So glad that Hissy has found a good temporary home. I've always loved snakes and have had them as pets since I was a child. Later, when I was in grad school and living in an apartment just off campus, my much younger brother brought a rat snake home from scout camp. Unfortunately, my father, who was terrified of snakes, announced that either the snake went or he would go, so naturally I took him off my brother's hands and installed him in a nice herpetarium in my apartment (at which point I discovered just who my friends were and weren't!) Kaa (as I named him, from Kipling of course) stayed with me until I had to move to another location, at which point I found a new home for him.I would love to have a snake pet again, but now I'm in a New York City apartment and haven't the room it would need. I'm hoping that Hissy will find a wonderful new home. Thanks to you for being so kind in rescuing him even though you weren't familiar with snakes!

Eastern Red Cedar should grow well there. If you pay attention to watering, they can grow as fast as 28"/yr in good soil but 18" is more normal. Waco has several nice examples of large older Eastern Red Cedar. These trees are drought resistant but can handle wetter years. Arizona Cypress is another conifer that should grow well if you have good drainage. They look similar to ERC but have thicker foliage and are gray-greenish in color. Both Killeen and Waco have several large specimens of these trees. Mine have only grown 12-16"/yr. but reports indicate they can grow faster. These trees are drought resistant. Loblolly pine only does well in a few selected spots where the soil is locally neutral to acidic. If you have a spot like that they will thrive, if not, they will turn yellow and die. Afghan Pine will grow here, but they often die after about 10 yrs or so as the climate here is too wet for them. They do much better planted in west Tx. There are no examples of large Afghan Pines that I know of here.

Marcia, Please help me find out what kind of snake I came across today. While I was at the local dog park (near Orlando) I came across a yellow with black stripes snake. It looked to be between 3.5-4 feet long and did not appear at first glance (that was all I gave it out of fear) to be shiny. I was about 3 feet from it and didn't know it until my dog almost stepped on it. She obviously didn't see it either. The snake seemed a pit peeved about the whole thing but it decided not to attack and to slowly slither towards ME to get away from my dog. Needless to say, I took off in a different direction real quick and hollered for my dog to follow. I am not like you or others on this site. I am not a fan of snakes and am extremely afraid of them. Although, I don't mind the black racers that seem to have taken up permanent residence in MY back yard and they love to procreate often (or so it seems). I have seen a lot less field rats since the racers moved in and that makes me very happy. Anyway, can you help me figure out what this snake was? I have spent hours and hours online tonight trying to find it and just can't seem to find anything that looks like it. I am guessing that it is not dangerous to me or my dogs??? I am scared to take my dogs back through those woods that they so dearly love. As soon as I told them, "No more woods until the snakes are gone again," they "told" me to find it if it was dangerous or not and if it isn't that they want to go back again. So that is mostly why I am asking you for your help. We all love the walks but I am afraid of the snakes. Please help me feel safer about going back. Thanks in advance for your help.

Probably Snow-on-the-Mountain, Eurphorbia marginata. There's also another, Snow-on-the-Prairie, that's a bit similar. Here is a link that might be useful: Snow-on-the-Mountain