Mistiaggie, we live in the Denton/Frisco area. Lots of new developments are going up in the region. Goldenpond, the butterflies up here are quite impressive. Our back yard has butterflies in it everyday. They just flock to the buddleias and lantanas I have planted for them and they have even taken a liking to the cucumbers and cantaloupes. I don't mean I want to re-create Florida in my yard. I believe that a garden should not only be a reflection of its owner, but it should be a reflection of the region as well. I plan to plant some texas natives. But I also want to reflect the love I have for florida plants too. I can just see it now, a texas redbud tree, a sabal minor, a black eyed susan, a dwarf banana plant and some rose campion. All together. An unlikely combination of texas, florida and cottage gardening! Coleus does quite well here but it does die back in winter. I'm not sure if the roots stay hardy through the winter, that's one thing I have to test out, with rooted cuttings as back ups of course! I believe I saw a picture of all the coleus that Marcia(?) has and I was impressed with all the different types. They treat coleus like a bedding plant here and I haven't seen many varieties. I'd like to do a variety of coleus and mother in law tounges combined with texas succulents with containers of native rocks that have been dug out of my yard. See, I'm full of ideas now! I just had to think "florida" plus "texas" plus "cottage" to get inspired! Anyway, enough ramblings for now. Thanks for being warm and welcoming!

Mona, Thank you for the compliment :-) Will look forward to returning the compliment when your CE blooms! It is a wonderful flower, I'm more enamored every day. Regarding Divine: this tree is 3 years old now. It did bloom last year but this year's output is definitely "supersized" compared to last year--both the inflos and the individual flowers are much larger. Me likey :) Also, I noticed your question as to Thumbalina's scent. I find it quite attractive--I describe it as a fine-perfume smell. Mine is a new addition to my collection this season, but it's already a definite keeper in my book. Very unique tree, all the way around. Two thumbs up from this hobbyist. We talked Isaac in the other post :) Thanks again for the kind words, Mona. G

My mother recently remarried. She started dating him after I had grown up and moved away. My husband and I are expecting our first child, within weeks actually, and I have had some disagreement with my mother over what our child will call her new husband, Reed. He is technically my step-father, but I am over 25, and my father is still alive. Without going into detail, no one in my mother's family agrees with her choice (due to how he treats her), but Reed is her husband, and wants to have a "grandparent-type" relationship with our child. Because our yet unborn child already has two "Grampas", and I don't have a close relationship with Reed (nor do I want to), my mother has decided that my husband's and my request that he be called "Reed", just as he is to us, no longer stands. It will hurt him, and it is also disrespectful, she says. I don't want him to have an intimate, loving title like "grandpa", if his relationship with our child is going to be as superficial as it is with us. I've read over a few comments on this page, and others that have said that children respond to genuine affection, and if so, it will not matter whether or not the first name is used. We are not telling the child not to love Reed (the step-grandfather) or treat him with the same respect as the other grandfathers. He is as welcomed as everyone else in the family, but there is a distinction between him and the biological grandfathers. I figure that by the time our baby can address Reed with a title, he/she will have chosen a name based on the affection and genuineness of the relationship between Reed and himself/herself. So, any ideas? Am I wrong in wanting our request to stand as it is for now, with the babe calling him "Reed"? Pressured in Canada

Glenn, I had that problem in SW FL when I lived there. Northerners would LITERALLY come into my yard and tell me I was doing things wrong. The WORST were the ones who were "Master Gardeners" up north, but hadn't taken the course down here. They threw that title around like it was a PhD. I always just asked them how long they had been gardening in FL, and told them I had been doing it a lot longer, so if they ever needed any help when their plants were dying from them using northern gardening protocols in a sub-tropical state, I'd be glad to help them. KennsWoods - you'll love that area. We have quite a few wonderful gardeners there, so you'll get lots of great advice. UF/IFAS is good for some things and not for others, but there are a few county extension services that have their own sites that are more helpful. What I found most helpful was finding a locally-owned nursery/garden center and asking about things there. That, and looking around at what my neighbors were growing and asking them questions. Most gardeners love meeting other gardeners, and we love to help. Bea, you and I have the same "Zone Denial Disorder." I moved to N. FL because I couldn't grow my favorite plants further south, only to find that I'm really in sort of living in the gardening "inbetween" where I can grow some southern plants but not my favorites, and some tropicals, but they need special care. It really is a twilight zone. The climate can change from one yard to another, and that applies to the entire state. And don't worry about me moving. I'm moving to a temperate area of Mexico where they grow a lot of the same plants we grow here, so I'm not going to desert my gardening family here. ritaweeda, I quit going to Kitchen Table for that very reason. I posted something about a natural eyedrop once, and was attacked so badly you'd think I had told them all to stick needles in their eyes! If I had some of those poeple around my kitchen table, I'd toss them out of my house! But there are some very nice people there too. Hot Topics should be renamed "Politics," because lately, that's all it is. I try to stay away from it. carolb, yes we all have our triggers. My dad said that most overeducated and extremely intelligent people do not relate to real life well, and it's best to just tell them they're right and do whatever you were going to do in the first place. I've calmed down quite a bit about giving my opinions, and usually now just say that's not my experience, and each to their own or agree to disagree. If there is one thing I've learned about gardening in FL is that what works for one person may not work for another. I think a variety of opinions is good. Try them all, do what works for you in your garden.