Oh man Bejay! I hear you! We have Poinceana trees in just about every other yard here but I'm partial to the cassia tree (less leaf and seed pod litter). I am in Lee County which is where Ft. Myers is located. I am sure I have a micro climate. I'm less than 3 miles from the coast. Granted I have Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island as barrier islands in between me and the Gulf but I'm right there on the other side of the intercoastal. This is a brand new house that we built and have only been in for about a year. Last year I got Blueberries and stuck them in pots because I didn't know where I wanted them. I succesfully killed them but not before I saw that Gulfcoast does much better than SharpBlue. I have a spot in mind for them but it looks like I'll have to wait for next winter. :-( So far I have planted 2 gigantic Areca Palms (for a little screening) I have the 3 apple trees, 1 Pom Wonderful and 1 Garden Prince Almond. I recently cleared a spot for an herb garden. I will be planting 2 kinds of basil, sage, rosemary, parsley, oregano and mint this week. I also have spots ready for beans, peas (i'm probably too late) cucs, 4 kinds of peppers and 2 kinds of toms. I already have 8 spots picked out for 4 kinds of oranges, 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 grapefruit and 1 mandarine. I'm also planning on 3 coconut palms (those suckers take years to fruit! Almost a decade!) The coconut palms are going to be more for the hammocks! Oh and I have 4 passion Fruit and I'm getting ready to get 2 Kiwi (well really one, just one male one female). As soon as hubby gets the pergola up, I'm doing 4 kinds of grapes. When he gets the arbors done over the 2 gates, I was thinking about climbing roses but knowing me it'll probably be an edible instead. I really want to find space for a coffee plant, peanuts and sugar cane! Then I'm done...promise...or so I tell my hubby! ;-) hehehe I'd love bananas but hear they are messy. I wouldn't mind peaches or plums but I don't really have a whole lot of room. I would do plum before peach but hubby says he only likes the dark skin, dark fleshed, sweet plums and I don't know enough yet. I am patiently waiting for the day that I have acreage. I'm hoping it's sooner than later. I recently found 5 acres that is affordable for me but it's in the middle of no where, down a LONG dirt road and I fear that I would no longer have friends visiting me since I am the only person I know with 4x4. :-( Which would you choose...tree or friends? hahahaha I don't plan on jumping ship anytime soon. :-) I love growing things that I can eat. I have a really hard time planting things that don't do double duty as both eye pleasing landscape and also nourish my (hopefully soon to be) growing family. I'm slowly eradicating the grass and I'm loving every bit of it! Except the back breaking part! Ouch! Once I get a managable patch I'm going to plant low, xeriscape ground cover. Then I'm selling the lawn mower! I will certainly share my experiences. If I can get my camera to cooperate tonight, I'll try to take a few pictures of the apples. They are looking so pretty now that they are starting to bloom. Even my coworkers are giong out of their way to drive by my house. I love it! Thanks for the chat time...I needed it...now back to work. :-( Kristiina

I picked the ants out of the figs the birds left behind and ate them. A little crunchy and tart, were they? :o) Okay, seriously, ants *can* be one of the worst invaders (my aunt's Brunswick figs in Chincoteague were always crawling with the tiny opportunists whenever the fruit got at that near-perfect ripeness), but Gene's concept of the Tanglefoot barrier at the tree base is as near to foolproof as I can think of (I've used a similar system keeping them out of my hummingbird feeder hung on a shepherd's hook). Wasps are tougher to deter, and all I can think of is a fine netting hung over the tree/bush to ward off the flying kind of pests, although wasps will be more persistent than birds to get under it, in my experience shielding my blueberries. The other deal with wasps is that sometimes you don't see them sitting on the fig, and I've come very close to grabbing one in my hand twice last season, when they were hanging on to the fig in the early evening and were almost indistinguishable from the fruit in the half-light. Be careful when harvesting! Sherry (totally toast on a Friday at the end of work)

Cindy, the only time we have any significant ants in the garden is when we have the aphids. We've been able to knock the aphids back by using Neem. Doesn't get rid of them altogether but keeps that at bay enough where we can harvest something. And like you, it's only on the Purplehull's even though the Blackeyes are planted right next to them along the trellis. I mentioned your situation to DH the other night and I had wondered if they might be attracted to the color but they show up when the pods are still green so that's not it. We're not planting any Cowpeas this fall because I'm tired of the aphids. :/ TimeTraveler - I'm just over the bridge from you and I think I've seen those green bugs in our garden as well. I just thought they were juvenile Stink Bugs. We have nothing out there right now but two small pepper plants so I'll have to keep my eye out next season and hopefully it will be identified by then.

Hi A. Went out and looked at the stems tht remain of this plant and yes, at least half are upright so you are right. There is one with a bud stem turned down, but it has ants on it so perhaps the reason for the downward stem is bug damage. I wouldn't quite call it invasive, but I certainly have a lot in the garden and they aren't particularly pretty. It's just neat to have a wild orchid. Thanks again for your id research.