Love the Rose Garden, Ryan...especially the 'skirt' of petunias. I can smell the heavenly scents from here!

Wow, that's quite a nice collection Ryan - the Jasmine in bloom is beautiful. It must be nice to live in a climate where your lemon tree isn't in a pot that you haul in and out all winter!! Alana

Ryan- Wow! I need to wipe the drool after looking at all those wonderful plants!!! I can't even imagine what it will look like in the summer time. You must like ALL the plants just like I do!

It looks warm there and let me tell you, I am sooo ready for warmth and blooms outside like yours! We just had snow, but this weekend will be in the 70's...Yahoo!!!

Thank you for sharing them with us and I look forward to continued updates! :-)

-Frank

Ryan, great looking flower bed!! I miss roses, it doesn't do too well here in Florida. Great job!!!

Jan

Wonderful, Ryan! These are the kinds of photos you can expect from me over summer... and coincidentally, I have Hot Cocoa and Joseph's Coat growing here... unfortunately, they're not in bud quite yet!

Yesterday reached into the 40s here... and I guess the weather is supposed to be getting warmer... come on spring!

Thanks for sharing, Ryan! Lovely pictures!

Yes, Jodi, I remembered you had Hot Cocoa, I made sure I posted that one for you. Oddly, I noticed this morning my Joseph's coat opened a new bud that is pure yellow. Not even a hint or a blush of pink.

Frank, sadly my garden peaks in spring. While most of you have your "brown" season in winter, I have mine in summer. When you have two or three solid months of one hundred and teen temperatures you're grateful for survival, blooms are a rarity. I've created micro climates in my garden with trees, lawn and the pond. That helps me extend my growing season a bit.

My lemon tree is one of the most pathetic things I've ever laid eyes on. Honestly. The poor thing tries so hard, and sets SOOOOO MUCH fruit, all it takes is one good summer monsoon storm and branches start crashing down. Two summers ago, I hired a certified arborist to come out and fix the tree, and sacrificed a majority of the lemon crop. After he was done, I lost nearly a third of the tree to the next storm. I can't win. So while it may be the ugliest tree on the block, it definitely has some of the biggest and best lemons I've ever seen.

I'm thinking Lemon Meringue Pie! Yum! My Mom made the best in her day... it was mouthwatering and so delicious! Though, you could substitute them for limes and have a tequila party! LOL! I hope your tree thrives this year...

Last season was only the first with our Joseph's Coat climber, but I did notice that it put out yellow blooms as well as the blush and pink and reddish tones. Each bloom was a surprise of color!

Hot Cocoa almost got wiped off the map here... that stupid truck driver that rolled over half the south garden, almost clipped the Hot Cocoa rose! I wanted to strangle him for killing what he did hit, but if he had taken out Hot Cocoa, I'd have really been on the war path! Some people shouldn't have driver's licenses! What a moron... how does a person think they can back a 48 foot semi trailer into a driveway that curves and has a garage on one side? Wouldn't it make more sense to get out and look first, or park in the road?

Anyway... done ranting.

I have relatives in AZ, and they normally come up and spend summer with their kids in northern IL, which tells me it gets a bit hot down there!

I'm glad your Hot Cocoa didn't get squashed. Did you ever get any satisfaction from the driver or the trucking company for the damage done??

I'm not sure what the deal ended up being... it's not my property, but I know the owner was quite peeved. She's my gardening partner. She ripped them a new one over the phone, I know! I think they offered her some bags of free dog food or something. I guarantee that driver will never pull in the driveway again! What a moron!

There are two wide and deep tracks running through the garden... the yucca was smashed, and he ran over allium, daylilies, a hydrangea bush, dwarf lilacs, lavender, oriental poppies, rudbeckia, and a few other plants. The brick edging on that bed got pushed into the ground... it's a mess! And that's just one side of the driveway! On the other side, he creamed the post for the remote driveway buzzer, and left giant ruts in the mud going toward the barn.

In fact, he got stuck... and Larry had to go out there, fire up the F250 4x4, and yank him out! It was either we pull him out, or there would have been more damage from a giant semi tow truck! Ya, it's a mess! I bet you can't tell how angry it all made me... LOL!

But really... what would possess a truck driver to cruise right in a small country driveway of soft dirt and some gravel? Wouldn't common sense dictate that you stop, get out, and look at where you're gonna be pulling a 48' trailer that weighs about 60,000 pounds when you're not fully loaded? I mean, c'mon! Some members of the human race never cease to amaze me...

And... I can guarantee whatever she got free in exchange for the damage won't come close to the work I'm gonna have to do to repair the area!

Ryan, I spent several years driving cross country as an owner/operator semi driver, and rule number 1 is that you never just blaze through unfamiliar territory when you make out of the way deliveries. This is why it makes me so mad... I'm blond, and even I would have gotten my lazy ass out of that seat and walked the area to scope it out. Doh!

Ok... now I'm done ranting! :-)

Deep breaths, Jodi. Let it out. ;-)

Its ok to rant, and I'm with you, the stupidity of various members of the human race never ceases to amaze me either.

So much for Darwin's theory of evolution... we humans have certainly bucked that trend!

I feel for you Jodi, and when I read this to DH he told me a little joke he had heard.....'what's the hardest thing on a truck driver.......
Grade three!!!!!!! just a joke all you truckers lol

LOL! I no longer drive, and let my CDL expire many years ago. I divorced the other half of the team I drove with... handed over the whole business, truck payments, income and all. But that was another Jodi in another life.

I completely understand that "stuff" happens... but you wouldn't believe how much "stuff" happens around here! It's like a very unusually high amount! We northerners have a saying... it goes: "People are idiots south of the 80!" Route 80 bisects IL, and sort of separates the outlying Chicago suburbs from the boonies and beyond, where we're now located.

Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale!

OK!... back to bulbs! :-)

What a day! I've got to get more pictures taken! Bogota has opened her second scape, and it's nicer than the first one! Misty is about to pop, and I've been waiting to see this variety for two seasons now! My first Misty never bloomed, and is currently sleeping like the lazy bulb she is!

I hope everyone is having a nice evening... oh! I almost forgot! I saw the tips of Tulip leaves and Daffodil leaf tips sticking up through the mulch today! It won't be long now! :-)