I am glad I brought my question here as I was about to bite the bullet on buying 300+ tulips from another supplier not mentioned above that I just found has pretty terrible reviews. Close one! Although I am disappointed in hearing that "in general" tulips do not naturalize as well as I had thought (my wife being more disappointed) I am not a fan of plants that are not dependable or that I have to baby too much. I much rather have something grow too strong and pull out extras than worry about replanting the same thing every year. So for that I thank you all. I think to go for the impact I wanted originally I will plant an 8 inch deep border of Muscari in front of the beds stretching all the way around the house (love that river bright blue look) and then plant Crocus and Narcissi behind it. How is the timing of these with some spring blooming perennials like Nepeta and Salvia? Adam

I set out a new Salvia this evening. Hope it rains because I didn't water it. It is a perennial - white flowers. They had gobs of them at WalMart and no one was looking at them or buying them, so they were marked down for SALE. Why, they are just gorgeous! Wish I could have bought a lot more of them. There were honeybees buzzing all over them. That was good enough for me. Anything a honeybee loves that much has got be a good plant to grow in my Cottage Garden! The name of it is Salvia, Show Hill. Lovely spikes of white flowers. I set it near the Potager entrance. I have two different yellow roses growing, one on either side of the arch. I got the Golden Showers last year, and nearly lost it last summer. The other is Golden or Gold (something) that my oldest son got me for my birthday this year. I planted two golden yellow Asiatic lilies on one side where I had planted the Weigelia, Wine and Roses, that dies this winter. :( Win some, lose some. The Variegated Weigelia made it though. I love those leaves. It is on the other side and today I discovered it has two little blooms! The honeybees showed me that it was blooming. :) My Snowball bush is blooming this year. It was a pup off the big clump at my parent's old house. I got it last year. I am thrilled. I planted it at the back of the house near the patio. It will shade the patio in summer when it grow big...and they do get big. Sitting here listening to the Soft Rock music on the new Dish Earth channel. I love it. "Feel good music" as we used to say back in the day. schoolhouse, My snow peas were 2-1/2 ft. tall and beginning to climb up the tower. There were seven plants. Two remain but look mighty sad. Every night one or two got nibbled off. Three months of waiting gone. (Grrrr) Nearby I planted the broccoli next to a row of Doublemint. So far, I repeat, so far it is deterring the white cabbage moths. They don't like mint, it says here. They shot up two inches last night! Wow! All that good home grown compost and the hot days we've had the past few days. Annette, My wisteria sat there and sat there...and sat there. I scratched a stem a couple of weeks back and it was green, so I kept watering it every day. Today there were little leaves coming out! Yippee! It is pink...or supposed to be. trailrunner, I called my daughter in South Carolina today. She told me that it was suddenly hot there too. She said that is typical for the Columbia area. (I am so glad she isn't anywhere near those fires.) Oh, I am so glad you like my Tomato preserves. And isn't it the best on homemade bread? Lip-smacking good! Yes, I think we would have a blast if we got together. I am not sure the South would be able to deal with us together. If we ever do...watch out! :) I have so many tomato plants! What was I thinking? Glad you guys enjoyed my ramblings about my garden. Gardening is much more fun when you have others to share it with. You guys are all I have and you may never know how much I love and care about each one of you, but I really do. I cooked a roast and potatoes for supper. It is ready. Going to build a tossed salad and eat some whole grain bread with it. Wish I had some garden fresh green onions. The three cold spells we had got them. A pitcher of cold Sweet Tea would be great. I guess I could brew some real quick. Later ya'll! All of ya'll as they say in the South. :) ~Annie

Note that it's spelled nemorosa, and that the violet is V. riviniana 'Purpurea', still commonly but incorrectly sold as V. labradorica or V. labradorica 'Purpurea'.

Sorry to hear that you won't have any pears or plums this season. I hope we don't get a late freeze that kills the fruit tree blooms. It happens occasionally. My peach blooms are almost ready to pop. I did cut back some branches and forced them inside. The flowers are so pretty and the daffs and quince are blooming so it's starting to look like spring but I'm going back to FL at the end of the week anyway. lol It's still not warm enough here for me. Does anyone know of a good nursery in the West Palm area? Butterfly World has a decent selection of passiflora vines and other butterfly host plants but I'd like to find a nursery instead of paying $25 to get in just to shop. I was there 3 weeks ago but it was still too cold to ship plants home at that time. I love the gardens, butterflies and birds but don't need to see them again so soon. Once a year is enough. lol