The red berries are probably the "invasive" you've been told of... I can't think of the name off the top of my head, but my grandfather called them wineberries... Here in eastern PA, they ripen right around the fourth of July and they have a 'fuzzy' kinda thorn on the leaves and stems... Another red rasberry type thing may be a Salmonberry... Salmon in color and having more of a vine habit than any rasberry i know of that may grow wild... A bigger berry that picks more like a rasberry than a blackberry... Looking forward to the pics... The wineberries make fantastic jam... kinda tangy, but very sweet when most of the berries are fully ripe...

pm2, the variegated Euonymous is not at all like what I got rid of. I don't believe the one you refer to is a troublemaker. Mine was Euyonymous fortunei coloratus, a/k/a Wintercreeper. Speaking of seedlings, this year I had my first hibiscus seedling in 15 years. I know lots of folk find Rose of Sharon shrub to be a pest. I never knew what they were talking about. I think part of what makes the "pest meter" go up is when birds relocate seeds in other locales. Hard to know for sure when that is going on. Seed fertility is certainly a big clue, but bird relocation just makes it a bigger problem.

It was as beautiful as ever there and this time we added the lechonerias to the trip. Some of the highlights for me, lots of new fruits to try and more of the great ones from last year. One of the gents that came along has family in PR and offered history and background on many aspects of PR living. Not to mention he spoke fluent (Caribbean) Spanish and me living in CA I hear Mexican Spanish all the time but they do have subtle differences. The best meals we ate (to me) were at Siglo XX (Signal 20) just around the corner from our hotel. Excellent, authentic PR cooking, one treat was breadfruit tostones, mmmm. The people at the Howard Johnson's in Mayaguez were very kind and helpful, not to mention they enjoyed all the strange fruits we shared with them (and a few guests nearby). We toured the USDA facility in PR, what a beautiful compound, nice people, with an amazing collection of trees. To top it off, we had Sadhu touring the grounds with us, sorta like having Phil Mickleson playing miniature golf with you. Very informative to say the least. All the farms we visited were amazing, beautiful fruit trees surrounded by lush landscapes punctuated with vibrant heliconias and gingers. The people and their employees were very kind and generous with their time. I think like many of us, they enjoy showing off their collections even though their collections cover acres. As for bringing stuff back, there is a long list of what is allowed with inspection. I had plans of bringing fruits back to a friend of mine who brings me fruit from the OC but did not want to deal with any inspections or delays that might make my 15+ hours of travel any more difficult. So in the end, the ladies that clean the hotel room will be enjoying a few more strange fresh fruits. boy I sure could use a bite of durian now, -Ethan

Those pictures were taken at 6pm and the area was just getting overtaken by shade from the pines in the west. I will watch this weekend, but I believe it has sun from ~11am to ~6pm. I am hoping I can get by with some sun loving shrubs, because I like both Forsythia and smoke tree as options. Some of the options I have been looking at: Forsythia (sun) Red twig Dogwood (partial sun) Smoke tree (sun) Lilac (sun) Althea (partial) Amelanchier (partial) Oriental spruce (sun) Compressa Juniper (sun) I saw a golden hinoki cypress that I loved, but I think deer will devour it. Any big reasons to avoid something on the list above?