I will post pics in a second (darn camera battery died, it is charging) but I am pretty sure it is NOT the pine sphinx. After doing some googling, I *think* they are the larvae of a sawfly??? They look like the pictures in the link below. Not the bright green drawings, but the actual photos. I feel a little better now, because it makes me think it is not too late for these trees. So you think watering daily is unnecessary? I actually enjoy doing it, LOL. Of course in the summer and spring when it is rainy, I don't bother. But in this dry weather, I thought it might help them grow. I know they are slow growers, I am anxious for some shade from them! :) Thanks for your help! Here is a link that might be useful: sawfly larvae

The carnivorous plant forum should be able to give you better info than here.

My moonflowers, which are related to morning glories, sent out new branches when the tops snapped off this spring. I've never pruned morning glories, but there's a chance they will do the same. I would carefully straighten the bent stems, and not cut them unless the vines began to wither where they were bent. Sometimes a plant can rebuild a bent stem, but it takes time and must be treated gently, like a broken bone. Either way I don't know if they will bloom, because I don't know how they behave in your climate. The vines will definitely need something to climb, otherwise they will sprawl on the ground and likely get stepped on by imbeciles. Can you put a trellis in that spot? A teepee made from three or four long sticks tied together at the top? Make sure to sink the poles deep into the ground, at least a foot down, so it can't blow over in a strong wind. I've had that happen. I've also had wind and rain rip vines off of poles. You may want to gently tie the vines to whatever poles/supports you use, to prevent this. I hope this helps; blue morning glories are worth saving for their beauty alone, and it sounds like these have a special place in your heart.

"I water it when the soil is dry to the touch" is likely the source of the problem. If your pot is 10" deep, the top 2" of the soil column can feel dry while the bottom 6" of the soil is 100% saturated with water. It is essential to root health and normal root function that the soil column is allowed to dry down to, at a minimum, the point where no part of the soil column is saturated. You can probably fix the issue by using a wooden "tell" made from a 1/4 or 5/16" dowel rod from any hardware store. They come 48" long and you can make 2 or more from 1 dowel rod. It takes about 5 minutes total. More on using a tell below. Please tell us what you're doing to supplement nutrition (fertilize) ....what you use, the NPK %s, how often you apply. Also, is it your habit to allow the plant to sit in the effluent that exits the drain hole after you water? Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al