hmmm... I was getting excited about trying to find the lilacs.... though I haven't found where you can purchase the Descano's online... but now Dr. Manors it talking about the chill factor.... What temperature does it have to get down to have a chill factor. I had a low chill apple but it never got cold enough here to have apples. From what I was reading about the Descanoes is that they need to be forced into dormancy by withholding water... does it still need chill..... I live right on the intracostal and it is in a wide section... and the gulfstream is very close to where I live so it never gets really cold here.... I think maybe a day or two so that would be 24 hours but that would be mid 50's.

I am enjoying peoples pictures....

I have grown hollyhocks here in South Florida. I grow the ones that flower first year.... though last year they did not bloom... I still have several of them living, but the chili thrips LOVE them almost more than they like roses.... and white flies seem to attack them in June.

I forgot about the mock orange. My parent had that when I grew up. It smells divine.... here in Florida they have a plant called mockorange jasmine.... the flowers are not pretty like the ones up North.... don't get me wrong, they are cute, but not outstanding.... but the scent is JUST like the mockorange that I grew up with... When I use to take my dog Oracle for a walk we could smell one 5 blocks away.... but I never noticed any butterflies on it... it seems to me that the butterflies liked the ones up north.

Stephanie, I'm glad you specified that that was a public garden because I was about to go stick my head in the bucket! I grow jasmine in a pot and just bring it inside during the winter where it should have goes dormant. It'll Bloom until around December or January and can actually take some cold. I've grownthe Sambac also it's so beautiful and will perfume is my entire yard. I also have three mock oranges but oddly enough only one of them is fragrant, although all have uniquely beautiful flowers.

Ooh I’m going to need one of those Duke of Tuscany Jasmine!

Plumeria, That Duke of Tuscany jasmine bloom sure looks like a rose! Sweet kids getting mom another “rose” for her garden :-)
Sharon, I just checked a climate map for the nearest major weather station here in Burbank. The average low in Dec/Jan is 41/42F. It often gets just down to freezing at night. I think this is just enough chill for these low chill lilacs, which you can find stocked here in local nurseries. I see quite a few apples trees in our neighborhood, which occasionally put out blooms in the wrong season if it’s too warm in winter one year. Thank you, thank you, for reminding me that my lilac needs dry soil to help it go into dormancy! I totally forgot and this is the first year on our new drip system. I watered by hand before. Now is exactly the right time to put a little plug on its dripper to withhold for the next few months. The rains will start in November and by then it is cool/cold outside, but still I sometimes have to pluck off all the leaves if they haven’t shed by Christmas. Descano has a lilac garden that is very popular when in bloom. My first date with my DH was to Descano when the lilacs were in bloom at the beginning of April. I never remember the exact date, it’s somewhere between April 5-8, even now I would need to ask him, but for me our anniversary is when the lilacs bloom.

Vaporvac, I am very curious to know which of your mock oranges is the fragrant one.

I wish I knew monarda, but they're original 100 yr. old plantingsI'm thinking about try to air propogate it to plant on my hill, so if I'm successful I'd be happy to send you a cutting.

I love that people just want stuff out of their hardiness zones. I am not sure if I would be ready to sacrifice peonies or delphinium or lilacs for more exotic varieties but I wish I could have the french weather (mostly south of the Loire). I miss it so much, mostly for the camelias and the climbing roses. It is very hard having climbing roses here while they would grow like weeds. I also wish I could grow old french roses in general, and more rhododendron varieties as well.

ALSO the citrus. God I loved having potted citrus trees, oh and the laurel... and just generally not having to worry about winter dieback and boxwood protection.

sigh..

That's so nice, Vaporvac, but I don't have room for a mockorange myself, alas. But it's interesting to know it is one of the older cultivars or P. Coronaria itself. My mother also had one that came with her house. It bloomed in a shady corner on the north-east side of the building and also filled the air with fragrance.

Embarrassingly , I would love to grow a huge Gardenia bush ! They are all over FL , but for some reason , I can't grow them . I tried 4-5 bushes different varieties , but they all died .

Vaporvac: too many critters. Wild boars, porcupines, mice all adore tulip bulbs. It's not worth the trouble.

