Your MACs do look demure at the moment. I have 3 MACs in different settings (yes, I am nuts), all about 7 to 9 years old, and just went out and measured them. With pruning (and in the case of the one growing in decent soil on the west side of the house, "muscular" pruning that takes one day each twice a year; the other in crummy conditions, just one day a year), MAC on a pergola or trellis can be kept about 12 to 15' tall, 14' wide, and 9-10' deep. The third MAC, in partial shade and lousy soil under a huge old pepper tree that sucks up most of the water and nutrients, is about 20' tall and 16' wide and 12' (at least, wanders over to my neighbors trees at that point -- new neighbors whose screams I expect to hear any day now when they realize how far Madame Al is over in their trees...). This one is allowed to run amok (obviously) and is all mixed up with what I think is Fellemberg (was supposed to be Parson's Pink, long story) and is lovely, but is obviously motivated by the extra shade of the pepper tree to stretch. MAC actually tolerates pruning rather well, but intelligent pruning (don't create witches' brooms). Like you, I originally planted two MACs at my entryway and ended up removing one: one is enough here. Conditions in your yard may well differ. I have all the ones on your "new candidates" list. Jaune Desprez is just as rampant as MAC but worse because of vicious thorns (I dearly love it, but it costs in blood). Marechal Niel is so far modest-sized at roughly 10' x 4' after three years, but that's not long enough to know; some I have seen are definitely big. On the other hand, MN has a reputation as something of a fussy-buttons and is not looking like a house-eater here yet, though parked in prime real estate, so maybe not as rampant. Buff Beauty is definitely the "mannerly climber" it is often descrbed as. I have kept one at 7' tall and 4' wide and 16' long along a fence for about 9 years. Debbie

Thought I'd check in and report on my garden...it just boggles my mind how these plants can survive and even thrive in this heat! Being relatively new to gardening, it's so thrilling to have some success! 1)Red and pink Celosias: seemingly can't get enough of the heat. Love the whole spear-shaped 'flowers'...so unique. And how the red ones have red leaves, and red stems. Soooo cool! 2)Dark pink Vincas with white 'eyes': The hotter it gets, the happier they seem. They're blooming like crazy and I love the intense, deep green leaves...real champs they are. They are bordered by Dusty Millers which also seem to be doing well...the little monsters: I had to trim them back because they were starting to take over my sidewalk! But despite being a bit unruly, their silver leaves make such a great contrast against bright colored flowering plants. 3)Madagascar Palm: seems quite happy; it has a gorgeous shape right now with perfect green leaves. Hard to believe it was just a mere prickly stump 6 months ago. My only fear is, he is growing and someday I'm going to have to figure out how to transplant him! Slow down little fella, slow down! 4)Purple Leaf Plum: looks good, but I kind of wonder if I need to paint its bark to protect it as the summer wears on? I haven't noticed other Plum trees with bark painted, but maybe that's just me. Anyhow, my mom says hers is producing fruit right now, but she lives up in Cottonwood so who knows? Maybe it's just as well that mine doesn't produce fruit? Shrubs: The African Boxwood shrubs are doing much better than I ever expected...and they've been verdant in both winter and summer. I highly recommend them (so far). I think it's because, being close to the house porch, they get a few hours of shade that suit them well. I've also got some Ilex V. (Stoke's Dwarf) that are healthy-looking, but haven't grown one lick since the 8 months I've had them! I guess when they call it 'dwarf' they weren't kidding. Oh well, less trimming to do. 6) Chinese Pistache tree: tips of some of the leaves on the lower part of the tree are brown and crispy. I think I might need to do a deep watering? 7) Sunflowers: some of you may recall I bought a cheap package several weeks ago and just threw them in the border area next to my sidewalk. Already 15 inches! So cute how, even though they don't have flowers yet, their bodies are turning to the sun. Wish I could provide picks, but my old non-digital Canon EOS has finally given up the ghost. I might just have to stop being such a luddite and go digital. You all have such beautiful photos...I wonder if any of you are using special lenses? (I've got a Tokina 50-200 zoom...nothing special but it's functional most of the time!).

Sandy, I agree. Typically most folks can't see the forest for the trees. A favorite pastime has always been to take a break from whatever I am doing in the outdoors, sit quietly and just watch nature unfold around me. It's amazing how much you see and hear that you've missed while engaged doing other things, and the longer you sit the more you'll discover. In part why I always get a chuckle when somebody says how desolate and lifeless a desert is. Might appear that way doing 75 down the highway, but in reality it is the most diverse habitats on earth if you'd take the time to sit and watch and let it unfold for you. Sherry, I've written about Madera Canyon and other S-SE AZ top locations many times on this forum, including about the hummingbirds, so I guess you just missed them. No doubt Madera is a hummingbird heaven with 14-15 species visiting from as far away as South America (same as Ramsey Canyon farther SE, but Madera gets dozens more species of birds than Ramsey does. Box, Sycamore, Pena Blanca, Sawmill, and Garden Canyons, and Patagonia-Sonoita Creek are just a few of the other places in the area well worth a visit. Your pretty blue "bug" is not of the order Coleoptera, but rather a Hemiptera, or the so called true bugs, and in the superfamily Pentatomoidea (and probably the Pentatomidae or maybe Acanthosomatidae family). But with the 100's of genera and 1000's of species in those families, I wouldn't even try to determine the one in your picture without all my "bug" books (buried in storage someplace). Larry

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina