Love Maples, check this out.

Shantung Maple Scientific Name: Acer truncatum

The Shantung Maple is a midsize ornamental tree that is great for small yards and it tolerates alkaline soils, drought, and strong wind. The Shantung Maple steps up to autumn with leaves that are gorgeous golden yellow flecked with red before they launch into orange. The Shantung Maple differentiates from other maples (Red Maple and Silver Maple) in that the canopy is denser and the leaves are more delicate, which is reminiscent of a Japanese maple but with much greater toughness (tolerates full sun). The Shantung Maple is designated as a Texas Superstar Tree by Texas A&M University. Want a Japanese Maple but you don't have a protected area in your landscape. This is a great alternative. The Shantung will take the full sun in Dallas and can an excellant estate tree for a small yard. This information taken, in part, from other sources.

When the walls come tumbling down!

This wall was designed and specifications drawn up by a professional engineer. The design would have stood tall if the contractor had actually built it according to the engineered specifications. The best plans and specs are worthless if they are not followed by those that actually build. This is a prime example of the many possible consequences of of going with the

"Low Bidder".

Cgreen will never be the "Low Bidder", but then again, this picture is not of Cgreen work.

Variegated Tapioca - Not What You think It Is!

This tropical member of the family Euphorbiaceae can grow to be a large shrub or small tree in the tropics, but is useful in Texas as a festive summer annual or patio plant. One gallon plants can easily grow to be handsome 4 feet to 6 feet rounded mounds in a single growing season so young plants should be spaced 4 to 6 feet apart. Plants are initially upright growers becoming wider as the season progresses. The rubbery textured bold leaves can reach up to 8 inches long and are lobed. New growth is a handsome reddish pink and the lobes mature to sport white, creamy white, to yellow-green variegated splotches that follow the main veins.

You don't have to worry about variegated tapioca "going out of bloom". Instead, the plants offer foliage as colorful as most flowers with the added advantage of providing a show all summer. Note the scientific name of this selection is 'Variegata' because of its variegated leaves. The common Tapioca which is native to South America (Brazil and Paraguay) has green leaves. Often this variegated form will have a green sprout or shoot appear. Any green shoots or foliage should be removed immediately or it will become dominant over the variegated foliage. The normal, green form of this plant will also grow much faster and larger than the variegated form. The 'Variegata' screams "fiesta" in the summer landscape and it is one of the few variegated plants on which the foliage will not be damaged by intense, direct summer sunlight. Plants work great as centerpieces where taller plants are needed in the center of circular plantings or as backgrounds for lower growing annual bedding plants. Perhaps the premier use of this variegated plant is as a patio or dooryard container specimen where it thrives despite the reflected heat from concrete or pavement