Xentar, I'm sorry to hear that you've lost so many of your palms. Hopefully your fruit trees will make a come back. Kgardens, all of the rocks in my garden are ones that I've scavenged from various construction sites and hauled home either on my own or with the help of friends. The big rock with all the holes in it is one of my favorites but it was also one of the hardest to get home. I found it encased in clay sitting on top of a huge mound of dirt and rocks that was about 20 feet high at an old construction site. It took several trips back to that site before I was able to arrange for my dad and a couple friends to go with me to load it into a friends truck. The rock was so heavy that we had to carefully roll it most of the way down the hill and into the truck and it was the only one we were able to bring home. The reason I wanted that particular rock so badly was because it has churt, which is florida's version of flint, running all though it. That rock alone would have probably cost several hundred dollars to buy.

This didn't turn out to be a very good photo - I had trouble with focus because of the various heights. The anise hyssop and, especially, the Korean mint are the big guys. That surprised me somewhat since I was anticipating crowding from the catnip and the lemon balm (completely hidden in the photo). Anyway, I'm sitting here after about 2 1/2 months of growing these babies (& taking the pix below) enjoying my first of what I hope to be many cups of tea. The lemon balm, even tho' it only contributed 1 leaf comes thru brightly. I'm leaning on the Korean mint and anise hyssop and took a sprig off the top of each  a leaf or 2 of the others. This herb combo is heavy on the licorice flavor and that is just as I'd wished. I've only had experience with catnip (& I can't think how to define its flavor) and lemon balm in the past altho' I've also grown anise hyssop. The fragrance includes the lemon balm but the aftertaste belongs to the licorice flavored herbs  very pleasing, just wonderful! Still hoping to grow the group together but think it more likely that they will go in the open ground rather than a larger container. They must learn to "play nice" or I'll need to separate the plants and that will take away some of the fun for me. But, I don't want to put too much stress on the plants as they are becoming established. Just have to wait and see. Steve

ornamental kale and cyclamen will not return. Daffodils will. amaryllis will, but neither of these last very long. You could plant several varieties of daffodils to get a longer show. You could try calendula next year, then gather seeds and sprinkle again in the fall. I'm assuming that this area gets a lot of sun when the tree has lost its leaves: what about bluebonnets? You could get some soon at Lowes then have them reseed or replant with more seeds in the fall until they get going. The muscari and alyssum could bloome first, then some daffodils then bluebonnets then shade.... you got me going....

Mole TX, happy belated bd! (I checked out your page). Where are you in Texas? I don't know what DFW means. And what exactly is Texas sage? I've been thinking about sages, and also germander. My lavender is suddenly looking awful, must be the consistent temps in the 20's every night. Zones don't always serve as the best guide for what works I guess, it depends not on average minimum temperatures, but average consistent temperatures. My brother lives in Galveston (Z 8b or 9?), and he says it rarely gets below 40 degrees F at night, which makes growing certain evergreens a lot easier. Here the average low is supposed to be 0-10, but it rarely gets below 15. Good luck with your candy tuft and eucalyptus. My candytuft is the white kind; found it growing in the shade when I moved here and transplanted it; I've seen the colored kinds but often listed under annuals and am not sure if this is the same thing? I tried a few eucalyptus seeds last year but they damped off--my fault. I got mine as a shrub, kept it in a pot and sheltered for a year, but it is now about 4' x 3', thriving in max. exposure and looks great. I've been digging up unknown evergreens from the woods in the back and potting them up to display in my front sun garden--talk about desparate! Andrea