In my previous life I had a hot garden, which was just a garden with all the flower colors being red, orange, gold, yellow or anything in between. I guess that's sort of a theme. Years ago I saw a photo of a red garden. It was just sensational. Everything was red blooming, both warm and cool reds and some of the plants had purple foliage. You wouldn't expect the warm reds and cool reds to work together but this really did. What originally got me thinking about the Chocolate garden was all the plants out there that use chocolate in the name. There are now quite a few. Sometimes it is the flower color that causes the name, sometimes the foliage, sometimes the smell. If I ever do put one together, it will, of course, be mulched with cocoa hulls. ;-) p.s. Alicia, I love all your new threads!

I haven't contacted Dr Johnson, although that's a good idea. I suspect that the tadpoles I have are the Cuban variety- I saw a much larger one today and it looks a lot like the one in the photo. I have another clutch of eggs in my pond (little- it's 4'x6') today, so I need to figure it out, quick. I've sunk a few pvc pipes around the pond to see if I can catch any adults. Maybe that will shed some more light on the subject. Collecting Frogs in Pipes You can also attract the frogs to hiding places where they can be easily captured and removed. Place 3-foot long segments of 1½-inch diameter PVC pipe in the ground around your home and garden. After a few days or weeks--depending on the weather and frog population density--frogs will show up in the pipes. To remove a frog from a pipe, pull the pipe out of the ground and place a clear plastic bag over one end. Insert a broom handle or other "plunger" device in the other end and scare the frog into the bag. If you do not wish to handle the frogs, contact your local nuisance animal trapper. from UF/IFAS website.

Acros the street there is a swamp and stream and there are tons of green tree frogs over there. I used to live down the street and we always had both frogs covering the sliding glass doors. Even had a barking tree frog. Theres no shortage of anoles around my house, the brown ones hang out in the sunnier spots and the native green ones in the shadier areas. Also geckos at night and quite a few toads. Right now there are lots of tiny baby toads in the grass. My yard has a live and let live policy except for fire ants and sugar ants coming in the house. Florida has been over run and invaded by people so whats a few tree frogs going to hurt. They breathe and live just like us. I don't want a big hand grabbing me and putting me to sleep in the freezer just cause I wasn't born here. At least they aren't fouling the water and producing noxious gases and poisoning the air. CTF are now a wild part of the Florida ecology. just too many places for them to breed and live, just like humans. The only time I'll kill them is when Florida is returned to forests, empty beaches and Native American villages.

Thanks Cyn427! Great suggestions. I love the sound of good ol' native Florida tree frogs, and encouraged what I thought were a slightly different variety when my Cubans 1st arrived about a year ago. CTFs sound like a really loud, squeaky, rusty massive gate swinging in a tornado, at all different pitches & keys. The noise is maddening! I did try soap n water sprays, vinegar & water (that kindof worked, at first, killed my grass & begonias, tho), tobacco tea, oil & soap (i use this for whiteflies, aphids, etc), garlic emulsion sprays - all to no avail. I dumped & relocated my rain barrels, moved 90% of the plants under our bedroom window area, left lights ON, left lights OFF, prayed, cussed, ....nothing worked! Our local black snake and corn snake population won't even eat them! These are some bitter, tenacious little rascals! Ear plugs only muffled the sound a little bit...... (sigh) but not enough to STAY asleep. We finally resorted to Removal.......SUCCESS! They are down to a manageable 2 or 3 now . And the geckos & REGULAR tree frogs are coming back. Hooray! Our neighbors chuckled & thought we were absolutely bat-crazy during the process, until the congregation moved into THEIR side yard. I now see them out at dusk, with their butterfly nets & strainers.....hunting big amphibious game, haha. :)