Ali, it's just a plain old Crepe Myrtle. There's two of them. We planted 4 in a row but two of them died as babies, and thank goodness they did! But beware, they attract every stinging insect God ever made. lol. I will NOT park the car next to them. :)

All those photos look so good I feel almost ashamed to even offer mine, but perhaps if I layout the situation you may see some redeeming quality in it....LOL It has been cold, overcast and raining every day for the last week so Jan & I could not go out on our Photo Walkabouts. Today it was still gray and overcast but at least it warmed up a bit and the sun was peeking through occassionally so we decided to see what we might find. We went to the Dr.Seause Memorial Park, but we could not get in because the road was closed for tornado cleanup so we decided to go to the botanical garden, but could not get there because the road was closed for construction, something about Obamas job project,,, Went to the equestrian center to see them work the horses, but they were closed today to prepare for a function this coming weekend. We finally just went to a small private pond where we planned to just leisurely sit, drink our coffee and quietly meditate on how crazy things have been going lately. We each shot a few scenics of the pond, then sat back to basically veg out. Having nothing particular in mind I decided to drag out my old 500mm manual focus preset aperture lens and attach it to my Pentax K10d DSLR. Switched the camera to MANUAL mode and began playing reminising how we did photography back in the old days. I hung the lens on a tripod and began scanning across the lilly pads in hopes of seeing a frog or a turtle. All of the sudden I saw some movement about 300ft away so I swung the lens over to get a closer look. To my suprise, there was a Green Herron standing on a small log in the lilly pads. His camoflage was so good that I could not make him out with the naked eye. Now, I will be the first one to tell you that this is not what I would call a quality photo, but considering I only paid $15 for this 500mm lens, and probably got took at that price, I am not totally unhappy with the result, especially when one considers that I am 64 years old and have spent a lifetime fishing, boating and shooting photos outdoors and this is the first time I had ever seen a Green Herron. For those not familiar with the Green Herron, they are a relatively small bird only standing about 14" high with their neck outstretched.

Clare, I'm in the northeast, Zone 4b. Our growing season is fairly short. I had to give up artichokes (that was painful!) because they contain solanine. I react badly (with neurological symptoms) to solanine, which is also in tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, okra, and (sigh) blueberries.

Gazania, I probably mentioned this the last time you posted a picture of Donna. When my son, who is 46, was 16 he had a real thing for Pacers. He wanted one so badly that he wanted me to call the lady up the street, who owned one, to try to talk her into selling it. I don't remember if I did or not. He hasn't yet gotten his Pacer. He might one day. His wife has an old red Beetle convertible.