It all sounds so lovely, Melissa! I'd love to see photos if you have them. We've had some springs where things all started to bloom together but nothing as dramatic as roses and hyacinths. I'm waiting to see what happens this spring. It's still so cold out and the ground is still icy so we're already a good two weeks behind when things should have started to bloom.

oh yes, melissa, water really is the life-blood of the planet. How fortunate we are to have enough of it too. There is no soil in my tiny garden - unless it has been carried there by my sweetheart and I so, basically, it is a pot garden. Very, very different to growing in the ground, no matter how disadvantageous the soil conditions are. We are ruled by the daily need to water. There is no point in trying to grow plants 'hard' because they have only two states - greenly lush.....or dead. I grow a few roses in the long thin raised 'border' and, they are enormous! Totally unlike the roses at my allotment, where, like you Melissa, irrigation is a one time only affair. The roses in the ground grow well, much more attuned to their environment (dry, windy, sandy) than their gigantic siblings in my garden(although I have been surprised by the enormity of my new Austins). So, although there is always the threat of a hosepipe ban (I would just use cans)we are able to splash water around willy-nilly....but, in my heart, i know this watery interlude is not going to last forever.

Thanks Dana, How many different cats have you raised in your 12 yrs? For me only bst and monarchs. I have a few other host plants for others, but have yet to find the cats. As long as they find the host, I'll worry about finding the cats later. As my DH always tell me, "Just plant it (any and all host plants I can find)and they will come" Thanks again, Melissa

I found Grandma heaven and I don't ever want to leave. I have 4 grandchildren,3 girls and a boy. 2 girls in one family and the boy and other girl in the other. My daughter-in-law (boy 3 and girl 6) has just been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor that is unoperable. She is only 25 and all information that I have found leads to believe she "may" have 2-3 years at most. Hopefully there is always hope that they may find new treatment for her soon. We can only pray. Because in my opinion Grandmas need Heaven before Mothers do. Please say a prayer for her and the rest of the family. I still consider her my daughter even though my son and her never married and we love her so very much.