C.Meens, is this home you are in a NEW home, or have you been there for a good while? If you've lived there a good while, I wouldn't worry much, BUT, IF you have just moved to your home, they likely have a spot close to your home where they overwinter. After I lost my past home in a divorce/bankrupcy situation, the guy that bought it (it's close to my present home) said there were Garter snakes living under the siding, they couldn't have been there long, so, he was able to get rid of them, OR they were living there unbeknownst to me when I lived there. BUT, they couldn't have been there for TOO long when I had been there, the double wide wasn't THAT old anyway. I wouldn't worry unless the house is new to you and keep finding more and more Garter snakes in your yard, There IS a house that was FAMOUS for having a swarm of them living in the walls and everywhere, BUT, I am sure THAT house has been deemed unfit for occupation by humans. I'd seen it on TV and REALLY IF somebody sold THAT house to anyone KNOWING the situation, they'll get sued big time. IT was MAYBE in Idaho or Iowa some place in the Midwest I THINK. Sorry, it may be the Vodka talking, but YOUR house is likely fine, I've seen a garter snake here and there, but, NOT this year yet. I've also seen a black racer snake many years ago. I am glad to see the snakes are NOT venomous ones. IF they do hang around you MAY have some rodents around for them to be hanging around your place. Do you have some animal feed that may be attracting mice? I HOPE this helps, I wouldn't worry, maybe they have overwintered in a hole in the ground near your place.

There are a few native outposts of Tsuga canadensis growing in zone 3 Minnesota. I have wondered if their genetics would really be different from the northwestern species front in Wisconsin, and have conclude that the probability is low. This, mainly because the species has only been within reach of Minnesota for only a thousand years or so, hardly long enough for differentiation to occur. Still, a Wisconsin seed source is certainly better than one from Tennessee, Pennsylvania, or even Ontario. It's not only the cold temperature that is in consideration, but also the dry winter winds. I am not sure what Manitoba is like, but Minnesota is quite sunny in winter compared to more easterly states. Northern ones [varieties] tend to break bud early to take greatest advantage of short summers, while more southern ones live in a habitat that has more chaotic spring weather, and so are a bit more cautious. That is exactly right (in general). Kudos to you on your research! Likewise, seed dormancy broken by cold stratification is usually shorter for species native to extreme cold climates where soils freeze deeply. Rick

Hi guys, I used to live in El Paso and I go there every year to visit my family. I noticed on the spring of 2005 that they had planted young queen palms (Syagrus romanzoffiana) in North Mesa around Coronado High School outside of some shopping malls and I also saw them plant some near Festival on North Mesa as well. Surprising right? I was like "WHAT? THESE WILL NOT SURVIVE HERE" and yes, I went to visit in the winter and they were FRIED. They did not come back on spring... I guess you can't stretch it that far! BUT my mom owns a Bougambilia plant that we used to have in a pot. We bought it on 2000 and it grew too large very quickly. We had to plant it outside on the floor. At first we used to bring the plant inside during the winter but then the plant got used to the weather and it started to survive the winters. Now that it is on the actual ground outside, it drops its leaves on fall, it dies... but on spring, it sprouts again from the ground. As I understand these plants are mainly tropical and subtropical. I've seen some houses grow them as well, however they always protect them or cover them during the winter. We don't cover ours anymore we just cut the dead part after it stops freezing (we leave the dead part to protect it from frost during the coldest days). I live in the upper valley (coldest area of El Paso) right on the country club. It may be the coldest area of El Paso but there are a LOT of very old trees in this area and it protects the floor from severe frost. In the mornings you can see the areas not shaded by the trees frosted, and the areas under the trees are just wet. We plant washingtonias and phoenix as well (on the ground outside) and they never die we always prune them even in the coldest winter, but they are under trees. We also have tropical hibiscus, overgrown geraniums of all colors (pelargoniums) some are like two to three feet tall, hidrangeas, birds of paradise (strelitzia reginae), gardenias and jazmines. The hibiscus, geraniums, and gardenias are on pots (we bring indoors for like the months of december and january), the birds of paradise, elephant ears, hidrangeas, azaleas, and jazmines are on the ground and they die in winter but they come back in spring. We've had them for about ten years and they grow very healthy. Hidrangeas can be beautiful, they bloom different colors every year. You just have to experiment with different plants in your specific area. Some do better facing the north, some do better facing the west, usually in my area no plant ever does good facing the east for some reason. They like the western afternoon direct sunlight, even when it is 100 degrees you just have to spray them with water at nights like a religion or else they fry. I'd say the key to planting in El Paso is trial and error. Because some areas get more dry roasting sunlight (which actually kill a lot of sensitive tropicals and small annuals) and some areas like upper valley are just a bit more humid which helps during the dry hot summers. In the winters too, some areas get the frost directly from the winds, other areas are protected by either the mountain or many canopies of trees. THERE ARE AREAS of trees in El Paso even though it is a desert. It's like an oasis in a way. I'm lucky to live there because when it is 110 near the mountain it's 90 under the trees and TRUST ME it makes a difference. When it snowed on 2007 everywhere in El Paso the snow accumulated to two inches, in my house it didn't accumulate at all because the ground wasn't cold enough. The grounds during the winters don't freeze here. I don't know if it is because we have lots of evergreen trees, we have three magnolia trees, and about ten large 'trueno' trees (Ligustrum lucidum) which are always green. Hope this helps you get some inspiration to grow a nice garden! I'll post some pictures next time I go to El Paso.

I still lurk and smile when reading -and seeing- cottontail postings. *Elly's compliments are very kind.* Good advice to google. Off the top of my head I can't recite the best sites I've found for helping cottontail youngsters. By the sound of it, I'm guessing the kids are two or so weeks old. Though genetics make some youngsters super big and other cottontail babies less robust. Eyes open at approx. 7-10 days. If they jostle for best position in the shallow nest, they gotta be an adequate gram weight. Yeah, I would very carefully try to recover the nest with fur but the baby kits could also undo your well intentions if they are large enough to forage outside. If the fur is partially moved, i'm guessing they are sneaking about and nibbling area greens. Hope they won't be spotted by a crow or hawk or land-roaming predator and they'll move to safety real soon. How long before they leave a nest? Is it mother bunny who leads the way for them to a more safe location. -Nope, they can just spelunker out on there own, get scared and scatter, or go searching for alternative safe haven. There is lots of high vegetation on my property but she chose to nest them right next to my garage under a small low growing pine. -Whew, good the nest is under an evergreen and near your garage to discourage easy spotting. The nest appears not to be deep but I am just guessing at that. Some of the fur nexting material has moved off of them from their movement. Should I put that back over the opening? -I'd be tempted to recover the nest and take huge strides away but sounds like they'll be mobile soon and move out. Mom will nurse for 2+ full weeks and start to wean around day 17. If they've made it to jostling position, I commend you for keeping the predators far away. Hope you can create some brushy or fortified hidey areas for the little ones... I will ditto elly and vonyon's sentiments. Best of luck in helping them off to a good start ~ and cottontail-safe haven.