The old adage "if you want something done right, do it yourself" rings very true here. I like the yellow stakes idea. Even if the mow/blow guys can't read, surely they know their colors - do not touch!!! The yard man who does the landscape care where I work clips the formosa azaleas like hedges - even after August when they have set their buds for next spring. I told my boss but he still does it, and there were no flowers this year. Duh! You grow up in Florida and don't know azaleas aren't hedges??? I've had my neighbor's "20-year old handyman/gardener" spray RU in the wind (my whole front yard of roses was downwind) and say "my uncle says it only kills grass". There's no cure for stupid. The builder of our subdivision (34 lots) did not want an HOA but after erecting a nice entrance sign for the subd name was told by the city that doing so required him to have an association (?!?!). So he went the minimally invasive route of a POA - Property Owners Association. In Florida anyway a POA may or may not apply even the few rules they have which are only meant to protect property values NOT dictate house color, yard plantings, etc. Our rules do say we must have grass in the front yard, but the board has not enforced that against me. :)) Invariably, there are errors in communication - especially between men and women (I won't say more, but I don't understand what's so hard about LISTENING). Funny thing - my bosses DH is a very verbal, non-mechanical, lawyer-educated but non practicing man who repeats EVERYTHING he says at least twice. At first I found it kind of aggravating, but then I came to appreciate the second chance to "get" his instructions and now wish everyone would "tell me twice". I'm more and more grateful for the toughness of OGRs. I hope hoovb's HOA Mons Tillier is on its way to recovery, and I hope luxrosa's 12" tall teas survived. I will be hugely impressed if they do. Sherry

Citrus grow nothing like the other plants you are comparing it with (honeysuckle, vines, etc). The answer is Yes, I'm sure citrus can be done (as the picture above shows). I've seen other pictures like above and talked with one person who did some strange training on his citrus. But you'd be fighting the tree the entire time and you'd want to get some resources on advanced training, which are fairly scarce except for the basics on cordons, espaliers, etc. The Eureka lemon (and many grapefruit) are good possibilities as their shoot elongation can be larger, especially when they are given extra Nitrogen. There are also methods of using partial shade to elongate branches and trunks. The Eureka can grow very long limbs (and trunk) in many circumstances, which would be required to train it as such. On my Eureka, I've removed many vertical branches that were over 15' tall with only 1 major side branch on it. Typical orange trees won't cooperate easily and neither would mandarins. Additionally, I've read the sweet oranges can be fussy and not fruit consistently with constant training work that would be required. But none of this should scare you away. The Eureka will produce even more beautiful flowers/scent than the orange you saw at the nursery. Since you state to have the patience needed, go for it. You'll need to find the resource to learn from. Mainstream books will be limited to the the most common easiest training methods. Or take a trip to Lotusland and talk with their staff! ;-)

Hmmm - cup and saucer is more of an upwardly mobile vine. Maybe you should try morning glory - funny, I think I have have the same vinyl picket fence along the back of my yard where it meets an alley - from Lowe's. Anyway, morning glory is a good-guaranteed-to-grow choice. There are countless colors to choose from - Grandpa Ott's is a deep purplish blue that might look great w/ the cup and saucer vine. Morning glories can "take over" but they are easy to tame. Oh, did I tell you I think both cup are only available in seed form? At least, I can't find plants in Cols, OH where I live. Best, Howard

I have some orchids growing on branches on our oak tree. We also have Pothos that I didn't plant, really don't like and can't get rid of it. Our oak is a huge tree but these vines go crazy and are so aggressive. I have chopped them down, hit some with Roundup to kill it, nothing worked. The leaves are enormous. I would never recommend planting these, they are truly aggressive and impossible to get rid of. Because I have orchids on upper branches which I shoot with the hose to water, the Pothos gets watered also which doesn't help. I'll take some pics and post them so you can see what I mean. Jane