Well...I appreciate all your responses, and I'm going to assume it's a common garter snake...for my OWN peace of mind...LOL I believe he was so grumpy because of the flash from the camera...it probably scared the bejeezus out of'm. Plus...I'm wondering if it isn't the onset of hibernation time. I mean, afterall, he WAS way down under some pretty hard, clay covered by about 4" of mulch. He was probably sleeping...or getting his last full meal of night crawlers when I uncovered him. *I'm in SE PA, not Florida at the moment. He's gone now and I don't know where...hehehe...but I covered the hole back up with the mulch. BTW: When I let Picture it! automatically tweak the color and brightness levels, the colors of the snake were changed a bit. Here are two pics showing actual color...

Yup, agreed on the ID. You could probably take cuttings a few nodes long & pot them back into mother plant's pot, to make it look even more full & lush.

"But no one has told me what the difference is between Prunus laurocerasus and Prunus caroliniana. No such clarification was posted. My original question was about identification of a tree. Is there some reason to believe that I have one, rather than the other? " It was properly identified by botanical name by Embothrium. Prior to that, just one of many common names was used for ID however that common name is often applied to both species. Prunus caroliniana is a native species that includes Texas as part of its natural range. It would be very unusual for Prunus laurocerasus to pop up spontaneously in your area but entirely natural for P. caroliniana to do so. It is also more tree-like in habit than Prunus laurocerasus, which is most often grown as a large shrub with no discernible trunk and the leaves present somewhat differently (smooth margins for one and slight serration for the other). As to the negative attributes you list, other than the propensity for P. laurocerasus being invasive in specific areas, they are just not serious enough to worry about.

What had me so confused it that the leaves of Sherwood Blue Woodland Phlox change shape and texture. They went from the low growing thick leaves to thin and hairy leaves...total change in appearance. I found this info below to confirm what was confusing me on this ID. It may be of interest to other gardeners: "Yes, the leaves of 'Sherwood Blue' Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata) change in both appearance and, to some extent, texture throughout the growing season, primarily due to the plant's production of two different types of shoots. Later in the season, the plant leaves behind a lower-growing, carpet-like mat of infertile (non-flowering) shoots. The leaves on these shoots are generally wider, have more rounded tips, and are less hairy than the initial spring leaves." - source AI google question