Carol: Yeah, Ficus are messy, aren't they! I had four really tall potted ficus benjamina trees in the pool area for years. I gave them to neighbors because I got tired of them dropping their leaves whenever I moved them even twelve inches! I do still have one variegated ficus out there. It doesn't have a great shape because it's been up against the house so the back of it is bare from no sun ... but I keep it for sentimental reasons, I got it from a friend many years ago, and she passed away at a young age. I'd like to have a small Fiddle Leaf Ficus to keep in a container but if it's really messy I'd probably not want to keep it for long! I have one tree out there that's called Ficus 'Ali' that doesn't lose it's leaves like the benjamina.
As for "Skeeters" ... we have our share of those critters here in the south during the summer time too! They will hang out and lay eggs anywhere there's even a little big of standing water!
Dutchlady1:I always try to rescue/adopt plants when I go to visit my sister. About six years ago we happened to go down to visit and they had all these huge black lawn and leaf trash bags full of every color of impatiens, laying in the driveway, getting ready to put them in the garbage! I said "Why in the world did you pull those beautiful impatiens up, and why are you throwing them away?" They said it was getting too hot for impatiens! I asked them if I could take them and they laughed and said "Sure, but do you think they will live?" My entire side yard was a beautiful cacophony of color for many months! I took pictures and sent them to my sister. I love impatiens but don't grow them much any more because they are water hogs and we have been having drought conditions for awhile now. I always tell my sister to never throw perfectly good plants away but they still do. When we were there last month I noticed all the knock out roses were gone from under the back windows of their house ... they had dug them up and thrown them out. They didn't like that the roses got so tall they blocked the view out the windows. I told her they could keep them pruned as a small hedge, but they didn't want the work of having to keep trimming! Things do seem to grow a foot or more over night in the southern part of the state! But, you probably know that since you are on the SW side of the state.