Bulbs in general are difficult. I'm still fighting to get soil that doesn't closely resemble concrete (when dry) or modeling clay (when wet). I'm suffering the usual frustration of August, when parts of the garden look like a battle took place there and all the plants died; and the frustration of knowing that we still need HUNDREDS of trees, without being able to get them in and water them all in one huge planting. We do what we can, preparing for and planting at least some dozens of trees and shrubs every fall. We've been putting trees and shrubs into the garden for sixteen years now, and still have years of planting ahead. This is dog days speaking: once things brighten up when the rains begin, I'll be a lot more positive.

Gabi, I've never lived in France, but in following a couple of French garden blogs, I can see what you mean. Their gardens are so different from ours. They are interspersed throughout the lawn and the paths through the roses are grass instead of a hard surface, or bark, like mine. It just looks so fresh. And, the roses they grow!! Oh, my goodness! What a difference a good climate makes. I agree that not having to worry about winter protection and dieback would be such a luxury. Oh, and yes! The citrus - the fragrance of orange blossoms. We can grow Key limes and Meyer lemons indoors in a sunny room, and I would love to try that.

Sharon, Most of the research done on chill units has been done with stone fruits, mainly peaches. We then ASSUME it works similarly in other crops. So for lilacs, we probably can't state exact temperature ranges. But for peaches specifically, it works like this:

Below 32°F (0°C) the plant neither gains nor loses chill units. It's just waiting.

Between 32°F and 45°F, it collects one chill "unit" per hour spent in that range

Between 45° and 55° it is still collecting chill units, but the warmer it gets, the more hours it takes to equal one unit. The counter is slowing down.

Between 55° and 65°, it is neither collecting nor gaining chill units

Above 65°F, it begins to lose units, and the warmer it gets, the faster it loses them.

So in a climate like Florida's, you might pick up a few units on a chilly night, but you might subtract them back off, the following afternoon.

It is said that the Descanso lilacs don't require chill at all, and that may be. But if so, there must be some other factor (soil types, nematodes in the soil, various pests and diseases, too-long and too-hot summer temperatures, etc.) that prevents us from growing them. I just can't believe that a desirable group of plants, introduced in the 1950s, would be so utterly absent from Florida, if there were not some very good reason for it.

And to all of us here -- Look through and think about this thread. It's fascinating. We all want to grow what "those guys over there" can grow well, yet "those guys over there" want to grow what I can grow easily! Maybe we all need to just move, now and then?

flowersaremusic, We also use a lot of small pebble stone which I used for my backyard in Montreal as well even though its not ideal for snow removal haha.

I had a calamondin but it died during a move. I really liked it and I even made some marmelade out of its fruits. I should buy another one and also try the Meyer lemon.

Jin, I like your Grand Duke of Tuscany. I grow some of the Sambac Jasmine group as well.

The Maid of Orleans Jasmine, in that group is used in Jasmine Tea. In Asia, people feed Koi the flower buds as a treat. Also, there is a chocolate jasmine recipe made from fresh Cacao beans.

I'm in NE FL where we get more chill hrs than Mr Malcolm's area but I still have trouble with rebloom on some things. Like hardy waterlilies for example. They just do not rebloom well for me even if repotted each spring and all the other stuff one is supposed to do. When I was in a colder zone, I had no problems.

We get some freezes here. Some winters even into the 20's F or less. Some winters we barely freeze at all. So one would think a hardy waterlily would do well. Nope.

So I grow Tropical Waterlilies in thick tubs and put a piece of plywood over them if it freezes. They bloom just fine even though we are subtropical. All trial and error to figure out what I can get away with here. It is challenging.

In FL, I think its the combination of heat + humidity that kills a lot of things.

I can grow some things for a short time in the spring like cleome, delphiniums, foxglove etc. Once the heat and rain start up they are toast, usually by May. So its hardly worth it.

Miami Rose tropical waterlily- very fragrant!

King of Siam Tropical- also lightly fragrant.

And there are Mermaids, of course..(little tree frog tadpoles)

I don't think I would move just to get plants that I miss..... though maybe we should all do a vacation switch to someone else's place.... just kidding because I KNOW my own hubby would NEVER go for it..... When I moved to Florida it was right after grad school which was right after college.... never thought about what plants I would be giving up... didn't have a clue.... I grew up on a farm and my parents wanted my brother to stay on the farm because he was a boy.... he hated being outside and always hired people to do things.... it was so hard for me to see something I LOVED and not get to enjoy it.... loved the animals... loved gardening... I loved disking, raking, mowing.... I didn't even mind cutting weeds out of the bean field.... which I SWEAR was a lot more humid than here in Florida... maybe not parts of it but I always have a sea breeze.

