Dee, great photo! I'm exhausted. Not as exhausted as poor George, probably, but I was in the garden all weekend and every night this week after work. We finally have the front beds pretty well planted and mulched (just a few things left to be moved when I have more time). There is a still a pile of mulch in the driveway waiting to be spread out back and lots of weeds to be tackled back there. I also remembered to sow my cosmo, foxglove and cerinthe seeds. The great development for me this week was that my son has taken an interest in the yard. He has always hated the time I spend in the garden (not that he wants my attention when I'm in the house, lol). This year I bought him a reel lawn mower, which he seems to love, and an electric weedwhacker, which he loves more. Tonight he helped me by loading the wheelbarrow and delivering the mulch, and was actually asking about some of the plants and voicing his preferences (so far, alliums are a big hit, mainly because not much else is flowering). Dirty fingernails here as well - - and telltale dirt on my heels when I get in to work in the morning! Moving on, here's what is flowering this week: Allium purple sensation - - full bloom Fothergilla Mt. Airy - - beginning to fade Cercis canadensis 'Covey' - - really fading creeping phloxes - - full bloom conifers are shooting new growth Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' - - blooming on a very short stalk bleeding heart - - full bloom Salvia 'May Night' - - beginning to bloom Roseshell azalea 'Marie Hoffman' - - just starting to open Showing buds: dianthus peonies (lots - - and they were moved last year!) lady's mantle celadine poppy Still in process of leafing out: Hydrangeas weigela clethra cercis canadensis 'covey' fothergilla

My garden is pretty much done. My zinnias and dahlias survived the sleet last night, but snow on the way tomorrow so they may be gone. A few montauk daisies still in bloom, an amaranthus here and there, a bit of iberis, some half-finished monkshood, a little tithonia - oh, and marigolds are still going quite strongly. I do have some roses in bloom, and a few mums. I had planted a grouping of mums two years ago, which did well the first two years, and I was hoping for a real display this year, but was sorely disappointed. I'm trying to figure out if they are afflicted with something or if it was just too damp for them this year. I do have some fall color though - berries on ilex, yellow and red-twig dogwoods, viburnum, and the color on my iteas is wonderful this year. Oh, just remembered - have some cimicifuga still in bloom too. And believe it or not, one beautiful yellow caltha palustris (marsh marigold). Poor thing must be confused, lol. Dee

I'm confused. Is this one of those pop-quiz threads where the OP is trying to see how smart we are, or does the OP not know the ID on the tree either and wants to ID it with help from the group? Because I thought this was another "name that tree" contest thread, and if I am right, I would like Johnny to tell me that I have indeed won the year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat.

My Hybrid Franklin Tree froze the first winter, the mildest winter on record. (But it was near the corner of the house, where it might have gotten dripped on). It also set flower buds which then stalled out and didn't open, again like the climate here isn't right for it at all. I've seen the Gordonia parent growing wild and making dramatic specimens in a USDA 9 part of Florida, where it occurred on sand along with oaks, pines and native heaths that reminded me of manzanitas. In the part of the preserve I visited where I saw these it looked like the plants were coming out of an ocean beach. Other kinds of trees native to that same park that were also species we see planted and succeeding here - such as sweet gum, sugar maple and sweet-bay magnolia - were living instead in a dark muck like soil that was slightly below the level of the sand, mostly right next to the pond.