I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

I've never seen Hawaiian snowbush before, but I can tell you that for stuff that spreads by rhizomes like cyperus, heliconia, and lemongrass (and bananas and ginger, etc.), you can typically let the tops get beat up in winter and then cut them back to the ground in spring so that new shoots come up and replace the old ones (which don't ever really recover, depending on how harsh the winter was). It keeps the plants much neater, especially things like cyperus).

She probably gave you alpinia zerumbut since she said it will make a windscreen. It gets HUGE. I don't think it goes dormant even in San Antonio. Blooms on old growth so you won't get blooms this year. Not edible, not poisonous but will leave a terrible aftertaste. Tolerates full sun, drought, etc. Hard to dig when established. The variegated tends to be a little shorter but will also grow in full sun. The pinstripe ginger does need a little more shade or it burns. Not nearly as tall, blooms a nice bloom early/mid-spring. Costus, curcuma, hedychiums all tend to be a little shorter & like a little more shade than alpinias. I have about 50 gingers in the backyard. I love the peacocks and dancing girls. All dormant right now. Most of the others, including Dr. Moy don't go dormant for me. I'm not big on watering either! Tally HO!

Hello, I am Monica Sudds. I would like to respond to this string of messages. Quote: "Monica spoke with Lee Langsly in the medical issues department of SC Johnson Wax, the maker of Glade Air Products. He was quite helpful and showed concern. He also cautioned that there are warning labels about pets on some of their products." This statement is NOT my words. This part of this article is completely incorrect. Do Not use this information above as a quote from me. He never said anything at all about pet warnings on products! Yes he tried to absolve the company of wrongdoing. It was I who requested testing. Lee Langsly, not only, did not say there were proper warnings on the products, he said they would NOT PUT THEM on the products due to extensive costs and having to fight organizations like PETA for animal rights testing. I've always felt that warning should be on the products so that our companion animals, mostly of the avian species, were not put into jeopardy. But, it appeared at that time that the cost of warnings & changing labels was not worth a concern about their consumers pets. I did continue my "crusade" to save our parrots, small animals, elderly parents and infants. He threatened me with a lawsuit. I was ready, but obviously this did not happen. I told him if he could prove his product safe or put a warning label on then I would stop requesting it and warning people. I still have the original article that I wrote on this subject, that first appeared in newspapers, and parrot/bird organization newsletters and magazines around the US and overseas. It almost seems daily, more and more products that are dangerous to our birds, small pets, elderly family and small children are being produced. I say now. Find my original article on the internet. Do NOT believe that I thought at any time that the company was helpful or showed any concern. Do not read bastardized articles of what I originally wrote on this subject.