Thanks! sbrow - down here they sell the seedlings for $15 and the grafted plants for $25 typically when they are small plants. Larger plants cost more. I can buy the smaller plants since in this climate they grow fast. irun5k - the oleander caterpillars are orange and have black hairs sticking out of them. Very characteristic. See the link. When they are younger, they don't have the black hairs but they are definitely orange. Here is a link that might be useful:

Well, really your condolences should go to the woodchucks. ( wink, wink) The big one was 40 pounds. My DH used to like to sneak up on him and scare him half to death. I would sneak up and clang a ladle against a pot and scare the dickens out of him. But alas, I think the eats in my garden were too good to leave, so he kept coming back. Then there were two.......now there are none. The damage they do is incredible in just a short time. He would devour my front garden and when it was all eaten to the ground would move to the back. By the time he was done in the back, the front would have grown in a little, so he would move back out front to start the eating cycle again. And so it went all spring and summer. If only there was a way I could channel them to do some proper pruning of the perennial garden. I think I need a woodchuck whisperer! I have voles too and at least in my garden they pale in comparison to what a single woodchuck can do.

I don't know what cultivar I have but the ones I have can't stand alot of sun! It SAYS full sun but that doesn't mean Texas full sun!!! lol The flowers wilt fairly quickly in the midday sun so I let them have the morning sun... toadlilly and marti8a...my 3 year old and 1 year old are quite fascinated with the "balloons" also. I have to be vigilant about watching those two and my new precious plants! lol flowerfloozie...I am jealous of your plants! 45 blooms of that beautiful flower, it must be gorgeous!! mommyfox...aren't you in Arlington?! I got them at Green's Produce off of Arkansas. They have the beautiful purple I got and they also have white. I started potting yesterday but of course, I ran out of soil...rookie mistake, right?!

Any owl, but most of all the Eastern Screech-Owl