Heres what you missed "FRUITA ORCHARDS PHOTOVisitors of Capitol Reef are often curious about the orchards that lie within a mile or two of the Visitor Center. These trees are the most obvious remnant of the pioneer community of Fruita, which was settled in 1880. Usually no more than 10 families lived in Fruita at any one time, and the last resident moved away in 1969. Early settlers planted the orchards to insure subsistence. Today, the orchards are preserved and protected as a Rural Historic Landscape. The orchards hold approximately 2,700 trees and are composed of cherry, apricot, peach, pear, and apple, as well as, a few plum, mulberry, almond, and walnut trees. The National Park Service now owns and maintains the orchards with a 2-person orchard crew that is kept busy year round with pruning, irrigation, and orchard management. You are welcome to stroll in any unlocked orchard and you may consume as much ripe fruit as you want while in the orchards. Fruit may not be picked in quantity until the designated harvest begins. Orchards that are open for picking are signed as such. A fee is charged for all fruit picked and removed from the orchards. Signs listing fruit prices, scales, plastic bags, and a self-pay station are located near the entrance of open orchards. Please select only ripe fruit and leave the rest to ripen for other visitors. "

Good Morning, Everyone! Thank you all for the "welcome back". I missed each and every one of you. Stormy here today on this Good Friday. Dark and a bit chilly out. Good weather for gardens though. Glad for the rain though. We've had high temps and high, dry winds this past week and wildfires every day. Nothing close to here, but close enough that I could smell the smoke. My dogs erupted in chorus with every firetruck that passed by over on the highway.(hehehe). I took pictures of the gardens on the 31st. Glad I did, as the hot, dry winds dried out all the pretty yellow Jonquils later that day. Blasted hot winds ruined them before our Easter Sunday family picnic and egg hunt. They were magnificent in chorus with the yellow forsythias, white Bridle's Wreath, and Redbud trees now in full bloom all over the garden. My beloved Jane Magnolia is breathtakingly beautiful this year and smells so wonderful. I planted out some Orange Perfection Phlox yesterday. Tried them last year, but they didn't make it. This rain may ensure these do. I dug around in the bin at the store until I found one, just one package with moist peat inside. Holding it up to to sunlight, I could just make out something possibly alive in that dark green plastic bag. Makes me mad to pay five bucks for dead rootstock. They are not the best looking root stocks I ever saw, but think they will make it. I only need one to survive to establish a nice clump this year for next year's blooms. I also planted a package of purple Liatris and a package of Freesia bulbs for summer blooms. I love the smell of Freesia. Yummy. All the Peonies are up and beginning to make tiny flower buds. Hopefully the red ones and deep magenta ones will bloom this year too. If they do, it will be their first time. Some deer came into the yard this winter and ate the top branches off the one surviving River birch sapling, but it is recovering nicely now. I caged it with a tomato cage and for now they are leaving it alone. They are "camped" up on the hill, hiding in wait for my juicy, delicious roses to start blooming, no doubt. :[ I've been taking the dogs for walks up there every morning and hopefully their pee and poop will make them think twice about coming any closer to the back yard. My English Shepherd could easily take down a whitetail deer. DH said this weekend he would finish stretching field fence around on the inside of the existing barbed wire fencing to keep out critters. That won't keep deer out, but it will keep our dogs in, so we can let them run loose on the property. That will be great. They need the exercise and I need them to do their job protecting the place. They love it, too. Hopefully the raccoons & coyotes will take the hint. Keep Out! Anyhow, so far so good. Gotta go check on my chicks. They poopy up their water really fast and will be ready for breakfast. :) Talk to you guys later. ~Annie

Fern, Go to Costco garden center....maybe they will have some. ;) I bought a rhodo this week. Right now its sitting in my diningroom. LOL. I have a friend that has one by her front door...I don't know the kind.....but they learned that they had to wrap it in burlap for the winter and it blooms nicely for them every year now. When they first got it..years ago...they didn't wrap it and it survived but didn't bloom...they said it looked kind of sad for the first couple of years. But since they started wrapping it...it blooms beautifully...I have watched it for a few years now.... So hopefully mine will be as nice. Keeping fingers crossed. Sierra

I want to add one additional comment. When you ask Larry if you can keep Buffy, let him know Buffy can visit anytime he wants to see her. It's hard to say how Larry feels about the dog without knowing him. He may be very attached but not have the time or money. My guess is though, based on the matted hair, that he is not a very responsible owner. If that is the case he will be more than willing to give up the dog. If he does give you the dog I would write up adoption papers and have him sign them. Just something that says he is relinqueshing his ownership to you. You can make something up to Larry about needing proof of ownership for pet insurance. Good luck and keep us informed. Donna P.S. You can also tell Larry when Buffy comes home that she will be needing follow up vet care. If Larry thinks the vet bills will start adding up he will be more willing to give Buffy to you.