Hey Kate, Glad your cats kept you in line! LOL! It is great to get our hands in the dirt isn't it? My hubby bought me a shirt at our Pike Nursey that says "I like to play in the dirt". Couldn't have summed it up better. I know April and she would never complain about working outside. Shes like me and can go from sunrise to sunset and then some. She left out the part about her being scared off by a snake and went and put on her hubbys boots and trudged around in the yard that way. Wish I had a picture of it and I would post it. April is always picture perfect when you see her so you could just imagine her trompsing around in big rubber boots. Now me, I throw on some raggedy old cut off jeans and t-shirt and flip flops if no digging is involved and i'm off. April is a hoot! Hope everyone has a great spring and great flowers to come. Judy

Tim, Actually it is the top of the growing point that is eaten, maybe about the last six inches or so. These things are huge. One can make a meal in itself. Ikz5ia, The trees you see in these shots include two native species, Cryptomeria japonica (sugi) and Chamaecyparis obtusa (hinoki). In one shot there are also a couple big Metasequoia growing. All of these trees can top out at 100+feet, thus dwarfing the moso. There is one sugi near my house that's measured at 150 feet and it has been lopped off several times by the hundreds of typhoons it has weathered in its lifetime. PF

Virginia bluebells are similar in appearance - ephemeral wildflowers that grow in wet areas, put on a spectacular show in April, then vanish until next year. Folks from the southeastern states may find them easier to grow, especially if you have an area that is wet in the spring. A local photographer describes his attempts to capture their beauty - includes an image ... Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Bluebells

erromena??? leaf shape looks to wide to me ... spade shaped.. rather than the lance shape of the undulata clan ... lance is longer than wide .... and the consistent wavy edge is not consistent with E ... and i am blanking on... oh.. how about ventricosa??? that flower pic.. might be an IDer ... and if i recall right.. the leaf surface might be sparkly ... if no one pops here to agree or disagree with me.. then the title doesnt interest them ... try a new post asking an ID .... then they will all chime in [this is where they make a liar of me.. lol] ken ps: ventricosa is better... lol ... Here is a link that might be useful: link