And I look forward to seeing your new gardens! I agree...dead of winter was the time to leave - I could never do it in spring. I have to tell you........your photos were the ones that always stuck in my mind. A combination that I especially love and am going to try to recreate was one that had the beautiful spring pastels I love - pale yellow, mauve, apricot, pink and a coral that just set everything off - simply gorgeous! I just cant wit to get these roses Friday and get them in the ground - so glad I added CPM and its going on a double arched arbor with swing in my backyard and I will have a direct view from where we sit on the deck. It is so cold wet and dreary now.....seems like spring will never come, but a perfect time to plant roses!! Thanks so much for your comment! Judith

Let's see... Transplant shock - a catch all phrase used to when a plant suffers/declines/dies after planting due to experiencing different growing conditions than those provided prior to out planting. Planted deeper in the earth than in the pot - a source oftransplant shock Planted with more soil over the root zone than in the pot/field soil level - a source of transplant shock Planted in a location that lacks protection from other plants (like in a nursery where there are many plants grouped together) thus allowing more sunlight to reach the trunk thereby causing sun scald - transplant shock - the borers were most likely after the fact when the tree became stressed, it became a pest magnet but this is not known definitively Planted in greater sun exposure than the root system can accommodate - a source of transplant shock To say the tree had no chance when we have no knowledge of the tree's condition prior to out planting is ignorantly presumptuous and insinuates the tree should have been culled before sale when the tree could have been perfectly healthy at the time of sale. 18 months is plenty of time for many things to go wrong, especially with a dogwood.

That size, I'm wondering if it is a Cecropia. Did it look like this? Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Cecropia Moth Caterpillar

Unfortunately, the pinks are descended from non-FL ecotypes and are not adapted to here. There's one bred for heat tolerance (Gulf Coast Pink) that might work but I'd still be reluctant to try it in peninsular Florida... If you're set on pink, Eastern Redbud is your best bet and it is also an understory tree with similar preferences. If you're not set on a color and are looking for a general ornamental flowering tree look into American fringeflower/"Grancy Graybeard" if you haven't already, very unique, showy but harmonious. Areas with more sun: UF-bred nectarines and peaches (I work with some so I know they grow here) the Chitalpa, and pink cultivars of Vitex (multi-trunked large open shrub)