I've read these forums off and on for several years now. It's amazing how many searches for gardening info bring up Garden Web forums! I bought my first house last fall and decided this week it was time to register and join in here. So many wonderfully talented and knowledgeable gardeners here! And, then, I find a forum specifically for Okies! One of the things I liked best about the house when I first looked at it was the backyard. There are just all kinds of plants. I have to wait to see what many of them are, although my neighbor next door has clued me in on some. The neighbors have a landscape pond in their backyard. One of the things I expected to miss about my last apartment (lived there for over 10 years) was the landscaping, complete with ponds, a stream and lots of wildlife including frogs and toads. I was thrilled to find out that the neighbors pond has frogs in it as I love listening to them. They were worried that the new owner (me) might object to having to hear frogs croak. I think we both got lucky! The backyard slopes severely and has some sort of evergreen planted all around it. Over the years many of lower branches have been trimmed off due to disease, according to the neighbor. Now they are very tall with foliage only at the top. Quite a few of them suffered a good deal during last winter's ice storm. There's still at least one sizeable branch that is broken and needs to be cut off. A couple in the back aren't broken but are badly bent over. I'm sort of hoping that the bent ones somehow magically recover as the birds and squirrels seem quite fond of them. I have already counted at least 15 different species of birds in my new backyard, and that doesn't include mockingbirds which I have seen in the front yard. I also saw a tiny mouse near the back fence a couple of weeks ago when I watering a spot that has some irises and a crepe myrtle. Last Monday evening I saw a baby rabbit in the neighbor's yard by my garage. Some of the plants (many of these I can't verify yet, just going by what the neighbor tells me) include crepe myrtle (3 in the back), a Rose of Sharon, irises, hardy hibiscus (looks like 4 of those), daylilies and some other lily the neighbor wasn't sure of the type, clematis out front, what appears to be a lilac someone tried to chop down that is coming back but is probably too close to the house for good air flow, and some boxwoods up next to the front of the house. The boxwoods look nice but stink so I am going to try to relocate them farther from the house in the front yard and create a flower bed with them as a back drop. To replace the stinky bushes up close to the house I have already acquired two blue hollies, four mini roses, a peony, azalea, hydrangea, blue lilac, and a romantica rose. I'm probably going overboard, but my gardening for the past 20 years has been limited to pots and whisky barrels on an apartment patio, and I'm just so excited to have a house with lots of room for gardens now! My biggest problem is that a large part of the backyard is heavily shaded due to the evergreens, and, especially around the perimeter, there isn't even much in the way of grass. Lots of weeds in the areas where there is grass. I'm looking forward to finding out all the creative gardening things I can do with my new house! I've probably rambled on long enough now. Going to leave work early today to have lunch at the Arts Festival then home to plant and transplant! Debra

Thanks, Scott. With your guidance, I was able to find the following info, which I'll post here for others who may be curious - "Tubifex tubifex, also called the sludge worm, is a species of tubificid segmented worm that inhabits the sediments of lakes and rivers on several continents. These worms ingest sediments and gain nutrition by selectively digesting bacteria and absorbing molecules through the body wall. The worms can survive without oxygen for months, and can survive in areas so heavily polluted with organic matter that almost no other species can endure. By forming a protective cyst and lowering its metabolic rate, T. tubifex can survive drought and food shortage. Encystment may also function in dispersal of the worm. Ecologically, it is important as a source of food for leeches, crustaceans, insects, and fishes. In a freeze dried, pelletised form, they are sold to aquarists as a form of fish-food. It is most economically important to humans as a host of Myxobolus cerebralis, which causes disease in fish stocks. No other worms are known to harbor this parasite." To my great surprise, it appears that the portion of the worm extending into the water is the tail section. The tubificids have their heads buried in the sand. I'm going to rename mine the georgebushworms.

The fourth picture above is Yellow Wood Sorrel, "Oxalis stricta" a very common "weed" in any cultivated soil. Quite easily pulled by hand but also easily reseeded by birds. The first one could be a thistle and the third could well be spurge, a very prolific seed producer. Hand pulling, that gets all of the root, is the single best means of control. There is more and more evidence appearing that indicates any of the "weed" poisons are very detrimental to wee thingys such as toads and frogs and other of what is known as the lower forms of life.

I just grab 'em with a gloved hand. Then you put them in a sealable plastic bag and into the freezer. I once went on the warpath with bufo toads—caught & froze a bunch. I've stopped because I just don't have the heart to hunt them.