thanks for the reply. quoted from my previous reply, >they are in e.b. stone "edna's best" organic potting soil. also some tomato tone fertilizer and worm castings in the hole when i planted them in. nothing since then (that was about a month ago). all plants have had blossoms for a couple weeks, no fruit yet. >i water by hand, when soil feels dry a couple inches down." re: temps - it's been in the neighborhood of 65-70 during the day and high 50's at night for the past week at least. before that...much the same, maybe a few days here and there of much warmer daytime weather. fertilizer burn would surprise me as i haven't fertilized except for a handful of tomato tone in the hole when planting, and they've been out around 6 weeks. i've been watering maybe twice a week, depending on how warm it is & how dry the soil feels.

Thanks guys, but I found out what kind of snake I had. I sent an email with attached photos to the Stetson University Herbetology dept. and Terence Ferrell told me what it was. It is a hatchling Eastern Hognose Snake. I looked it up on the net, and found a great picture to compare it head markings to, and guess what? Turns out Mr. Ferrell is correct. Just to update you, my daughter and I released it into a nearby wooded area late yesterday afternoon, and it appeared to be just fine in spite of it's run in with my cocker spaniel. :) I'm attaching a link to the web site with a great photo of the head markings. Here is a link that might be useful: Eastern Hognose

thedecoguy, I did some searching on Petasites and it certainly looks like it matches what she described. I've never seen anything like it before. Thank you! I'll pass along the info and see what she says.

It does look like a lot like a slightly chlorotic Chinese lantern, Physalis alkakengi. And that would certainly fit with your description of taking up a lot of real estate :-) This is a pretty rapacious plant with regards to spreading and not all that easy to control or remove - many gardeners rue the day they planted it.....just a warning!