Nothing wrong with lucky! I don't have a major problem with them here either, but that's because I don't have their favorite food source. I find a few on my Angel wing begonia, but only because I'm familiar with their egg pattern, so spray as soon as I see them. The Hummers help keep the population down too. Bless their little hearts! The only plus side to our drought is that we haven't had to deal with snails, slugs or earwigs. The rest of the pests are prospering.

Barring severe winds in the next couple of weeks, I should have plenty of avocados to share this year
You can hardly see the leaves for the flowers.

That's one impressive tree, Carol. You'll be swimming in guacamole.

Jim

Yum!!

Got my fingers crossed!

We should all send you bags of chips to help with the gallons of dip.

Jim

Sure hope you have enough water to make all that fruit grow, Carol. The drought stories on the news have been dire.

Should we send water or chips?

Jim

If I send chips, I'm coming along with them.

Who's bringing the Margaritas? I want to come with them!

Well, IF we don't get the winds this month, the avocados will be ready for SuperBowl, 2016. There's no shortage of Mexican food in Santa Ana. As a matter of fact, us gringos are fast becoming the minority, if we aren't already. Our DMV gives tests in about 7 languages.

This is a delightful thread!!!

My Vriesea 'Red Chestnut' has shot out this ridiculously elongated flower spike. It is about 3 feet tall and bends out halfway into the walkway, and has incredible freckles.




Androlepis skinneri, an enourmous bromeliad, has sent out another comically large flower spike. The flowers haven't opened...I watch bees impatiently hover around the buds and then fly off in a huff.




This little cluster of dyckias 'Cherry Coke' has sent out quite a show of flower spikes, one taller than me...interesting bright orange against their black leaves.



And the beautiful Uncarina has woken up, finally, and is producing lovely flowers.





Forget the name of this Neoregelia but it's also huge, probably holds half a quart of water in that tank! Such little delicate, secret flowers hiding in there.

Oh my Kate!! You grow some very interesting stuff! I really love the Uncarina! Is it grandidieri?

Never mind, I see you have entered it into the Data base as such.

You have the most interesting plants, Kate.

I am chasing scents around my garden today, the white begonias are fragrant in the mornings, and the brugmansias really let their perfume go right about sunset. But . . . something's smelling great in the middle of the day and I can't find it!
White Geiger tree (Cordia boissieri) is in bloom, but I don't think it's fragrant. Thunbergia is intense purple, and needs to be transplanted to a friendlier spot . . . there's always something! Funny little Walking Iris have lots of blooms open, too.

Pretty blooms, Elaine. My jacaranda tree is blooming and I'll get pictures in the next few days. I'm a bit put off by that tree as it ate my main sewer line and will cost me $2400 to repair.

I'm hosting the Tampa Orchid Club board meeting tomorrow so I'm straightening up both inside and out. I have a Honey Baked Ham ready to serve so I think I'm all set. I'm giving my palm presentation at a library in the evening so it is a full day.

Jim

I have just come inside for a water break. You and I are doing similar things this week, Jim. I host the regional Master Gardeners at the house on Thursday. They want to see how I grow so many orchids as a hobbyist. The president asked if I would take some time to show them all how to re-pot orchids. I will re-pot a large Cattleya alliance one, knowing I will have to trim some dead roots and possibly even divide it. I now have over 100 blooming size orchids (some in bloom!) comfortably resting in their tree shelves. Another 40 or so to go and then I'm out of shelf space. Then I will start hanging them in trays/baskets.

Gotta figure that tree was there when they put the sewer line through . . what were they thinking?

My only thought is, you can maybe console yourself that it would likely cost you nearly that much to have the tree removed, and you'd still need a new sewer line. Plus then you'd be missing your gorgeous tree. You'll have many more years of enjoyment from the tree now, AND a new sewer line. It's a net gain . . . for the money.

I can't imagine what they will do when they try to put a sewer line to our house. There's no way to get from the road to the house without going right by a huge oak tree, unless they go under the house.

No, Elaine, they put the sewer line in first and the main water line is only a couple of feet away, running parallel to it. That sounds like a bad plan right there. Then they brought in fill dirt to cover everything and then planted the tree. Evidently, the construction superintendent didn't bother to tell the landscaper where those lines were. The tiny tree was part of the landscape package that we got with the house when we had it built. The jacaranda first ate the water line and I fixed the problem by tapping into the line before it got to the tree and making an end run around it. It is just PVC so there wasn't much to it. I could probably fix the sewer too but at my age, that project doesn't sound very appealing. This same construction superintendent had all of the irrigation lines put in and then brought in a concrete truck to pour the walkways in the back yard. That stunt resulted in the destruction of 75 percent of the new irrigation system. She got fired before the house was completed and I'd like to think I helped get that done.

Jim

Hoo Boy! I didn't think your house was old enough for that tree to have grown to such a size!

Anyway, have a good day tomorrow, and show us some pictures of jacaranda joy when you've recovered.