So I do miss plants.... and it is interesting how we all have desires.... I have a bouganville that someone said they would love to have... I don't care for it, but the next door neighbor who I liked gave it to me when she moved so I take care of it..... I have a lemon myer now for 3 years... nothing except the year it was planted when it already had fruit on it... now it blooms sets fruit and drops them all.... I use to have a red ruby grapefruit that put out delicious fruit... better than what I can buy.... I HATE oranges.... I think it is because my grandparents use to send a bushel of oranges to my family every week... yes a bushel.... and there was NO WAY we could eat a bushel of oranges in a month let alone a week but my parents didn't want them to go to waste so we were always eating the ones that were going bad to "save" them instead of eating the better ones.....

Sultry jasmine I LOVE your water lilies .... You say you have them in a bucket (tub).... I had wanted to have a little pond with them but I am afraid of getting buford toads.... especially when I had my dog... and someday I would like to get another puppy....

I think it is nice we can all share our desires of other flowers... and see how we all differ... and yet we all have the same love for roses.

Dr. Manors thanks for explaining the chill factor... that makes sense. I appreciate the info... now I know why never got apples.

I absolutely love the scent of Jasmin. Thank you everyone for the compliments.

Jasmin, I love to get Maid of Orleans but then I am torn btw that variety and Belle of India. It is so hard to find a them unless I do mail order.

Both your lilies look amazingly beautiful . I absolutely love both the colours .

jin

A plant that I would love to grow here would be the macrophylla hydrangeas. I can grow them just slightly. They usually die back to the ground after winter and I rarely get a bloom. So I would like to have reliable plants with many mophead blooms. I had a vision of these dotted throughout my gardens in the less sunny locations.

I also wish I could grow climbing roses or even larger rose shrubs in general. Our winters can be pretty harsh on roses.

But I had to laugh at what some of you wish you could grow where you live, many of these plants are so easy here, very common and weed like. They almost hold no interest for me for these
reasons. Lily of the valley is usually found in gardens that have been neglected around here. Lilacs are everywhere - from yard to yard to roadside groves of them. Peonies are gorgeous but aren't worth my garden space for their short bloom time. Delphiniums are a plant it and forget it perennial here. All are very pretty plants, so I can see the appeal.

I also really enjoyed the photos above in this
thread.

Malcom, thanks for explaining chill hours. I didn’t realize you had to subtract hours after a cold night if it was too hot the next day.

Sharon, you can grow both lotus and tropical waterlilies in large round laundry tubs from Target or large planters without holes in the bottom. I find cheap ones at Sams Club in the spring summer. I also got some nice faux stone/ foam pots at Big Lots one year.

Do the Bufo toads climb? We have some toads (not Bufo) in our yard and they don't lay tadpoles in the water tubs. I have mainly Green tree frogs and Squirrel tree frogs here.

Another great thing about the tubs besides lilies and attracting frogs is they also attract dragonflies which eat mosquitoes. Their larvae also eat mosquito larvae. They might also get some tadpoles but it doesnt seem to affecting the # of frogs and tadpoles too much. The Green Tree frog is also said to be one of the few tadpoles that eat mosquito larvae. You can always use Mosquito Dunks if you need to though.

Tubs also allow you to be able to get up close to smell your waterlilies. In a pond, its hard to do that. I have some very fragrant whites that are fragrant several feet away. They attract lots of tiny bees.

Here is a tiny baby frog, just emerging out of the tub. Its as tiny as my pinky fingernail. (When they still have the tail and legs, sometimes, they will hang out on the lily pads. They do look like little mermaids then lol.)

Outside of a larger planter. If you can find them about 20-24 inches high and that wide- at least near the top. Those seem to do great.

I do a pot in pot method when planting waterlilies and lotus so the inner pot can be lifted out to repot the lily bulbs and divide them in the spring. You can see the smaller container within the larger one. These inner tubs with handles can be found at the $1 store.

Sultry, what kind of soil do you use around the lily in the red pot? Does the red pot need holes?

