Hmmm, I still have some green berries left, will have to look for rubber snakes. I do have a garter snake who lives in the garden but doesn't seem to bother the squirrels. Electric netting looks interesting - 28" tall and open at the top good enough? I'm assuming squirrels can't jump that high. I'm also going to build a chicken run (in my spare time LOL) and have the 4ft tall 23 mesh and some poultry wire (my uncle said put UNDER the run as well as over top to keep predators from digging). Electric might work there too? Except I would think you'd still need top (for hawks) and bottom (for foxes digging)... No one thinks I need to move the bed and try to bury the wire to keep the rodents out?

AJ/Maria, You really have many choices. I myself am very fond of peonies and have some in my rose beds. Before making selections, consider these points. Are you looking for plants that will be enhance the roses by blooming when the roses are at their peak spring flush (late spring/early summer; possibly also early fall)? Or would you rather have plants that will be flowering when the roses are "resting" to give the bed interest at that time? You can do both, but that will take a big bed. Most perennials are in bloom for a few weeks, not most of the summer like annuals can be. Then make sure you are not getting something invasive that you will constantly be trying to control. You don't want the companions to become competitors. Here in my climate alstroemaria is like that, but I think it may be too tender for you. Soapwart, evening primrose, and some of the artemesias come to my mind as thugs; there are others. Finally you will want to make sure that the plants you place there have about the same care requirements as do the roses -- the same kind of watering and fertilizing needs as well as the same need for full sun. Stephen Scanniello who sometimes posts on this forum has a book out called Rose Companions that you might find full of good ideas. ( "Jackson and Perkins" is also on the cover, but it is Stephen who wrote it, not the staff of the rose company.) Rosefolly

Jack Carpenter had a daylily with a huge, very ruffled, and absolutely gorgeous coral bloom that I wanted badly. With almost 2,000 cultivars and seedlings of my own, I was picky and only interested in something infinitely better than what I already had. I spent several hours on a field trip to Carpenter's on a very hot summer day, walking and walking to look at his daylilies to decide what I wanted. I finally got my turn to run around in the golf cart with Jack, and picked out three, including the coral. Everything I wanted he said WAS NOT FOR SALE. I even offered to just buy some pollen from a fabulous red, but nothing doing. It may be that now Mark is running the business, you might be able to get it. It had no name at that time. I did learn a couple of things on that trip to Carpenter's. If I were ever to sell daylilies, I would isolate those that are not for sale and put them elsewhere. I would not want my customers to waste their time looking for daylilies they want to purchase, only to find out later that the ones they took the time to choose are unavailable. I've also come to realize that daylilies that look fabulous when grown in a semi-hothouse environment may not necessarily look so great when grown out in full sun. Nancy

That date is not too far off but I would still caution not to buy plants on impulse.. So you get to do what we gardeners love to to.. window shop... visit as many garden centres as possible. Look for bargains Pour through magazines. Make your list of wants and must haves. Plus alternatives if the must haves are not avail. Once ready, purchase those plants. I think it will probably take you a couple of weeks to do the shopping bit. No problem buying the plants and grouping htem in a corner of your house until you are ready to plant them in the ground. Just water them well. You have excellent instincts when it comes to a night garden. Go for that colour scheme.