I may be closer to you and maybe our BS climate therefore might be similar. Here are my experiences Tamora-- truly one of my favorites but this rose just must be sprayed to keep leaves in the upstate of SC. If you plan to spray, you must have this one!! Abraham Darby-- spots a bit but keeps his leaves (acceptable in this garden). When he is in bloom I smell fresh cut green apples mixed with strong rose scent--fantastic! Lilian Austin--this rose spots but only in spring. Leaves stay on and the rose recovers well. The rest of the year she is clean. I love the color blend of this rose. Do note that she tends to have a weeping quality so if you have a hill or high wall--great--planted there she will be more impressive in her early years. She does get stronger more upright canes as she ages. Some things are worth the wait no matter where you plant them--she is. (sharp thorns--I never said she wasn't feisty) Sophy's rose--no fragrance but wow!! How beautiful is this rose!! Great bush form in my garden. Only spots on occasion and blooms without being pampered (that means no water unless we are in drought conditions). Quick rebloom and gets a lot of attention from those visiting my garden. This is a bright rose but it looks fantastic with purple companions. Scepter'd Isle--do you like black jelly beans? I do!! ...and this rose smells much like them (myrrh fragrance). I loved this rose for the fragrance and "gave it a go" in my garden.....and the rose did well. I had one spring where the rose did defoliate as a result of BS but it was new to my garden. In the following years, it did much better and only spotted. The blooms are pale pink but unlike other roses don't fade in baking sun. That gets points in this garden. I had Graham Thomas--and when the spring flush hit I could barely get from the car to the house. I literally stood in my driveway and looked at this rose forever. I credit this rose forum and this rose for converting me into the rose addict I am today. Such color, fragrance and beauty....alas, he preferred to be naked....equally as shocking from the driveway. I have Christopher Marlowe but admittedly have him in a poor location. My information on this rose won't be valuable. Good luck and enjoy!!

Andy, it's my understanding that while you are able to grow apricots here, you may not wind up with any fruit. I love apricots, but have been told they bloom early and often we get a late freeze that takes out all of the blooms. I don't see them growing in Austin either. Perhaps you could try growing two and covering them when it freezes?--I don't know if they need a pollinator, but for many fruit trees you have to have two of them to cross pollinate. The fruit trees/vines/bushes that will grow here are certain varieties of pears, peaches, apples, figs, persimmons, plums, grapes, blackberries.--This list isn't inclusive. It is very important when you decide to plant your fruit trees that you get varieties that do well here. I attended a fruit tree class just last weekend and the speaker said that the varieties of peaches that grow well in California rot here because we get more water than they do. Fruit trees/vines/bushes that usually don't grow well in Austin are cherry trees (unless they are the native cherry), blueberries (not acidic enough), and certain varieties of grapes because they get Pierce's disease. Chilling hours are also important for fruit trees. I'm not a fruit tree expert but recently have become interested in growing them. You may only be interested in apricots in which I case this information is overkill. :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit & Nut Resources for Texas

Wow! Glad this forum has been helping you. Grass burrs should go away in about a season once you begin to water, mow, and fertilize. They are easily overtaken by anything else that grows. Same with most ant beds - or at least you don't see them once the grass is growing over the bare spots. Does the bermuda seem to have stopped spreading, or are you just impatient with the progress? Crabgrass is a summer annual plant. The seeds seem to be everywhere, but they will only germinate when they have 1) full sun, and 2) frequent spring moisture. So if you can create a relatively dense turf "canopy", then the crabgrass will not get started. Also if you can restrain Mother Nature from providing a week's worth of rainfall in April, you can avoid or diminish the crabgrass. This is why I am so gung ho on watering properly - especially in the early spring. Too many people jump right into watering every week or even every day in the spring. Monthly watering is all it needs, and that allows the soil surface to dry out and not go off germinating weed seeds. I lived in Pecan Valley in San Antonio for awhile. I get your point. My daughter just moved in north of you in Wells Branch. Does that mean I should see wells there? or branches?

That's not nutsedge, so don't spend any money on anything yet. Nutsedge is deeper green, shiny blades, ribbed blades, and has a triangular stalk. Also at that height it would have developed seed heads by now. Do you have any pictures where the weed has put up a seed head? The bermuda is too long, but it could be thin because of the weird weather we're getting. There's a lawn or two in San Antonio that are v e r y slow to awaken this spring. It has more to do with how it was treated last fall and the really cold weather (12 degrees in Austin) we had. My St Augustine died back and did not return in some spots. Now it is horse herb in those spots. How did you water it last fall and have you been watering so far this year? How often and for how long do you water? I watered my south facing slope for the first time (Bandera location) this week. With this ultra arid air we've had for a week, and no rain, I'm about to water the front.