(40-30*F). NON-Hardy in zones 1-9". Do I have a "Non-Hardy" Hibiscus and will have to take it in each winter? I'm going to make a small "green house" for some of my other small plants to try and give then a better start/jump start for next year. Would a Hibiscus survive in a small green house over winter? Thank you all for your time!

Ti, hibiscus and bouganvillia will make it. They will get damaged unless you protect them. I have a bouganvillia that comes back with a vengeance every year after freezing to the ground, I have about 75% return on hibiscus if they are over a year old, and Ti will almost always come back. Plumeria, well, NO. You will have to keep them potted, or grow them in the ground and dig them up every winter. That actually worked very well, I know a lot of folks here that do it, but I think its too much work so I keep mine potted.