I think I got the height wrong. I think it is more like 18" and I'll try cutting the leaf tonight. I don't think it is an oak it is got more of a shrub or weed look to it. We do have live oaks in the area but doesn't look like any oak seedling I've seen. I knew about the latex thing but thought I had to cut the stem which I didn't want to do in case it is a good thing.

Ha. Maybe at the north pole the shorter growing season would prevent the formation of seeds. Anyway, Mudsnake's picture is NOT Koelreuteria paniculata. I've got one in my front yard, and the seedpods are pointed, closed capsules; and the leaves are rather distinctively toothed. You can see that if you look at the Dave's garden pictures in the link. BUT... check out Koelreuteria bipinnata, Chinese Golden Rain Tree or Bouganvillea Golden Rain Tree. (I really thought it must be a Bouganvillea climbing in some other tree until I stumbled across this.) The Dave's Garden site has both but I think some of the pictures are mis-identified. WW Here is a link that might be useful: Koelreuteria bipinnata, Chinese Golden Rain Tree

What hilarity! Love the fun posts, and learning a bit about y'all in the bargain. For those who have ever read my few posts, I'm the clueless one, the transplant subset. If there's subsets of subsets, I would be the transient transplant. I spend my life following my spouse's work, geographically speaking. I pack houses, and unpack. I accumulate all manner of flower pots and containers, then downsize, give away, and move again. My gardening efforts are full of hearty enthusiasm, as well as serial plant murdering (I like to blame it on local plant ignorance and not my PJIC disease, *plants jump into the cart*). Since we never get to live in one place long enough for either the humans or the plants to put down deep roots, we transient transplants collect any and all plants fervently, via swaps, pinching starts at public malls and other venues, and the local garden center. Then, we moan and groan about disposing of our pot ghetto when the next move is announced. Transient transplants spend way too much time covering up and disguising the objectionable architectural features of our current rental digs. We creatively hang plants, put up fishing line trellises to cover up nasty window views, and annoy the neighbors with our homemade garden accessories, obtained in pre-dawn trash-day scrounging. These charming accents (yes, even the old commodes planted with petunias), feed our collector (#6) genes, which we fervently nurture upon arrival in our latest garden planting zone. We don't consciously try to be specialists (#7s), but once we latch onto a type of plant that we don't kill in the newest climate, we grow it in every color known to the species. Oh, and yes, we have even been known to dumpster-dive in #2 and #4's trash bins, where the plant pickings are amazingly healthy, lush, and green. We transient transplants have become experts at covertly watching your work through our mis-matched window coverings (read - sheets), knowing there's gonna be really good pickings in YOUR trash this week. This serves to help our garden budget go further, knowing we must fill up our pots and fronts of landlord's planting beds to overflowing in such a short period of time, before we have to frantically put it all back, to get ready for the next household moving cycle. When the next move is announced, we lovingly dig up, label, package, and mail starts of all these frantically planted pot ghettos to our Northern friends, for safekeeping until we get settled into our next digs. In actuality, our Northern plant recipients can't even remember our names, or why they are receiving these care-packages of dirt and mushy, frozen green blobs, resembling a refrigerator science experiment....

@Ben - It's the only way to garden stress-free. Plants that live, live. Those that die never get planted again. Annuals are actually annuals, not something I care for like babies all winter to keep them alive. All of my orchids died, but I do have bromeliads, an adeniiums and a few tropicals that are precious to me. My big problem is that I like to propagate things too much. I've had the same coleus for 3 years, because I keep taking cuttings to overwinter so I can replan them next year, plus, I have all sorts of other cuttings going, like ornamental sweet potatoes and tomato suckers and perennial hibiscus. I like to give these things away, but it's gotten to be like running a free nursery now. @Glenn Jones - Yes, it is. I don't know how cold it really got here, because I woke up to 32F. Accuweather is saying it got down to 33 and Weather.com is saying 36. The forecast for today's low is 51, but it's 32, so WTH? I have to wonder where those thermometers are. I think Weather.com goes by the NWS thermometer at the airport, and thought Accuweather had a thermometer out there too, but can't imagine how they are so different. Weather Underground's thermometer must be downtown, because it's saying it was 40 last night and is 39 now. At any rate, nothing seems to be frozen in the courtyard, but I haven't walked outside yet.