Here are the pic's of the leaves. I did look up arundo donax and pseudosasa japonica. Sorry, lense kept fogging up. I'm pretty sure it's the reed and not bamboo as I had hoped. I do like it however and will leave where it is planted, Thanks to all

Yes, its definitely schiedeana. That is one columnea that is easy to ID. I know of no other columnea that comes even close, not even schiedeana hybrids, of which there are quite a few. It has been in cultivation for a long time, and will grow into a very large plant, but can be kept smaller with pruning. It flowers all year long, more or less, and is one of the easiest to grow. It is wide spread at higher elevations in Mexico, so can handle cold dips down to 32, if they are for a short time in the early morning. There are three or four different collections in cultivation. I am pretty sure that you have the common Mexican form. There is a large grower from Costa Rica, that has wonderfully spotted flowers, but is a coarser grower, plus one from Mexico that has all yellow flowers, and somewhere, hopefully still in cultivation, is one that has red backed leaves. When the GRF went on a collecting trip to Mexico they found one that had all red leaves. I saw a photo of it--it was outstanding; but, sadly, it never made it into cultivation (that's the one I really want!). I like schiedeana a lot, and have been growing it for many years. When I grow it outdoors, the hummingbirds will set berries for me, which are white. Jon

Yep, Cj, it happens! It may have taken a lot of foot dragging, but it's done. :) Thanks for the kind words, everyone. And, yes, Taggie, that's seriously my hood and cooktops and counter and backsplash and cabinets. :) At the very right of the photo you can see part of the window casing. The pictures really are coming soon. :) It's just that I want to do it once and do it right. I won't wait to polish the hood or get the one light bar adjusted. That's maintenance, not finishedness. :)

I am thinking about using stakes and 2' high hardware cloth. My neighbors all have a high property and I have the lowest in the neighborhood, so the leaves from everywhere blow onto my yard. Every year, I deal with leaves anywhere from 7-10 times. I do not have a ride-on mower and I do have lots of gardens with spring bulbs that I would like to see, but won't if the foot deep accumulation of leaves remain. I have just created another bed with spreading yews which hopefully will take care of the problem in a few years. I am a sixty year old woman with arthritis and heart failure. All of my neighbors are under 40 and in good health. None of them do any yardwork, and they know that if they wait long enough, all of their leaves become mine. I am blown away by the lack of responsibility and compassion. I have over 1000 dollars invested in mulch, plants and labor this year alone. Oh, and I don't have any trees over 6' high at this point. After taking care of the neighborhood's leaves for 40 years, I'm done! I have spoken to all of them about helping out, but apparently, they would rather do other things. Guess what? So would I!!!