Zengeos, Solving the "I don't have beds prepared" problem. Let me preface to say I've only been gardening since I started WSing 4 years ago. I'm no pro, no expert, no vet. But this is what I did and it worked famously. It's basically a lazy lasagna gardening: 1. Lay down cardboard ASAP. Let it take advantage of your late Winter snows, early Spring rains...then you don't have to wet it down yourself. It's amazing how quickly the worms start working once that darkness is there (and protecting the ground from the moisture evaporating). 2. When it's time plant, put down a layer of manure-kitchen scraps-whatever-you-got organic matter. Doesn't have to be too thick in this case (with lazy-lasagna). You can add to it through the season and in the fall in prep for next season. 3. Put down potting soil on top of the organic stuff. If you don't have a lot, just concentrate on the one little area you are going to plant in immediately. Make sure the depth is enough that the seedlings won't touch the manure if that's the organic matter you used. 4. Plant your seedlings. You can do it the same day...the same hour. I have. And I've had no problems. When I have more time in the summer, I usually will amend the soil in that area some more, and apply the layers of medium more thoughtfully in the fall. But when I need a quick fix, this "lazy" method has worked great for me. I turned the area where an above-ground pool was into a garden this way, with very little work, and done within days of planting (and that was all sand underneath in that area!) --Also, don't forget containers...big pots and window boxes. Sometimes, I have just put a bunch of overgrown seedlings into big pots on my porch as a "holding bed". Sometimes they looked so good in there when they started blooming, I kept them there for the whole season. -- and on the sprouts...that's why I don't even look at the containers until I can walk the ground consistently without any snow and without a heavy coat on. I don't want to know what germinated early. There's always seeds in there that wait. They know when to sprout. Linda

Jean, I have Maggie, but don't have Evelyn. My new ones are Chaucer, Ferndale's Red China, Mutabalis and Grandmother's Hat. I also have an own-root Wild blue Yonder and an extra Don Juan climber since I bought a replacement for the vole ravaged one, and was able to save the original. Marg, what or who is wicked willie? I dearly love foxgloves too. Rainbow High is a tall bearded. Mid America Gadens has it. Thanks you Nancy. Always a silver lining, and the cool spring hs been really good for the roses. I've been on a fairly consistent routine maintenance for them too, which helps. Rainbow High looks just like the photo...as if it has been photo-shopped in the garden. And as I said above, I love foxgloves. Hope to have them in every slightly shady place. Thank you linda. Like I said, the cool, wet, spring hs done wonders for them. kay

Thanks, Jessy. I have just spent the last 20 minutes watching various cats and Roombas! I did enjoy the polka music and the cute blond cat, but that kitty wasn't really into the Roomba and it was kind of boring :) The others were more fun!

That brick isn't bad; there's just an huge amount of it. Sweet-Tea: +1 If you paint it than it should be towards minimizing the effect, not towards just hiding the brick. You may like the new look enough to not obliterate the brick texture. From that pic I can see wanting to cover it up, but maybe "covering it up" and "reducing the visual impact" are two separate things. In other words, painting now and living with it for a short while may be cheaper, simpler, less disruptive, and enough. There are a gazillion ways to cover brick, but every single one of them is just-about-permanent because it's hard to undo such work. Drywall mud skim coating will be permanent and reliable if you have uncracked brick and mortar. Gluing on Sheetrock works, and, in fact, you can use drywall mud as an adhesive as it can be removed (messy!) with a pressure washer in the future. Using furring strips will do probably the least amount of damage to the original work. I don't mean to harp on "undoing", but such possibilities can pay off in the future as a possible new owner option if you ever want to sell. Even paint can be undone, but it's a bear...