Haven't posted to the forum in ages, but do visit occasionally when I have time. Saw this topic, though, and couldn't resist sharing the ridiculous horticultural windmill I have tilted at: meconopsis betonicifolia, blue himalayan poppy. They are SO gorgeous, and years ago I truly was deluded enough to try - of course it died almost immediately, sigh. But I'd love to grow that! Also wish ceanothus was hardy here, so beautiful. I do grow bougainvillea as a pot plant, wintering it indoors, but of course its nothing like the glorious ones you see in Florida or CA. And I wish more of the blue lacecap hydrangeas were BUD hardy here (the only ones, in my experience, that are are Twist and Shout and Blue Billow). I grow delphiniums and have tolerable luck with them. They are not 100% perennial for me, but in most years some of my plants come back. I grow them from seed, and start them super early (like, December) so I have big stout plants to put out in the spring. I find if I plant them with a big handful of lime, they do pretty well and are more likely to return. Mine are usually not as magnificent as HalloBlondies (though I have had some pretty wonderful specimens) but they do provide me with those gorgeous blues, and I love them, and am happy to go to some trouble for them. Of course, there are also tons of tender roses that I wish I could grow! But I'm trying to curb my tendency to push the limits of my zone - since there are so many great roses that ARE happy here, more than I can possibly ever grow, I should try to ignore the allure of all those teas, for example, that will never do better than struggle and sulk in my zone 6!

I would also like to grow delphiniums as well, but even the so-called heat tolerant ones have not survived for me here either. They have fuller flower stalks than the larkspurs and to me look better. I think delphiniums look like big, blue (usually) garden Popsicles. I would like to be able to grow some of the stuff that on paper should grow here but either won't do well or won't grow at all because of our weather problems, and that includes roses, some disease-prone peonies, and those intriguing gas plants, dictamnus varieties. I would also like to be able to grow the things I like without critters eating them. Critters are as bad as the weather.

Stephanie, cheap bagged heavy topsoil mixed with unscented 100% clay kitty litter is perfect for waterlilies. Get the cheap special kitty litter from walmart. I dont use regular potting soil because the peat and bark just floats up. Once the lily is planted and puts up a few new leaves then I add a fee pond fertilizer tabs. Another good fertilizer for waterlilies are the Jobes Tomato Fertilizer spikes. The have high phosphorus and pretty much like a bloom booster.

The red inner pot does not need any holes.

Ooohhh I agree about wishing for blue poppies! Really any poppy would be great. I plant them, they sprout, start growing nicely, then croak :/

I really really wish I could grow the Tacsonia types of passifloras! I bet people in the San Franciso areas of Calif can grow them. They hate our hot summers plus they dont like to freeze.

I also *wish* I could grow Proteas! Not even gonna think about it..so depressing..

sultry jasmine, I do not know if the bufford toads climb.... I have only seen two on my property in the 27 years I have lived here..... but I do NOT want to encourage them to come.... we have been having tons or rain on a daily basis.... they have had it on the news that many people have lost their dogs from the unusual amount of B toads we have this year..... I do like the fact you can grow your lily's in pots... I could maybe have some in the front yard where (if I ever get another dog) the toads would be out there.....

How much sun do the lilies need. I have seen some in the wild.... both in shady ponds and in bright sun.... but never really thought too much about it because I did not have a pond....

Do you have to anchor the lily in the pot that is in the pot.... I saw the note on the kitty clay.... what is the ratio of the clay to the soil..... This something I never thought about either.... I just thought the floated and got their nutrients from the water... not that they still needed a pot with dirt....

frances_in_nj

I love the blue flowers too... I wish I could find more that grow here in Florida. I looked up the blue poppy it is very nice. I had not heard of it.... I purchase delphium every Feb. and it grows here til about April sometimes May.... I just love the colors.... I found some blue balloon flowers on a discount rack at lowes.... I revived them and had some pretty blue flowers for a month or two.... I kind of wish I could grow bachelor buttons.... I have tried many times but I have never gotten any to germinate....

If they grew beautifully in Alaska I guess that explains why mine died in Sacramento LOL
Carla in Sac

she lied that is so beautiful the blue poppies :)
jin

I guess we would all like something that we can't actually grow where we live

I was the one that said I would love to have a Bougavilia but I've never had 1 to have to tame and I hear the thorns are wicked but every time I go to Mexico the 1st thing that I drool over are the beautiful Bougainvillea.

I love beautiful palms and hibiscus but what I get are lilacs and honestly sometimes they start up in the most random places. I have to pull them out. I know those of you who can't grow a lilac probably cringe to hear that but is true they come up everywhere. but they sure smell good for a couple of weeks.

I'm bored with rhododendrons azaleas and camellia. I'm ready for something more unique and something tropical. am I ready to deal with humidity? No, so I'll just keep growing roses and be happy.

