Busy day with adult kids home for Dad's birthday...couldn't REALLY get to the garden until they left. (Go home kids, Mom's got work to do....not)Anyhow, after they left I got to change from Mom to Gardenwoman. DH got out the weed trimmer and we trimmed the paths through where I had all my sun- loving flowers last summer. Now I Have found where the beds are supposed to be, LOL. THere are about 40 Stargazer lilies that were completely hidden under bindweed, but I don't think it had covered them long because they don't look too bad. Others that were one yr lilies last year are looking much better and I found an inula that I planted last yr that is 2 ft hight and has a flower in full bloom! I never had one bloom or even saw it other then in the catalog! I have half a doxen seedlings to set out to join company with the one, which I am sure whill take off and grow much larger. I have to figure out what to plant in the peony bed. LAst yr I planted zinnias and they grew 5-6' tall and I was afraid I would loose my peonies! They did survive but I don't want to do that again! Tomorrow I will start digging out the beds. I pulled all the plants out of the greenhouses today and set them out in our cool overcast weather, hoping it rains on them tonight. And the dahlias that I started in pots, I have several open flowers from...all anemone or singles for my own pleasure. 'Fire and Ice' is very pretty! OH for a week with no interruptions! Unfortunately I beleive I have a day in the city for a dental appt midweek. ...hope it pours all day! DAng,,,forgot to move my sprinkler hose and turn it back on and it is dark now. OH well, found another one under the grass in the garden I was working on so tomorrow maybe I can get two of them going. OH yes, I have the first Chrysanthmum 'Merry Mix' flower...cute! Also the Campus Apricot cosmos are beginning to bloom (strange color, like orange over purple- pink). Haven't even planted any regular ones out.

Don . Always glad to enable. :p I had no intentions of looking at or even buying GwtW. Chris has it listed in his catalog but there is no picture, so I hadn’t paid it any mind when I was scouting my first order earlier this year. Then BAM I saw it. I mistook it for Bridal Falls at first, but looking at my Bridal Falls now, the only similarity is the white margin. The leaf shape, overall size, and mound shape are completely different with GwtW. The picture that Olga has on her website does it justice. It’s going to be a biggun’ so mind where you plant it once you do decide to purchase it. :) Ademink . I actually ordered from Chris this spring as well via mail order. There were 43 hostas total in that order. After this second order arrives I’m going to need a sign in my front yard that says “Garden brought to you by Hallson”. Here is the link to my original post when my first order came . . . it was a great day. :) My First Hallson Order Jan . Shopping for new plants is something I do best !!! I do have a big task ahead of me getting these all in the ground, but it will so be worth it in 5 years when everything starts filling in and my hours of toying back and forth endlessly over which plant should go where will pay off. Thanks again everyone ! Ludi

George, is your garden on the Westport tour? The Guilford Garden tour is June 10th. I usually go to this one every year and have never been disappointed. A few of the gardens are usually within walking distance of the Guilford Green and there are plenty of good restaurants in town when the lunch bell tolls, a couple right on the harbor. Guilford's Secret Gardens Spectacular private gardens around the historic Guilford Green and in the countryside will be open to the public on June 10 for the annual "Secret Gardens of Guilford" tour. Visitors will be welcome to stroll through the private sanctuaries from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Shuttle buses will transport visitors from the centrally located Bishop's Orchards on Route 1 to a countryside destination on the tour. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 on the day of the tour, which will take place rain or shine. For tickets or information, please call 203-458-6516. This year's tour will include several gardens with water features. Among the sites on the tour are new gardens of neighbors who have shared plants and ideas, and some gardens from previous tours that have been reworked to create new effects. Proceeds benefit the Guilford ABC program, which provides "A Better Chance" for academically talented young women of color. The program, which is in its 29th year, has sent more than 100 young women from inner cities to Guilford High School and on to distinguished colleges and careers. Also on the 10th there is a garden tour in Newington and one in West Hartford. Tomorrow is Farmington. Usually I go to this one too but last year I was just not impressed by it at all. When I bought the tickets the day of the tour I overheard one of the volunteers tell someone that is was just "regular people's" gardens that year. What she probably meant was there were no real high end or historic homes on the tour and there weren't but that wasn't the issue for me. At least half of the gardens were not ready for a public tour. A couple of them looked like they hadn't even been spring cleaned yet. I brought a friend who had never been on a garden tour before and even she was puzzled. Oh well, usually it's a good tour so maybe it will be back on track this year. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Farmington Garden Tour

I could not stop to put out signs due to heavy Easter weekend traffic. There is an arrow at University South of the zoo. And how are usual site has a sign that says private parking because there's a big family picnic schedule for today. We are, however, in that parking lot, and the family is it has been very gracious about it. Lots of plants lots of people lots of good Garden chitchat.