Those trees used to shade that complex, and I'm sure the tenants appreciated it during the summer. They'll probably have tufts of twigs at the ends of those stumpy branches for a long time now. That will be interesting to see!! How do I find the City Forester? I know Texas Parks & Wildlife used to have an Urban Forester, I heard him give a talk about the urban forest once, but have no idea how to get in touch with him, there's no link on the TPW website. A search for "urban forester houston" yields a landscaping company. Way to go, Ken. private means private, even if what they do is butchery. God forbid, they should cut them out and replace them with Bradford pears, though! I found a city ordinance that regulates the planting of street trees, but I think these are a bit too far back to be street trees. And I learned that the city of Houston requires each new house to have one street tree in the front yard, and it can be a new tree or existing tree. Wow, I had no idea. I have noticed that the landscapers usually stick a small live oak in the yards of new houses, even if the yard is the size of a postage stamp. I can just imagine the damage to foundations and driveways when those trees get large. The tree canopy will be larger than the yards. Very good, Ghost! Thanks! This post was edited by eahamel on Thu, Jan 31, 13 at 20:30

We had the intense, too early heat and the C. florida started blooming prematurely, then the heat left and was replaced with several weeks of slightly cooler than normal temps. Mine have put on a floral show I've never seen before, stuck open in full bloom for an astoundingly long time like in suspended animation and absolutely breathtaking. The leaves were pretty much on schedule, so I got to see the flowers nestled in amoungst them. It just shows to go you that heat is not the only trigger point for the plant world, and that's why I don't keep a garden calendar. The unfolding of the spring show is a little different each year and I love it that way.

The things crawling around are light to medium brownish and terribly tiny. Couldn't make out body parts with a magnifying glass. They move very, very, very fast. A search on the net came up with a description of crazy ants. Never personally seen ants that small though. They are quite sensitive to movement and scurry fast to avoid being squished. They don't seem to travel in lines. I purchased Terro last night and they seem to ignore the traps so far. Used orange oil hoping it was a barrier but nothing seems to be coming from the windows. Also heard baby powder was a deterrant; put some on the sills just in case. I will try the good grade DE. As you can see, I'm desperate to get rid of these things and hoping to avoid repotting again so soon! P.S. Rizo - I hear you are an insect genius!

Zebra swallowtails will nectar on lots of things, like most butterflies, but the host plant for them is pawpaw, and those are getting scarcer each year in the wild. If you live in a pine woods area and have pawpaws nearby, you might be lucky to have zebra swallowtails visit your garden. They are definitely declining in numbers, sadly, due to the decline of the wild pawpaw plants. BTW, don't confuse the zebra swallowtail with the zebra, which used to be named the zebra longwing. (I frankly think leaving off the "longwing" part makes it even more confusing, so I usually dont.) The zebra longwing is our state butterfly, and looks very different from the pretty zebra swallowtails pictured above. Lovely photos, featherhoof. And congratulations on having them visit your garden. You, too, Sis3. (OOOH, I wish I could get that verbena bonariensis to grow in MY yard. I've had no luck with it at all, and I really love it! Marcia