This thread made me think of something I read long ago in Henry Mitchell's The Essential Earthman -- and I spent hours trying to find it. (It was a black day for me when I heard that Henry Mitchell had died).

"Even the great gardens lack many things, and that should comfort us if our bird bath is not so blue or palm-fronded as the lake at Como. In a nutshell, I was sorry because I had no lorapetalum, and then I met a man who had no snowdrop." -- The Essential Earthman, p. 6

Sheila, that is so beautiful the blue poppies.

The above comment got auto correct and I saw it as I spell and magic all change as I put a period on it. Sorry about that. So, I made sure it is understandable.....lol
oops!!!
jin

For some reason I cannot grow gardenia or camellias well. Also seems to be too wet here for lavender. Would love to grow jasmin like yours, Jin.

I want to grow water lilies and lotus but I don’t have a pond. Inspired by SJN to get an urn on my patio for them. Maybe miniature variety.

i tried tuberose and it never bloomed.

Mine is Lilium regale. I have always loved them

Daisy.

Toro, that is so bizarre about your Tuberose. My brother send me a pic. He bought 6 about 3 yrs ago and now he has 50. Apparently, it smell like a bottle of perfume. His just started to bloom about a week ago. I think he is zone 6 in Columbus Ohio.
It's okay I can't grow gardenia here. I bought 3 times and it just croak on me each time. I don't get it and my next door neighbor has a huge giant for years. Usually I make a vase for myself and really enjoy the scent. She takes my roses. Fair trade :) So it is a win , win situation ...lol

It is not a great pic he always take...lol
He has a pond too that he build himself but I don't think I want one here in FL.

jin

Monarda, Love the Henry Mitchell quote.

It was not meant to be dismissive, but rather it was an attempt to turn his thoughts toward gratitude, since Mitchell also recounts at length the torments of longing for plants he couldn't grow for reasons of space or climate.

Wow, Jin! I didn't realize I could grow tuberose!!! Does he have to dig it up in the winter?

I will inquire more and let you know over my weekend. I don't think so but I will double check

Sharon, No the inner waterlily pot diesnt have to be anchored it is heavy enough with the topsoil and clay litter to stay put.

Jin, Are you getting ready for this hurricane next week? lol

Many gardenias in FL here get nematodes. Some online places sell grafted ones on resistant rootstock. I have a Double

Tahitian Gardenia from Lowes that has huge flowers and blooms much better than the traditional gardenias. You can grow them like a tree like a tree rose and keep it potted on the patio. It smells heavenly. I think the hardiness is rated zn 10 but I move mine in the greenhouse or on the covered patio by the house if it freezes. So far so good.

I grew tuber roses in the past but they dont seem to do well here. They die off after a few yrs never to return. Same for my Voodoo lilies. I might try the Voodoo Lilies again though.

Hey Vapor, for you in zone 6, you will need to dig up the bulbs of tuberoses. I started with three little bulbs in three pots three years ago. At the end of each year, I've been able to divide one pot into 2-3 divisions. This is what I do. I plant them in pots because it's much easier to winterize the plants that way. I would wait till the leaves start to turn brown from the cold night time temperature and cut all the leaves down to about 3". Then I would upturn the pot to get the entire root ball out and use two garden forks to split it into either 2 or 3 divisions, depending on how big the plant has grown. Each division is then placed in a gallon food storage bag. A little water is added into the root ball/potting soil so it feels moist, but not soaking wet. Then I would use a piece of twine to loosely tie the bag around the remaining dried up leaves to help keep the moisture in the bag longer. I then place all my divisions in the section of my basement which is connected to my unheated garage. The temperature there in the dead of winter goes down to about 45 degrees F. But I suspect refrigerator temperature (~ 38-40 degrees) will work as well. The only thing in winter you need to pay attention to is to periodically feel the potting soil in the bag and make sure it doesn't become too dry. If so, water it with a spray bottle. The bulbs will wake up in spring by sending fresh green leaves up the tied neck to tell you they're coming out of dormancy. If you pot them up in late March/early April indoors then transition them out when it's warmer, they will bloom for you in early July. Tuberoses really are super easy to grow and very disease-free, and they will reward you with that amazing fragrance, quite unlike anything I've smelled.

