First, thanks to all for all of the kind comments, folks! Maximus, to answer your questions, no the beds are not immaculate by a long shot!! I constantly do battle with the wild garlic, which seems to be the worst weed here. Have to use a long trowel and get the entire bulb out by hand, as nothing else seems to work. The garden actually looks pretty ratty right now but once it gets a new coat of mulch (which won't happen until next month, as I have to dig up a bunch of orders over the next few weeks and of course, plant all the new ones) it will look neater.I use hardwood mulch and it almost completely dissipates in a year's time. I edge all of the raised beds which don't have the edging with a square edged shovel(by far my favorite gardening tool). This happens several times a season - have already edged once this year and will do it again just before the garden is mulched. When these beds were started years ago, I hauled in tons( literally) of a topsoil- compost-soil conditioner mix to amend our red clay. That raised all the beds from around 6" to a foot in some places. The back of the garden (which you can't really see from the pictures) is edged with big rocks to hold the soil in place since the yard slopes towards the back. The worst problem I have here is with the robins ( in the spring) and the **&&^ squirrels ( all year) who pull the mulch out!And the *&&^ squirrels love to plant acorns from my neighbor's oak tree - ugh! I took early retirement from teaching three years ago - otherwise, I'd NEVER have the time to work outside in the spring like this! It is very difficult when you work full time. ( I was a band director and there would sometimes be weeks w/no chance to even walk in the garden.) So, time is a big factor, and I'm very lucky to be able to work in the garden for days on end.

Rita - Yes my roses always get a lot of damage from winter and I have to cut them back quite abit in spring. Last year was the same and they still did well come July/August but yes, definitely late coming. I am excited this year as I planted some hardy roses that were bred specifically to withstand our rotten Canadian winters. One is from the Explorer series and three from the Parkland series. They are supposed to have little to no winter die back. I still love the english roses and the hybrid teas but they just don't like our winters very much. When I post pictures in July and August you'll see how much they will have grown. My daylilies are coming along but yes, they seem very slow this year as well. Our April was so cold and dry and now our May has been so cold and wet. I hope the summer is a lot better! Jason

Rita - I don't know about "magic touch".....I think maybe it's just luck?! HA! Marg - Yes spring bulbs do give some colour to a garden in early spring when everything else is looking rather shabby. We have a free compost centre where I live. I go out there a lot and have found so many things there that people just discard. Last year someone threw out a bunch of hyacinth and tulip bulbs along with some grape hyacinth bulbs so I brought them home and planted them and that is where these hyacinths came from. The tulips also have buds. I will get some pictures of them when they bloom. It'll be a total surprise as to what colour they are but I won't complain as it doesn't get much better than free! ngraham - Yes that hydrangea is new. I got it half off at Home Depot. It is HUGE and for 8 dollars it was a bargain. I had one the same at my last house and it came back faithfully every year and always had the bright pink blooms. I have two other hydrangeas already, an Annabelle and a Summer Lace. Jason

This is all just lovely. I really enjoy it when people post tours of their gardens, particularly pullback shots where you can see more than just a couple of plants in combination. I am not in New England but I often read the New England Gardening thread just because of the running photo threads there! Your combos with the astilbe and the eryngium are particularly wonderful.