I don't discriminating how the plants are distributed and sold. What I care for is the state of plants when I buy it, how much I pay it for , and how easy I get it. I love big box stores' citrus trees. They are the reason I grow so many citrus trees. Although, one thing I can blame them for is that they are the reason I run out of room in winter time. But I would happily move into my garage if I have to... There are many facts contributing to unsatisfied customers. Many times, customer itself is to blame. I read in other thread about mislabled plants. Most likely the labels were correct when the nursaries shipped the plants out. I highly suspect it is the customers who misplaced the labels after they took the label off the tree for some information and did not put the label back to the correct tree. I agree with some of your arguments that big box stores do not protect the plants well. Yes. I have seen that... dead or dying plants due to lack of water or care. More often, Citrus trees have root stock growing larger than the scion ( I got a few such trees by end of season for $5 each. Just took home and clipped the root stock shoots off. I am happy to do that for that price). I once bought some friut trees that only can be grow in zone 6 and above... What can you say, everyone, every corp. has their core competency. Big box stores are good at distributing the goods and products but are not good at taking care live plants. They are not perfect. But again, who is perfect? I have a Asian pear tree growing a European pear fruit right now. My tree was shipped directly from nursary... I think big box stores' nursary department staff just needs to be trained well to handle plants. Another welcom trend ( to me), is that I see more and more rare and exotic plants( none traditional plants) show up in big box stores or local hardware stores sales for very reasonable price. You get bigger plant + pot without paying a dime of shipping cost. My local Lowe sales 1.5" pot size Catt. orchids for $5 and a next size for $7. etc.

If any of those snakes you killed were pretty satin black racers,white under chin, then you made a big mistake, they are considered lucky to have around your home, they keep all others away even poisonous ones..they are the fastest on earth, and harm no one, your lucky if you get to see yours patroling your landscape, have not seen ours in awhile and do hope he/she is okay..we only ever killed one snake here in FL. at another home of ours on a lake, it was a cotton mouth moccasin, and a big one and wanted to come inside...uh that would be a no way!!! it happened after one of our gully washers of rain storms. Be careful bringing plants home from garden centers, more then a few people have brought home pigmy rattlers in the pots... As far as mulch goes, we prefer stones, because A. it does not blow away in high winds. B. Does not deteriorate, need to be topped each year. and C. most important is not a breeding grounds close to the house for all kinds of bugs especially palmettos/roaches, which love dark damp areas, and love to get inside as well. we use not mulch but rather heavier bark in beds out on the lawn, away from the house. Your choice.

The property behind mine has gone into foreclosure and is now up for sale by the bank that took the loan through the FDIC after the previous bank (holder of the loan) went bust. To give you an idea of relative property values here since the crash, this 10 acre tract sold for $3.3 million about 4 years ago. That's $330,000 per acre. It had been a private residence and then a paso fino horse breeding farm for the years prior to its purchase by a developer who wanted to put a bunch of high price homes on it. The developer spent much money and effort trying to get the property re-zoned from Agricultural to Residential. After a two year fight, they succeeded in getting approval to put 28 houses on this property and its adjacent 5 acre tract on the corner of my street. .....only to be met with a market crash just prior to ground breaking. Now the property is listed for sale at $1.1 million or $110,000 an acre. I'm hoping the property doesn't sell as a 10 acre unit and the bank wants to carve it up and get it off their books, cheap. The back 2.5 or so acres is directly behind my property and would hopefully cost significantly less per acre than the going current rate since it would have no access to the roads. So, I am saving my pennies... Harry

Here's today's update......Brrrr! ... Dramatic weather changes are in store... A strong cold front will move through North Texas today and put an end to the extended period of unseasonably warm weather. Behind the front... northerly winds will increase to around 20 mph... with gusts up to 30 mph possible. Temperatures will fall into the 50s by this afternoon... with high temperatures today across much of North Texas occurring in the morning hours. Temperatures tonight will fall into the 30s across all of North Texas... with locations along and to the northwest of a Comanche... to Weatherford... to Sherman line falling to 32 degrees or less. This will be the first freeze for this area and a freeze warning for northwestern parts of North Texas will likely be issued later today. Thanksgiving day will be cold and breezy with wind chill readings in the 20s and 30s. High temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s across all of North Texas... with increasing clouds ahead of an upper level disturbance. This upper level disturbance will cause light rain to break out Thursday evening... with the atmosphere cold enough for some light snow or sleet to mix in after midnight. Surface temperatures are expected to remain above freezing across North Texas... and therefore no accumulations are expected. A strong upper level storm system is expected to cross over the region this weekend and result in good chances of rain. Temperatures will be in the 30s and 40s... and there is some possibility of wintry precipitation across North Texas on Sunday before the event comes to an end. North Texas residents... especially those traveling to locations in West Texas where significant wintry precipitation is expected... are urged to monitor local radio... TV... NOAA Weather Radio... or weather.Gov for additional information and refined forecasts. Hope none of ya'll are having to drive in any of the messy stuff. Happy Thanksgiving Kristi