Thanks for the advice flora. Its not too late for me to reconsider. One of the reasons I'm hesitant to use wires fixed to eye bolts is because I'm nervous abuot drilling and anchoring to the bricks in the chimney. I'm worried about permanently damaging the chimney and was looking for the least risky means of attaching to it without damage. I'm willing to be convinced that my fears are ungrounded. How does one securely anchor eyebolts to brick? I have no experience with such things. I was also concerned that in order to make steel wires taut it would put considerable stress on the anchorage of the bolts. If anybody can link to pictures of the process of securing eye bolts to brick I would greatly appreciate it. As far as rotting of the cedar goes, I guess I'd figured that it wouldn't do much harm if the bottom portion of the trellis began to rot after a couple of years. Shouldn't the tree be pretty well anchored itself by then? Its not like gradual rotting of the bottom portion of the trellis would cause the whole thing to disintegrate, and it would still have some anchorage points to the chimney. Making the trellis doesn't seem difficult. Securing it to the chimney, and the prospect of it making it more difficult to care for the tree are the things I'm more concerned about. Any thoughts?

A recent update from the person who received the yucca is that it is green and doing well. The transplanted cholla are doing well, of course, but it will be a while before I know if any sacaton survived. We have been making progress but not as quickly as we hoped. (No surprise there! ;-) ) We have the foundation blocks for the outside beds in place up to ground level and filled with dirt. Pavers have been placed, but not yet leveled, between the existing shed and the north edge of the foundation. We have the water and electrical stubbed in. We have the SHCS tubes in place for the outside beds of the east greenhouse and hope to start filling that section soon with the removed dirt. We have removed all planned use of poured concrete from our plans and have made this planned structure possible to remove easily while still unlikely to be blown away. (Mostly due to bolting the foundation via J-bolts to rebar under bond beam cement blocks.) DH will be checking to see what type of permits/inspections we will need for electrical, water, and structures. I suspect that it will be just water and electric. We won't fill in any more until we find out. It is getting hot already so we will be putting in the outside structure and shade cloth before the central shed and greenhouses. That way we can work in the shade. :-)

The only negative thing I can say about this forum is that it feeds the need to buy ever more plants. I see the beautiful plants and flowers that you all grow and begin to "need" that plant too. I try to stay away from the garden centers but, as I know you all understand, it's an addiction. Whenever my husband needs something from the big box stores he knows that I will happily accompany him and he also knows to park by the entrance to the garden center! Also, with our heat and humidity, it's so easy to propagate plants. Coupled with gardeners who are so willing to share their clippings, no wonder our garden beds "grow". Beth, you asked about the aptenia cordifolia. I too kept it in a pot for several months, thinking I would use it as a draper in a lanai pot. However it seemed to be going downhill so I decided to plant it in the ground. It has been saying thank you every since. Mine is planted on a small slope and gets morning sun (eastern side of house). I recently installed a micro irrigation system in my flower beds (why didn't I do this sooner - I love it!) so the aptenia gets some water about every 3-4 days. I highly recommend the Diamond Frost euphorbia. I see it at both Lowe's and HD. I bought mine last year and immediately took cuttings. The cuttings root very easily. I now have 4 big clumps of it - 2 on the east, 1 on the south (the one in the picture), and 1 on the west. They all survived the winter without damage. I did cover one plant when we had a brief and mild frost one night because I wanted to "save" at least one. The uncovered plants did just as well. Marcia, thanks for the info about the barleria. I originally started it from a cutting about 2 years ago. I've read that it reseeds readily but I certainly haven't noticed that with mine. Mine gets the western sun and not a lot of water and still rewards with ongoing flowers. It's a winner for me. Another plant that gets the thumbs up is the Brazilian petunia. I have clumps of it on the south, west, and north side of the house and they all do well. As the clump grows and the plant roots are shaded by its own foliage, it tolerates our Florida sun even better. Now that it too is on the new drip system, it gets a drink as the temps rise; it certainly perks up in appreciation. I've also seen the hummer on it. June

Here's an update from me! 1.Bulbous Bonanza Iris-Candy Apple and Daylily Avis Jean - JAYEANNE - shipped today 2. Naturally Native - Spicebush, Black Cohosh and Virgin's Bower seedlings - PEGGY - waiting for cooler temps 3. 6 issues of Better Homes and Gardens magazine - VINA - shipped today Shirley, I think your bird is a Yellowlegs, and I lean towards the Lesser Yellowlegs. Love the photo of your daughters, Heidi! Shirley, I received your magazines today! Yay!! I did not receive your email. BOO!!! I am jealous of the Giant Swallowtails gracing the gardens of Shirley and Ruth! That's so exciting.