I've had a lot of luck with alpine stawberries as a border. They spread by seed, not runners, so they stay pretty much were you put them (you can move volunteers). They don't get a lot of attention or special watering. The berries are tiny (especially on new plants - they get larger the more seasons they are there), and very tasty.

Mind that the previous owners didn't contaminate the soil around the rose bushes with pesticides. Strong systemic insecticide/fertilizer combination products are commonly applied to eliminate sucking pests on roses and keep nutrient levels up. Multiple different products, with perhaps quite variable levels of persistence may be used by rose hobbyists. Some kinds of kitchen crops may accumulate and concentrate specific toxic materials found in the soil in which these are planted.

I have been going through all my plant files and doing some reorganization. In doing this I now have a name for the ground cover in photo #9. Its name: Veronica x 'Blue Reflections'. Believed to be a hybrid between V. liwanensis and V. pectinata. Purchased from High Country Gardens Santa Fe NM. in 1998. They still show it in their catalog. Botann you now have a name. Dave

Don, he wasn't my first parrot....He could be likened to finally getting a Porsche, if you're into cars. I brought him home when he was 5 weeks old.... about mid-April, 1999. Here is his baby picture when he came home. I'd been going over to my friend's house (the breeder), to hand feed him when she pulled him from the nestbox. I continued to hand feed him, with what is called "abundance feeding" so he weaned himself, at 22 weeks old, without feeling deprived. He weighed 600 grams as a well fed baby boy, and he weighs that now as an adult. He has beautiful feathers, no fat, great muscle tone especially in his breast which allows him to fly efficiently.....but consider that birds are so aerodynamic, with hollow bones, hollow feathers, they eat moderately frequently, also poop frequently and do it almost EVERY time before they take flight....which is a clue to imminent flight, by the way.