Alrightee....saw these great plants in the conservatory and need to take note for when we return to Austin:

Alocasia odora - Much bigger and more upright than colocasia esculenta. I need to find this one and plant it in a wet area of the future yard.

Nepenthese truncata - Huge carniverous hanging pitcher plant. Fantastic in the small hanging basket.

Brugmansia 'Equador Pink'

Vireya Rhododendron (lochiae x gracilentum 'St. Valentine') - A lovely hanging basket with 1 cm leaves like a boxwood or something. Flowers were perfect red 2 cm and filled the plant. Very nice idea for a hanging basket on the porch.

Ficus Alii - Long leaved ficus is very nice with leaves similar to jasmine. Nice indoor or out.

Vireya 'Kurt Herbert Adler' x leucogygas (Tropical Rhododendron)  - This was very fragrant. Nice potted plant

My friend brought this plant over to be taken care of while he and his wife are on a honeymoon in Europe for two weeks. He realized that it was on the verge of dying but wanted to see what I could do with it. Looking at it, I can't remember what type of houseplant it is, but when I first handled it, I noticed a few things:

• It has two healthy leaves on it. The mottled color is the variety.
• It has young stem on the tips which really wants to grow.
• The soil was too wet and cold to the touch.

 So I am trying to see if tropical conditions will help this little guy. I put it in a large cache pot with basically a plug in reptile heater. The soil heated up overnight so I think that's good. I'm also letting the soil dry out before I water it again. I think it needs a little break from cold damp soil, I just hope it can take the stress.

Also, I put it in a west window, which for Seattle is bright indirect light most of the time since it's so cloudy now that it's Fall. Here's the setup:

Now we wait and see if anything changes before they return from vacation. I think the odds are good that it will rebound. Mostly, I think that warm soil promotes growth just as much as light levels.

He's about 6 years old. A "teenage" leopard tortoise. He eats and looks hopelessly for girls.

That was the first time I've found a cicada on a leaf and not just the shell. If you've ever been to the South, the sound of cicadas is something you carry with you forever. For me, the sound of them make the temperature about 10 degrees hotter!

 Ok so I forgot to put the front gate photo first. Here's the entrance to the place. Kinda Southwest eh?

The thing is, I miss the arid hot climate of Texas. We've been in Seattle for over 10 years and have very mild cool, wet climate. So going back to Texas reminds me of how easily things grow with the warm weather. I built a greenhouse here in Seattle to try and recapture our Austin weather, but it may just be time to move back!. The photo's from a print so it's kind of lousy but there are palms, cacti and even a few heat tolerant ferns.

Ok, so that's me under an old oak just outside of Austin Texas on August 6th. I just got married to my lovely girl Beth who's been with me for 12 years. we're from Texas and got married in Austin, so this was our few days after the wedding. We're at Krause Springs which is just a wonderful place. It's a cold water spring which they have opened up to the public. MY favorite part of the property is the amazing garden which I'm standing in.