Thanks Moonie for thinking of me and remembering I tried to help Greg. Ken, I had a product that is made to keep birds from chewing their feathers. It's like 100 times more bitter than bitter apple for dogs because birds don't have saliva glands. I sent a bottle to Greg and he said it worked a little but would take a lot and repeated spraying the plants wouldn't be practical. The company was sold and don't know if the new companies product is the same or even if available. I don't know if Greg found an answer to the problem other than maybe some of the not so nice suggestions here. I think freezing is considered a human way of euthanasia for reptiles. Hope you have a nice big chest freezer. Wish I could be of more help. Sorry for the delayed reply but it seems the computer acts up every time I come here :( Peg

Thanks! Yesterday, I ended up planting a couple more small pindo palms and another windmill palm and placed an order for 2x brazos blackberries (blackberry x raspberry x dewberry hybrid), 2x 'austin' dewberries, 2x black beauty mulberries, 1x methley plum, and 1x conadroia fig. I've been wanting a black mulberry for some time, but I didn't want want that got as big as a tree. These black beauty mulberries are said to be semi-dwarfing, getting a maximum of about 15'. Only one of them will be planted on my property. I bought two because I heard they were hard to propagate and wanted to give it to someone as a gift. As far as whether or not I'll be able to grow all of this stuff in this area, the jury is still out. Aronia and autumn olives are things I haven't really heard anyone ever growing in Florida before, and the pacific northwest blue elderberries probably won't do well here because of the huge climate difference between Florida and Washington, but I'm going to try anyway. Some of the things may live but not fruit due to not enough chill hours or even having too much shade in certain areas. A good example of something going wrong in the shade was when our family use to have a large persimmon tree, a tanenashi I believe, and when it got to around 20', its limbs started growing toward the sun, and one day, it had so much weight all on one side of the tree that the roots came out of the ground. It did fruit before that but somewhat sparsely. Just another note about getting lots of plants in two acres. I wasn't totally in to all of the small plants and flowers when we started landscaping this place, and I even chose a few wrong trees initially to plant and ended up pulling them up before they got too big. When I say I chose the wrong plants, I mean I realized that there was very limited prime (somewhat higher and better draining - clear from driveways, access, lawn mowers, - full-sun) space and wanted that space for "better" things. Ever since then, I've tried to figure out what would work best at all of the "other" spaces in the property. There are plants that may like low land with full sun, and then there are plants that like shade but don't like wet feet. Finding plants that would work in a low/shady area that I actually liked have been a challenge. Local nurseries generally haven't been much help either. They just say plant some bald cypress, red maples, or river birch and be done with it! The size plants grow have also been an issue even in the better areas of the yard. Thankfully, almost all of my fruit trees are semi-dwarf, and a few are real dwarfs, and they can be pruned down to a manageable size. I'd be lying if I said I always put plants in the perfect location though. It's part of having a limited space and trying to experiment and make use out of every part of it, see what will happen. It makes things interesting. It's disappointing when it doesn't work out, but it's great when it does!

Thanks for sharing your pic and please continue. I'd love to see more. How sick is it that my first thought of the blue footed birds was "I hope Annie makes a design seed of the picture" because the colors are so great.

That is all correct. The upward-curved vine tip will occur when the vine is growing along the ground, because when it encounters a vertical surface it is positioned to take advantage of it. The same curve will happen when it grows past the top of the vertical surface and is hanging in space because it is still seeking a vertical orientation. If it were to grow straight on the ground and in the air, it would pass the tree or vertical surface instead of attaching to it and climbing it. A straight orientation hanging in the air would put it on a trip back to the ground. This plant is programmed to climb. If it grows on the ground, its leaves are small, and its tip is curved upwards. It grows small leaves to support its growth and focus all of its energy towards elongation. Internodes are long, and it is REACHING to find something to climb. When it encounters a suitable surface and attaches, it has achieved mission number 1. Leaves get larger, and the vine thickens with each new leaf. Internodes get shorter, the tip straightens because it is vertically oriented and attached. If the tip curved now, it would launch itself out into space and defeat mission number two, which is reaching the canopy, where it can get the premium quality light. Right now it is putting all of its energy into growing large leaves, large vines, and large aerial roots to grip its host. It is happy in this position, growing the largest, most robust leaves and vines that are simply not achievable without being attached. It is still reaching (upward), but not with the same desperation. Its needs are being met while it pursues mission number 2. If you were to pry the tip away from its host, each new leaf will grow smaller, the vine will grow thinner, the internodes will lengthen, and the tip will curve toward a vertical orientation. Now it is again in reaching mode, elongating desperately in search of a new host. Now I am not a botanist, and i havent read any books on the subject. I learned this by observing its behavior when i encounter it. Maybe someone that has some botanical training can confirm or correct my hypothesis.