wow, what inpiration. We moved into our new house on 2 acres with little to no landscaping. Needless to say we have lots to do so I love this thread for ideas! I have been keeping a powerpoint show going on my computer of nice ideas and I got tons from here! Here are a couple of my favourite spots I managed to accomplish over the last two years: My bird sanctuary created this summer (only the hydrangea and blue spruce were there before): Some fall colour: In the blues: Much more to go! Sharon

I have a couple of Henry Mitchell books and they are wonderful. His rule of not to bring home a new plant if he's left a bunch of work to do in the garden is a good one (I need to find the exact quote). I still have yet to follow it, but I know I'd be less stressed if I did. 'Roses in the Southern Garden' by Mike Shoup is my idea of a perfect rose book, if only it were four times longer or in multiple volumes. Though it's only a list book, describing varieties, each variety has 2 or 3 pictures along with it. In addition to some closeups, tons of long views of the roses in gardens. Every photograph in that book tells a story. I'm not even in the south and probably a third of the roses wouldn't be hardy here, but the book still has a lot of inspiration I can use. It's easy to forget that Landscaping itself is an art when you look at some of the seemingly uninspired assortment of shrub landscapes. That seems so boring to a worshiper of the queen of flowers. But landscaping is about using the principles of design like balance, unity, emphasis- aren't those artistic terms? It's helpful to have a plan before we dig up the next patch of lawn, and to think about the why and how it will interact with the garden as a whole. Some people are naturals at designing their gardens, but I am not. I grab this plant and that because it's oh so pretty and then have to try and figure out where to put it. Learning to see- something that's talked about on the Landscape forum, is a process for me. Here are some regional books that have helped me... 'Cutting Edge Gardening in the Intermountain West' by Marcia Tatroe (my absolute favorite) 'The Undaunted Garden' by Lauren Springer 'Passionate Gardening' by Lauren Springer and Rob Proctor 'Xeriscape Handbook' by Gayle Weinstein (This was the one recommended in the class I took because of the sections on assessing the site and making a plan) 'Landscaping on the New Frontier-Waterwise design for the Intermountain West ' by Susan Meyer and others (excellent illustrations and how to draw a plan info- definite native bent) Vettin- the above list might not help you specifically, but I thought I might include it for others who may be reading. You might find some regional books too. Winter seems very long round these parts and there's plenty of time for reading. Nuggets of Inspiration can be had from many books. No book has to be treated like a bible- well except maybe The Bible. : )

Oh Kate, you have to find something to order!! They have so many great roses. Haha, Les, sometimes I forget how many I have!! Oh Carla, those are beautiful blooms!! My MRS SAM still hasn't given me any decent blooms in over 2yrs. (must mulch...) Daun, I just want everyone to see how many gorgeous roses are available from Vintage, and to hopefully help to keep them going. There's still so many I want.... Irisgal, Vintage lists KISME as hybridized by Raffel, 196?. It's a lovely floribunda. Stays fairly small and repeats pretty well, despite the lack of care it gets!! SuzyQ, when you leave your email, that's just so they can notify you when the rose comes up available. If you were to request a custom-rooting, you'd be charged something like $40 (I think) for the custom-root service. The craft shop is coming along slowly. We've been open for almost 2 weeks and have had quite a lot of people coming in, but not spending much money yet. Of course, we don't have all our merchandise in yet, and haven't officially advertised yet. All word-of-mouth from my co-workers at Ace. Have to keep that job til we get making a profit. Could be awhile Thanks for asking!!

Thank you, all. Gardening is stress relief for me. The roses are a reminder to stop and enjoy. :-) The Molineux lasts the longest in water, the others lose petals after 1 day. Irisgal, Harlow Carr is thorny! Its flowers face downward. It is much more thorny than the others I have: