I have to agree with the masses here. Of course you should plant roses in the front yard!! If you're concerned about appearances, then landscape a bit by interspersing other plants and perhaps a little hardscape. If you just love roses, stick with that. Except for one hydrangea and a honeysuckle vine on the side fence, my front yard is all roses. I don't have as much space for all the roses I want, so I'm certainly not giving it up for many other plants. lol If I didn't grow my roses in the front yard, I wouldn't have any, because the back is mostly shady. Like others here, I've heard only positive comments from passers-by, and it does help meet neighbors. If someone considers growing roses purely for a "look," they should skip it. You grow roses because you love roses. It's pretty simple. If you enjoy the process enough to keep up with pruning and fussing over them, then they will generally look just fine to neighbors. Even when I'm less than fully-pleased with how my roses are doing at a particular time, other people still comment on how "great" they look. Even if you have a substantial winter, the winter rose beds can look pleasant if they're neatly kept; maybe some underplanting of cool weather annuals or something. Of course, if one is in the frigid north, my answer is "MOVE SOUTH!!" I love that we can have 10 or 11 months of rose blooms here. Yea! Sorry, couldn't help a little gloating. It helps me make it through our dismal July and August here. Almost forgot to mention; before I moved to my current house, the front yard here consisted of lots of weeds and a couple of garbage cans that the college students couldn't bother to move to the side yard. NOBODY complains about my roses being "over the top." : ) Front yard? --Go for it!!

Your tree looked so healthy & green, seems kind of a shame. I didn't recognize it as a mulberry tree though, so I can understand why you would get rid of it. I bet you really had to trim to keep it to that size. The ones I have dealings with I guess are wild ones that birds tend to leave right at the worst places. Like in the middle of my blueberry bush. They grow like mad! Looks like lots more tomatoes for your future! What is your favorite large tomato? I got 3 Big Boy tomato plants this year, got a bunch at one time, but there are not many on the vines right now. I am wondering if there is a tomato that spread its harvest out more. We don't eat lots of tomatoes, but a few every week would be nice. I guess I need to check for early, mid & late season tomatoes. Maybe I should put in a few more plants too :) I miss your beautiful lupines, but lupines only lasted a couple of years for me either. I tried planting some seeds a couple of times, but they didn't come up. I've decided I don't need to try such difficult plants, I'll stick with the ones that work for me.

No, I don't think you should remove the sidewalk either. You're on a budget. I'm suggesting removing the brick and replacing it with stone with something like blue star creeper planted between them. One, you don't know what's under the brick, so if you wanted to plant, you'd need to dig it out, amend, raise it up as much as 12". Two, if you replace the brick with shrubs, it can be a little colorless and need regular pruning to keep it neat. I don't like wild shrubs at an entryway. You do need shrubs under your window and could use something large to anchor the corner. Someone in your area might suggest some attractive, well-behaved shrubs--I like box honeysuckles for shade but IDK if they grow in your area. Three, annuals alone wouldn't work because you'll have bare soil October until June or July--annuals need heat to take off here, especially in the shade. So that's my thinking--a pretty stone mini patio with some greenery between the stones, with pots for color that can be seen from the road. Another thing you could do is just take out some of the bricks along the edges and corners, and maybe a few in between, and plant groundcovers in the holes. Then proceed with pots.

Mary, I too, was expecting a picture that would make me feel better about the state of my own garden:) You certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. Your front yard is a work in progress. I have seen front yards that don't look half that nice, and those people considered it good(and finished). With the drought in CA, ugly front yards are almost becoming the norm around here. Yours is far from ugly, AND your working to improve it. I've found that people on this forum are very friendly and eager to help. They've been better than any book or article because my specific questions get answered, for my specific climate, rose, soil, yard, etc.... I love this place! It helps everyone give better advice when they can get a visual. I think a fence with big tea(or climbing) roses planted on the inside would be lovely. They will grow up and over the fence, cascading down on the street side. I'm betting the fence won't even be visible once the roses really grow in. Having the roses inside your fence also means more of your rose care can be done from the more private side of the fence. I'm not all that fond of being watched as I go about my gardening. I like to wear my junkiest clothes for gardening. The clarkia looked great. The good thing about them is the way they self seed and you get a ton of fresh plants next spring. I always look forward to seeing them return. Is the white flower on the right a clarkia as well? I had a beautiful white one 2 years ago, but for some reason I didn't get any white seedlings this past spring. They do make great cut flowers though, so it's possible that I didn't leave much on the plant to produce seed. How about a picture of your backyard now? We all love pictures. I have both Felicia and Cornelia. I'm debating about where to place Cornelia and its outgrowing its container. Time to make up my mind! Seeing yours might help me out:) Lisa