Kathy your totem is lovely! Also the plate flower. Deb the BB is so nice, maybe you can redo it, 1 of nicest tributes I've seen. Liked the others too. Since this is July 4th post, we have total ban on fireworks! Ha, Ha, Ha! They are all around me but lucky for me neighbors aren't doing anything. If I sat on my roof I could really get an eyeful!! We are in a drought so have to use water sparingly. Too short of weekend tho. DS over with DD & kids watching fireworks,(DS returning to So. Dak. in morning) we had BBQ with youngest bro & bro. that lives here, I had a hot dog!!! 1st in over 20 years!! Allergic to nitrates but OM has Angus ones without them!! A bit salty, for me, but sure did taste good! Happy 4th everybody!! Jan

I'm just north of Concord NH. My new perennial bed looked great in spring when the bulbs were blooming but then when thru a dull spell. Now it's showing promise. I had hoped it would be showy for 4th of July company but, oh well. Full sun: several different yarrows beginning including the new all red one, echinacae (one bud blooming, the rest getting ready), clary sage (won't grow again, I remember this biennial as taller and fragrant, this is a dud), shastas, day lilies and one newly planted lupine is putting up a flower stalk. Semi-shaded garden: feverfew, day lilies, primroses (afternoon sun) and spirea just finishing, fringed bleeding heart continuing, hostas putting out flower stalks, monarda just beginning. Palace purple heurchera putting out flower stalk. Perennial yellow foxglove. In addition to late planted annuals, self-sown dark red poppy and calendula (some Flashback) blooming here and there. Old herb bed: nepeta mussini (catmint), lamb's ears. It looks like the astilbe transplanted in 2007 when we moved is being choked out. There are in what was supposed to be a temporary holding bed. I'm behind!

You can go out to West Marin. Spend the time hanging out on the beach with your pup. You can camp out at Olema Campground or check out the inns in the area. Since Point Reyes is a national seashore, not much is allowed out there. Here is a listing of beaches available to you. Dogs must be on a leash at all times; the leash must be no longer than 6 feet. All trails within the park are closed to dogs - with the exception of Kehoe Beach trail and designated trails in the neighboring Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Dogs are allowed on the following beaches: Kehoe Beach - north of the Kehoe Beach trail Limantour Beach - southeast of the parking lot to the beach adjacent to Coast Camp Point Reyes/Great Beach - from the North Beach parking lot to the south Palomarin Beach - no longer open to pets Due to threatened snowy plover habitat, dogs are not allowed on the beach south of the trail at Kehoe Beach or on the beach to the north of the North Beach parking lot. During the elephant seal pupping and mating season (December through April), dogs and humans are not allowed on the beach south of the South Beach parking lot. Dogs are allowed in the Bear Valley Visitor Center parking lot and picnic area. Pets are not permitted in public buildings, on public transportation vehicles, or in locations designated as a swimming beach, or within any structure or area closed to the possession of pets by the superintendent. This prohibition does not apply to guide dogs accompanying visually impaired persons or hearing ear dogs accompanying hearing-impaired persons. Leaving a pet unattended and tied to an object is prohibited. = PER OFFICIAL WEB SITE I think Point Reyes Station has a small parade on the fourth, but there are a number of places to stay just south and just north of Point Reyes Station, where you can avoid the noises. There are plenty of places to walk your dog outside of Point Reyes Proper, hiking at Roys Redwoods in the San Geronimo Valley, hanging out at the top of mount Tam and taking advantage of the sights from the top of the mountain, there are a number of good hikes you can take your dog on while on Mt Tam, or stop at the Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station and take a picnic up the mountain with you, a nice blanket and a place to view the world go by would be nice (be prepared to check yourselves and your dog for ticks). You can take your pup to Muir Beach and there are some good places in the Marin Headlands (I would avoid being that close to the bridge on the fourth) China Camp historic State park is a good place to spend the day though your dog is not welcome to get out of the car in the park it is a good place to check out and whittle away some time (stay away from the North end, this is where the Civic Center is and Im certain during the fair - the area will be full of kids with poppers etc.) If you stayed at Pt Reyes you could drive up the coast to Ft Ross, dogs need to be on leash, Bodega Bay Drive out to the Bodega head for some good beaches out of the wind. There are enough trails and open space areas in Marin to take your pup that even a couple of days away just before and a day or so after the fourth, and you might get away with not running into fireworks. You can park near Tacaloma and use the multi use path which goes into Samuel P Taylor Park. a couple miles worth of level hiking next to papremill creek. Woodacre has a fourth of july pancake breakfast the fire department puts on and a small parade so I would avoid that area until after noon. Five Brooks has some good trails, horse poop laden if your dog is into that. You could head over to Concord and hang out around Mt Diablo tho that area is a little bit on the too hot side for me. Staying on the west side of Marin and Sonoma Counties, would be your best bet, you might be able to rent some sit on top kayaks at Tomales Bay ( one single, one double) and take the pup for a nice cruise of Tomales bay from the water...There are so many places in Marin you can take your dog without issue. Mill Valley has a dog park, Corte Madera, has one, Terra Linda @ Mcinnis Park - near a golf course where you can walk out to the bay on a huge levee system. ***This might be a little too close to the fair for your furbaby. Go get yourself Doing the Bay Area with your pooch, there is a California one as well. It will give you places you can eat and stay over with your dog, the information is great to have and I have take my dog to many of them. If you want a place a little farther away - go to Sequoia National Forest or Yosemite National Park - you wll be less likely to run into the fireworks crowd. I know Lake Tahoe has a fireworks show and it can get very congested up there at this time of year. Still further away is Mono Lake and Bodie. Not quite a days drive. Check with the Chamber of commerce of Bridgeport, Mono and Lee Vining to see about fireworks. I live in Marin and I have to dose my dog with rescue remedy or take him for a nice drive over to the Nicascio reservoir area, up and over Lucas Valley Road. I usually get a campsite at Samuel P Taylor State Park, but this year I waited too long and got a later reservation...I think the closest place for you all without crossing the bridge would be Fort Funston or Edgewood County park (I dont think dogs are allowed there) and I know of Mori point, down by Pacifica. But your access to areas without people lighting off illegals on the penninsula would be more limited, mabe Moss Landing, Elkhorn Slough?? Good luck with whatever you decide.

Debra: Hadn't even thought about SF being a bud builder (or any other daylily for that matter). I try and tidy up spent scapes quickly, so the only daylily I've known to be a bud builder was Smoky Mountain Autumn which was hidden back in amongst other daylilies and usually missed my tidying efforts. Glad you pointed that out......Ed: That is a very pretty white. Nice form......Maryl