I'm having a heck of a time with the lubbers too. Almost all my tis have some damage. I even used Nolo bait this spring but I am killing 2-3 adults every day. I may have to get rid of my queen emma crinum as I think it draws them into the yard. It's their favorite and is looking terrible right now.

Bren, Keep the lubbers over your way. I have seen none but the Egrets are always patrolling the garden for a snack.

'Negra'

junglegal, I have to do a morning walk with my clippers in hand, they seem to like to be out and about then. I haven't seen any for over a week now and so far doesn't look like any plants have been chomped on. They do like the Queen Emma and best thing for that is in the spring be on a watch for the nymphs in the plant. I don't have one, but know the nymphs commonly start there.

They have chomped every one of my Cordylines, amaryllis plants, one orchid, some bromeliads. Terrible terrible creatures.

Fortunately I do not see lubbers often although they are a problem about 2 hours north of here. I found this site to be helpful and intend to try the bait if I see any more here.
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/crea...

I am so bummed! A while back I stuck some Ti's and after an unusually long period Waihee Rainbow finally sprouted a few leaves. The other two I planted at the same time have yet to show anything although they are still firmly set in the pot. First something, a deer or rabbit I suspected, ate all the leaves off the WH, every last one. I moved the pot up on my deck, 10 steps up from the ground, and finally had a few more leaves emerge. They were about 3" long and this morning they are gone. The only footprints I see are those of a raccoon, they leave muddy little handprints. It is right outside my bedroom so I would have heard a deer clumping up the steps. Rabbits have never ventured up the steps but who knows??? Right now the prime suspect is the raccoon.

Aww, how frustrating, Alice

Alice, Lowe's has nice green plastic coated rabbit fencing at something like $26 for a 50ft. roll. It's easy to cut to lengths and form into a small circular cage for any size plant. I always keep a roll around for various uses.

Here's what we got for the school garden:
http://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-H...

dang ole flower wrecking raccoon!!

That's the truth Missy.

Thanks for the rabbit fence idea Elaine. I hate to make a bigger mess of my jungle than I already have with big and small pots here and there. I am afraid it is not very neat looking now, adding fencing might put it over the edge. Thankfully the HOA police cannot see my back yard. Usually bringing container plants up the steps stops the marauding critters. Who knew raccoons likes Ti's? Come to think of it the leaves are edible aren't they, at least in Hawaii they are. Maybe I have a Hawaiian raccoon?????

Bummer, Alice. The Cordylines must be tasty, I battle the Eastern Lubber grasshoppers here, they have eaten the new growth on all my plants this year. I've never had such a problem like this year. Killed three more yesterday, two were mating, so got some future creatures too.

Thankfully lubbers are rare out here on the islands. They have them over on the mainland though so it is only a matter of time. They are evil looking critter.

@Sunkissed, Sherri, how do you kill those critters? I just saw young ones yesterday. I've got to take action now.

I am in awe of all the beautiful plants pictured here. I find this plant almost impossible for me to grow, and they are so lovely. Such green thumbs here. Enjoyed everyones posts.

Laurie, if you would fill in your location on your personal profile, we might be able to help or advise you a little bit?

Oh, wow. I have tried to add this before, but I never scrolled down to see "save your changes" lol. Thanks Elaine. So nice to have this info up.

Well done, and guess what? I am originally from your "neck of the woods" - grew up in Vancouver, BC. It always amazes me that our winter weather in Florida is quite similar to your summers up there in the Pacific NW except for the shorter days.

Down here in Florida my Cordylines grow like crazy in the hot weather and pretty much go dormant in winter. So your problems might be related to not enough heat to make them break dormancy. If you have them in pots, try moving them around to the warmest spot in your garden - usually the south side of a building that will heat up during the day and keep the plants warm at night. They will (mostly) take some sun even here so your weaker sunlight should be ok for them.

Another trick to keep them warmer would be to always water them with warm water - let the hose warm up in the sun for a while before watering? I know how cold the water from the tap can be up there!

I'd also take them indoors before the nights start to be too chilly - @50deg. is getting too cold - so you can maybe keep them growing slowly through the winter.

Some of you may remember I have been having trouble starting some Ti's from sticks this year. It seemed every time new leaves would come out something would munch them off. Turns out it was baby cardinals, who knew they could be such nasty little things. One of the sticks, Waihee Rainbow, was sturdy and long and Scott advised me to cut it in two and root both - which I did and I stuck them in the same pot. I've moved the pot several times and finally got it to where there are fewer birds and the leaves have started to grow again. The interesting part is that the leaves on one stick are coming out red and they are green on the other. I wonder if that would have happened if I had not cut the stick in half. 'Tis a puzzlement.

Hmm, neat! It will be fun to see how they grow out. You may have a new sport there, or maybe that's just why they named it "Rainbow"?

I've had at least 3 families of cardinals around over the summer - wondered why the shoots on some of my sticks disappeared, too. I'll bet it was those crazy babies.

Alice, Your cuttings of 'Waihee Rainbow' will even out in the end. Many of the very multicolored Ti cuttings will start with different looks.
Snapped a quick pic mine today.