Thanks Diana I'm not sure exactly what the stones around my brick pavers are. My wife and I went down to the landscape supply joint and just chose what we liked. They are actually a mix of two different stone mixes thewy had. We liked the two, but one was too yellow appearing overall, and the other was too white overall. So we said "Hey, lets just buy half of each and mix them. Turned out to be a bit of a chore. I layed out a tarp, grabbed a shovel, a shovel full of one, then the other....mix, mix, mix.....shoveled into buckets and spread around the pavers. I keep the path clean with my "cant be without" gas powered blower vac. I wanted rocks that were small, but not too small as they would get sucked up in my blow/vac. Part of my weekly maintanace is to run up the path with my blow vac and get up all the leaves and such. Nothing under the rocks except for a lot of sand used as the base for my pavers. Those steps were A LOT of work, but turned out great Here is how the place looked two years ago in April when we bought the place

Thank you everyone for your sweet compliments. Plantmaven- The day it snowed was kind of strange, it was a fair amount above freezing with snow. The children loved it. Today on the other hand is perfect, 20c clear blue Sky and no bugs. My gardening heaven. Schoolhouse- Right now the cottage is being rented out to GI Joe and Polly Pocket but I will be sure to put your name on the waiting list. :c) Sweetannie- The neighbor who gave me the tiny irises told me that while she was on vacation she saw a house with a sea of these instead of grass. (I wish I had seen it) And the home owner gave her a clump of each colour when she stop to investigate. Such a treat! Do they multiply quickly for you? Ianna- I know you are right. But it was all the beautiful wild flowers that Mother Nature had plant here that inspired me to start gardening. And they are what keep me inspired (along with all of you of course). I love it when things pop up in unexpected places. For the most part, if they can find a home they are welcome to it. GGG- Yes they are pink and blue Forget-Me-Not (perennial) another one Mother Nature planted for me. I love them! Kay- Yes I am proud :0). I pour my heart and soul in to my family and my garden. And like anything in life, you get out, what you are willing to put in. CMK- I grew the English Daisies from seed. Actually they were the first thing I grew from seed. I just through them at the ground in early spring. And they have been coming back ever since. They bloom twelve months a year for me in my zone 5 garden. I am constantly brush the snow off of them to show people. They have done well and bloomed in every condition I have thrown at them, sun, shade, wet, dry it just doesn't seem to matter. If you are the type of gardener that likes everything in it's place you might not care for them though. They are a really good seeder. You would have to be pretty vigilant with deadheading if you did not want them to spread a bit. I would be more then happy to send you lots of seeds if you would like. A few more shots from today. Carrie B.

Hi marcia, thanks for the tip! I will watch out for that lychnis!!! I saw that in my parents' yard in BC and it was in a shaded and moist area, so it was tiny. Therefore, I dug it up and flew it back with me LOL. A year later, it's now this huge clump! My parents could not believe it LOL!!! I guess I may not believe it later either.... ROTFLOL! As for the Black Lace, please try it. It's so worth it! Even though we had such a rough winter this past year, it still came back from the base and is now over 3 feet tall. It's just a lovely thing. Donna, thank you! I actually have a Bugbane Chocoholic and is doing quite well. However, it has been "eaten alive" by that 3 feet tall Geranium Rozanne!!!!!!!!! LOL! That Geranium acts like it's on steroid or something and so I probably will need to move that poor Bugbane elsewhere next year so it will be more visible.... As for the Rodgersia, I am so happy to hear that it's hardy here! I actually saw that for the very first time just recently in the Botanical Garden in Newfoundland and I was very impressed by it. However, when I looked it up online, it was listed as a zone 5 plant. So I was disappointed. However, I am pleased to hear that it's really a hardy plant! Donna, do you have a photo of that please? I would love to see yours! Thanks so much.

Laura, thanks, my camera is actually an older model Sony-for-Doofuses, auto-everything: DSC T700. I just keep half-pressing the shutter until it auto-focuses on exactly what I want to capture. I got it to replace a big bulky Sony when my baby came along and I needed a small one I could slip into a pocket and chase him around with. Still no word on the PSA site about the sale. Last year's was on July 31st in Merrill Center at Katy, Texas. Will let you know as soon as I see any more info. Bill, what is that last hibiscus, the gold and orange? It is SPECTACULAR! Sunseeker, those gorgeous hibiscus I have are in 3-gallon pots on my deck. I found them, two to a pot, at Lowe's for $7! If I overwinter them in the garage I'll easily get several years enjoyment from them, so I think they're great value and a lot of color in a small space. If you put them in the ground where the temps don't go below 30 they should come back year after year, but they'll also get pretty big. Keep them in a container and pruned and they'll be nice and compact and still bloom prolifically if you feed them frequently. They also only need part sun in most of the southern half of the country.