I finally decided to measure rain and use the sprinkler whenever I don't get one or two inches of rain in a week. I don't have something fancy, just a tupperware container that measures 3 inches deep. Some plants need more water then others too and I try to group them together. Hydrangeas and Astilbes come to mind. I try to make sure they get two inches of water a week at least. Our spring has been fine for me although colder then usual to begin with and now gray for just a bit too long and that's all. Good working weather for the most part. Lots of spring flowers have lasted a long time. It has been great for keeping the mosquitoes at bay, too. Last night was the first time I have been bit by one. I think that is pretty late. Everything started growing well with a couple of warm sunny days, but are in a holding pattern at the moment. My roses are actually looking great, to my delight. Clean foliage and budding up well. I have seen ladybugs on the leaves and I've added new fertilizers this year. We'll see how long that lasts. [g] Last year, they looked great until just after their first flush of blooms and went downhill from there. pm2

Glad to hear that you have gotten started, Rich. I am also using jugs and 2Ls and cups from last year. Those seedlings should be fairly easy to recognize without labels. I did a few perennials today and will do more tomorrow. We are to have temps in the low 70s next week so I am going to do most of my sowing outside then. Will also start my annuals though it may be a little early here. MN has been having a very warm spring with no snow and little rain throughout March. Still lots of moisture in the ground though from melted snow. Some of my 2nd year containers needed watering. That's a first for March for me. Today our high was 36 degrees, a blip, and then back to the high 50s again in two days. Normal averages are mid-40s.

Cyn - I just remembered to come look for your photo - love the touch with Daffodils!! We still have a little snow, where the big banks were, but it is dirty and almost gone - now it is allergy season!! Yea. I have done a little bit of cleanup in our new yard. Dear god, how much crap the last people left under the snow!! Kids small toys everywhere and garbage and recyclables under the deck!! What a mess - also hundreds of cigarette butts!! We have a postage stamp-sized front yard, which I raked, as I wanted to get the crap out of the way of anything that might come up - tulips noses coming out through the ice!!! Yea. Hopefully they have enough oomph in them to bloom. Love this time of year, despite the allergies!! Nancy.

How about some Saki - see an Amazon review below - I've persuaded myself to reread some - well worth a thought! Saki's short stories have to be some of the best around. Most of them are funny and all of them are clever, having the added attraction of not becoming boring after one read. Some of the stories in this volume are in the form of monologues, especially on the part of Reginald, a character around whom Saki's earliest volume of stories were based. Another character who had much ink lavished upon him was Clovis Sangrail, whose poem, the Durbar Recessional, is surely unforgettable to those who have read it. Saki's short stories are as brilliant as when they were first published, even if the Edwardian society they satirized has long since vanished into the past.