That is great about your LL hydranga re-appearing!!! YEAH!!! I was introduced to the squash bug last year in my zuccini plants. OMG I have never seen such a damaging bug in my life...well, next to the tomato worms. Nothing I did to stop the damage worked...I ended up just ripping them out. We have moved since then and I planted some zuccini and yellow crooknecks a few weeks ago.....they are growing well and I'm crossing my fingers that the squash bug doesn't come here. We just began our warmer summer weather so that will help everything grow. I'm just hope that everything will be okay. On a low note I think that an iceberg rose bush is kicking. I don't understand why...the other one is doing great. But, like you said-gardening is full of highs and lows. Beca

Yes, I'd also like to know which catalogue has those cabana boys! I'm exhausted, especially with all the watering, and the summer is not over yet. However more has worked than hasn't so I can't complain. My new roses are a joy! After months of indecision whether to buy roses I had decided they would be too much trouble to do this year when we are renovating the old beds. However on a trip to the city at the end of June one of the 'good' nurseries had them on sale so I bot 5 in large pots. Of course that necessitated making a new bed for them which was an enormous job. They have looked good from the start and I left a few blooms on them initially but then deadheaded seriously. They are now reblooming despite the hot dry weather we have been having. Of course I'm watering frequently and they seem to like frequent drinks of diluted alfalfa tea. I'm still concerned the deer might find them but we made the bed next to the house in the dog's large grassy yard so perhaps that will deter them. I'm soon going to move some of my lavender plants there as extra insurance. I know they are not necessarily easy plants and I'll have to mulch heavily in the fall but they are very pretty. The lilies I planted last year are blooming profusely, multiplying, and looking fantastic. I'm pleased with my new shade garden altho it's only had superficial weeding and needs a thorough one. Coming up on the to-do list - I've just been grabbing weeds that are blooming or threatening to take over as I hand water. I thot it might be too dry with the large trees taking all the moisture but with amending and occasional watering it's doing fine. Love all the heuchera and will buy more. I love my potted annuals, they've been a real pleasure when some parts of my garden have looked so 'destroyed' during this renovation process. Even in this heat they are still looking great with daily watering and frequent deadheading and fertilizing. I'm quite disappointed in the nursery that planted the azalea I bot. I thot the roots looked fine when I planted it but it didn't do well so I dug it up and there were a lot of wood chips in the center of the root ball! So I hosed the roots clean, planted it in good soil, and after frequent watering it's coming back. All of the other new plants have done really well. I'm not very happy with one of the new beds further out as I haven't spent enough time on it. Probably shouldn't have made it this year but it will survive. It has all deer resistant establish perennials I moved from my main garden so I didn't think I needed to baby it too much. The spirea looked as if it had died but is finally coming back. It really needed more water than I gave it. I've had a problem with too much direct sun in parts of my garden since we had some large trees removed and some of the Lady's Mantle have not done as well as usual. So I'm moving the young ones to semi-shaded areas and discarding the others. Just part of the evolution of a garden one has to adjust to. I'm disappointed I may have few sunflowers this year. We usually have lots as the birds are messy eaters and seed them all over. We usually transplant some to better locations. However there were very few coming up so I planted some and the chipmunks dug them up and ate the seed! I planted more and kept them indoors til they were a few inches tall. Put them out and those little !@#$% ate all except for the red flowering ones. So I have them in larger pots but not sure whether they will flower as were planted late with all the tomfoolery! The thistles the birds seeded around the feeder did extremely well!!! LOL This morning I thoroughly weeded and mulched so that bed looks nice again! Wonder how long it will last. I don't usually get thistles in my garden but there must be some type of bird that eats them in the wild and deposits them here.

Sadie Ray is noted for its hardiness and will bloom pink or blue, depending on the soil pH. Here's what Sandusky Valley nursery says about it: Hydrangea macrophylla  Sadie RayÂ. Here is the most reliable hydrangea available. It was discovered in northern Indiana where it has bloomed for over 50 years. Northern Indiana is zone 5 and has quite cold winters yet this plant comes back and blooms every year. Probably the best hydrangea for zone 5. A good selection for colder areas where other hydrangeas fail to bloom.Blooms will be pink or blue depending on soil pH. Flowers are similar to Nikko Blue. It should be planted in good soil with some peat moss added to increase vigor and kept watered especially in the south. It can grow in full sun or half shade and should be grown in some shade in the south. This plant can grow 3-5 feet tall and is hardy from zone 5-9. I recommend first winter protection in zone 5. A rose cone does well for this purpose. Planting on a southern exposure also helps in zone 5. Winter protection is less important for this variety but it wouldnÂt hurt for the first season. We're colder than Zone 5 here. I planted my Sadie Ray last year, and the only protection I gave it was protection from deer and rabbits: I surrounded it with chicken wire for the first year. I'm very impressed with its growth and bloom. It was the first to appear in early spring, but all its nice new growth was killed off by a freeze in June. So it just started all over again. I'm very happy with it.

'Should they be wrapped in burlap or covered with something?' No. 'The garage is pretty bright (4 windows, 2 face south and 2 face west).' Same is here. Try to position them away from the S-sun, in spring such positioning will result in premature leaves sprouting at the time when it will be way too early to bring them outdoor permanently. Honestly, I have not mastered yet to perfection the process of spring reacclimatization to the outdoor conditions and from time to time I got a fungal diseases on some of the early sprouters. It seems that if during the daytime I keep door and windows open for the air ventilation spring acclimatization going much more smoothly.