--Lin

Vap, I just talk to my brother . Basically what Linc said above. I ask my bro and he usually dig the bulbs ahead of time before the 1st frost and store them. He will bring some to me next yr and I can give you some. And he is going to propagate some cuttings for me since I am so bad. I am getting some of very fragrant plants.
One of them is really ugly but the flowers are so beautiful.
Tuberose. Going to upload more pics which I am getting really excited for next year.
jin
Anyways,

First 3 pics is Dana De Noche means Madam of the night in French. The flowers are huge (size of a hand). The plant is ugly but not the flowers. From what I gather it was in the movie of 'Crazy Rich Asian' so I heard and I still have not seen the movie. The back of the flower is like a dragon claw. It takes forever for the bloom to open and when it does it last for a night.
The last pic is called Queen of the Night. The flowers are extremely fragrant more than Jasmin. The flowers are really small size of fingernails. There is a story about this plant , a myth. About cobra snakes loving this plant or should I say it is attract to scent. You can Google on the story...lol.

Jasmin, I just came back from 3 stores and the shelves are getting empty. No water , no bread, no ramen noodles, chef boyardee......lol. Thanks for information on Gardenia :)
Sharon, Perma, Jasmin, Sofl and whoever is living in FL that I left out. Hope all goes well. I call it a Hurricane Party...lol. No, I am not looking towards weekend. Never ready but I am bringing in all my potted roses in the house. I am stock up on batteries and candles but not on water. I do have 1 pack of 32 Aquafina bottles bought a week ago. . That's it.
It's only Wednesday .
Jin
( added 2 more pics of empty shelves )

Amazing flowers but I can't believe those empty shelves! Stay safe! I think that's protea nice Sunset. Is the other one 8 Jasmine? I don't know why 8 and nice Sunset showed up I didn't say that.

Take care in the hurricane!

Wow Jin, The stores around here are also the same way. No water, no bread, canned goods an instant type meals wiped out. We went out and stocked up last night. Some of the Walmarts around here are at max orders so one cant put online pickup orders anymore lol.

Check places like Home Depo, Dollar Stores, Tractor Supply, gas stations, Walgreens etc. Sometimes they dont sell out as fast on water etc. Some people, last night,said they found water at H Depo.

We have one of those hot/cold water dispensers w the 5gal bottles on top. So I went and filled up 3 of the 5gal bottles. Good to have around. Even if the power goes out, it still dispenses room temp water. I need to buy some instnt coffee.

I have used garden solar lights for flashlights during blackouts after hurricanes and storms. At least they are easily recharged during the day.

I love your Queen of Night Jasmine and Cestrum.

We have a lot of Cestrum Nocturnum/ Night Blooming Jasmine shrubs in our yard. They can be overpowering on the fragrance but I love them! They attract Hawk/Hummingbird/Sphinx Moths like crazy when they are blooming. I try to grow lots of night bloomers for the Hawk Moths.

I found these two little guys yesterday resting during the day. I dont usually see them in the daytime lol.

I think this is a Vine Sphinx Moth..he was about as big as my hand. They have pretty pink spots on their body under the wings.

Tersa Sphinx Moth

Jin and Sultry - please take care in the hurricane! And all the FL friends here too! Hope you guys stay safe and don't sustain any storm damage! Positive hopes sending your way!

Monarda and Linc, thank you for your well wishes and safety. We will have positive attitudes, a little humor and a drink that actually helps to calm my nervous down.
Well, I been checking on my neighbors and buying stuff for each other. I got everything now . Jasmin, I just bought instant coffee and order Coleman camp stove so we can cook stuff in case of power outage. I hope it reach here on Sunday ( as promised ) if not I am using my neighbors :)

My pots are too big and heavy to moved so I moving them against the house. I am staking all my roses ( in grounds) and tying them up. I hope they won't break in strong winds.

Jasmin, you are funny. Moth that are size of a hand. Now, that is scary. I think I will scream first than ran. I been doing that a lot with frogs and toads. They always catch me by my toes ( surprised)....hehe.

You guys be safe and cautious.

Jasmin don't forget to filled up your car as I am doing it after work on Saturday. Dont want to deal with long lines like last year. It was a nightmare and total madness.

jin

Wisteria!!! It's my absolute favorite bloom but it is well known to eat houses and for all that size, only blooms once. Well, there are some that bloom again but they lack the scent, and some say they stink. I am tempted to grow it as a bonsai though.

I wonder why wisteria is less of a pest in Europe & Asia. The Bronx Botanic Garden used to have wonderful specimens of named varieties (don't know if it still does). Thank heavens for botanic gardens! Maybe they simply can afford and/or are willing to pay people to cut it back three times a year in return for so much beauty & fragrance.