Trees and trusting the process (garden check-in)

I finally got around to using a gift certificate I'd been given for my birthday back in September and bought some trees. It must be serendipity, as I was able to buy two trees without spending a dime of my own money (great, as I have no discretionary funds until next month--the holidays have wiped me out). I got a pretty, three-trunked Golden Rain Tree and a half-price "Royal Purple" Smoke Tree . The rain tree is native, I believe, though I must confess I bought it strictly becauase I like the name. The smoke tree isn't the native version, unfortunately, but boy oh boy are they pretty. I have a friend who has one, and last spring it was just wreathed in an airy veil of purple flowers over the (also purple) foliage. Now to decide where to put it... M helped me move the last third of the pallet of limestone to the backyard yesterday. Now to sink each individual stone down into the ground, so they are more stable and don't look so much like giant Chiclets strewn about the backyard... That part's the least fun, quite frankly. But if I can just do a stone or two at a time, it'll get done. Looks like the freeze nipped my two agave desmettiana, even though I did cover them. The middle bits are looking mushy and collapsed, but I have hopes they'll recover. The vegetable garden came through just fine. Oh, and my neighbor brought me a zillion bags of leaves from his raking business! Compost heaven! Sadly, he bags in plastic so they don't blow out of his truck, but I can stockpile them up to last throughout the season. That means a little less leaf-napping throughout the neighborhood on trash pick-up day this winter (non-gardeners will think this insane, but my greenthumbed friends understand...) Also logged some quality minutes in the hammock under an old quilt. That may be the best part.