It is a beautiful poem, one of my favorites for this season. Sad to say I have no snow and no rain, 1/2" is what we got, should have been 30+" for the season by now. I quit whining - good night

Gerry, I have not been to Lockwoods. I keep meaning too. I've also meant to stop at Blasdell since it is close to my sis-in-law's. I've never been to Galleys. I'll have to check them out, because I always take a few trips out to Clinton to go to Earsing's which is small, but I always find good stuff there and very reasonably priced. I also go to Mike Weber's over there too. I like to go to Menne's a lot. Oh, Highway was leveled last week when I drove by! I don't know of they are rebuilding or they sold the property. If you ever get out to Niagara County on rt. 31(Saunders Settlement Road)near NCCC there is a nursery that carries lots of new and unusual varieties for a good price. I for the life of me can't remember the name! I have to call my cousin and ask, because it really is a nice place worth stopping at when out that way. Remy

Very beautiful! I love snow in the winter (not spring, LOL)! I grew up and live in W.PA where we have all four seasons and I love them all. I still get that giddy feeling when I wake up after a large snow fall and see everything white. When I was a kid it ment SNOW DAY! A day to make snowmen and snow angles, sled ride, then come back in for some hot coco. Of course now I have to shovel and driving into work takes twice the time, but I still like it. On really bad days I take a vacation day and play with my DD's in the snow and pretend I have a snow day too.

Looks like a great start! I think what you have will fill that space in a year or two and then you might find yourself widening the bed so you've got room for new finds. Some grass or sedge might be a nice addition -- scattered through the garden or in drifts it can really help tie things together. It's hard to tell from just one picture what room you have, but I wonder if you might find that the shrubs in the back row are planted a bit too close to the house. I would think three feet out would be minimum, possibly four feet for the Viburnum. It might be a while before it would be a problem. At my own house the previous owner planted a lot of foundation shrubs. They were fine when I first moved in, but seven years later I was doing extensive pruning on some of them every year. If I lived in New York I think I would want Trilliums.