I finally finished clearing up the last of the branches. I sawed them into more logs to add to the edging, but it's nice seeing the yard all cleaned up. :-) The sun moves through the bed in such a way that all the roses get hit with at least the minimum number of hours needed to grow well. I moved the cinder blocks to make an area for overwintering the roses that didn't get planted in the ground. After moving them into this space, I think I'll shorten the length of the "box" and stack them three-high. When the neighborhood leaves drop, I'll be collecting them to fill the spaces between them for added insulation. I trimmed more branches from these arbor vitae, and planted all but one of the roses going here. On the far left is 'Rosa moschata' which didn't go in the ground yet because I'm not sure if it will get enough sun. I keep track of when the shadow of the house falls on it, and it seems to be getting full-sun from about an hour after sunrise until about noon. Thereafter, it's in bright-shade. I might just end up moving the white azalea from the front to this spot. But the rest of them, going left to right, are "Sissinghurst Castle", 'Tricolore de Flandre', 'Tuscany Superb', and the musk-seedling 'Reverend Seidel'. In the green wheelbarrow you see the thin pieces of the last of the tree branches. On the ground to the right of the BBQ is the last of the thick pieces, which I'll be adding to the log edging. A close-up of a section of the log-edging. Right now, it's fairly secure, but I'll be putting a lot of long screws into the pieces to hold it in place better. And there's lots of nooks and crannies between the pieces. I started pouring peat moss in there, and will eventually stick low-growing sedums and sempervivums into the crevices. It's hard to get good shots with the way the sun and shadows are hitting the yard right now, but here's another shot of the bed. Another shot of the yard. Re-seeding the "lawn" will be one of next year's projects. Another shot of the bed. I'm going to be throwing down mulch and manure to eventually reach the height of the log-edging, making this a somewhat raised-bed. The bed tapers to a narrow end where the garage and pavement meet the "lawn", and I planted only three roses here. On the far left, with room to spread but contained from taking over, is 'Indigo', which came as one of a few suckers from a garden-forum member. To its right is 'Honorine de Brabant', a dark pink and white striped Bourbon. In the corner on the right (look for the white name tag, since the plant is really small now), is "Sophie's Perpetual". I left room by the window because (for now) it's the only way into the garage -- the door must be opened from the inside. And in the corner by the fence, with a few branches forming a make-shift tripod, is "Secret Garden Musk Climber" which is really the end-cap of the back Gallica bed. The Gallica bed is against the fence and behind the railroad ties. In front of it, and behind the log-edging, is a row of shorter repeat-flowering roses -- to the right of "Sophie's Perpetual" is 'Clotilde Soupert', then 'The Prince', then 'Golden Buddha', then 'Prospero', with 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' in the corner by the stones, and 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' sprawling out to the right and in front of it. If you're interested in going through ALL the pics of the yard, beginning last year before I did anything, I put them all in an album on Photobucket. Right now, it's 277 pics (with descriptions), including a lot of "rose inventory" shots, but it's fun to flip through. Make sure you select "Oldest First" to view, if it doesn't already come up that way. :-) ~Christopher

I do love the seaside pink and architecture of this place! Even though the angles make for awkward layouts. Can you shift the sink down a bit further to the left so as to increase the space between it and the cooktop enough to get an 18'' DW in between? No oven? Just the toaster oven? Why not a small range? That would get you counter space back and give you more prep room, albeit on top of the DW. How is the peninsula used currently? Drop zone and landing zone would be my guess. I think you need a managed small drop area to keep that peninsula from clutter. Could you do a bistro table outside on the patio with a small wastebasket under it? The chair could be an exterior storage banquette where you could pull off shoes. Hooks and a small shelf behind the door on the inside. Could the door swing be reversed? That would make having a drop zone in that odd little corner work really well and give the main prep zone more protection. Yes, I know that would lad to potential DW door interference, but with a window there to see who's coming in and the DW moved over, I think it would just work. For additional storage a two sided glass cabinet above the peninsula for your dishes would still keep it open feeling.

Barb, Thanks! I thought I was hardening them off by leaving them outdoors but I don't think I moved them into full sun enough. I put them in our courtyard under a tree and then moved them into a more filtered sun area with only morning and evening direct sun but not heat of the day. I was worried the roots would cook in the pots. I do have lawn chairs on a few of the more hard hit ones. The Chuckles have been in the ground a few weeks and seem to have problems when we get a lot of dry wind. I increased the amount of water going to them so hopefully that will also help. But maybe I am drowning them? Who knows. I will research each of the roses you mentioned and really appreciate the suggestions. Mordon Sunset was on my short list of potential adds but is out of stock from High Country Roses right now. Probably for the best that I test the bed for a year to make sure roses do well there. Do you have full bush pictures of your Morden Sunset and how big does it get here? Also how old is it? Right now I planted one Pretty Pink Lady and 2 Sally Holmes. The 2 Sally Holmes are on the back side and the Pretty Pink Lady is on the front. There is a ton of square footage in the middle. I also don't have a good layout yet because I did not clear it completely so have to work around a few things.

I highly recommend the book "Wishcraft" by Barbara Sher. It's a lot about marketing yourself and networking. One does not have to give up what one loves to be successful. I've seen a lot of miserable college students who are studying something they think they have to in order to be successful. But what one does have to do, is figure out how to leverage what one is good at and what one loves, and make it marketable and profitable. That's why I'm suggesting she pick the brain of someone who is doing her dream job and figure out how they got there. Take a look at a job advertisement for your eventual dream job. Look at where they list the qualifications. Figure out how to get them and tick them off one by one. My only point about journalism is that if you are a good writer, you don't get paid to write, you get paid to write something for someone who needs a good writer to write it. You might start out for free to build your portfolio and work your way into doing it for pay. I have a friend who is a journalist. She advised up and coming aspirants just to do as much journalism work as they could, and eventually they will run into someone who will pay them. Same with education really, teach in as many situations as you can and eventually you will find the niche you love. But also, journalism is as much about people as it is about writing. If I wanted to avoid interacting with people, I'd go into web design and do some type of technical editing. Education is being with people and all their stress all day long and then doing lesson planning when they finally leave at the end of the day. However, if your daughter is considering education as a field, she needs to try it out asap, she might find that she loves it. Summer camps are a great way to start on that road. Nothing worse than studying education for four years and then when you finally do your student teaching you find out you hate it. Happens all the time. As far as the PhD, one can be successful in that realm too, but it takes marketing . . . You have to figure out your niche and what sets you apart and then be willing to move around to find the place where they need your skill set. I just had a former student launch his dream job after three years of adjuncting. He took advantage of every networking opportunity imaginable. He's smart, but the key to his success was his chutzpah and his relentless enthusiasm for his work. Now days academia is less ivory tower because society is looking at colleges and universities much more for utility and career advancement. Successful academics relentlessly promote themselves and their students. I know it looks all tweed jackets and quiet contemplation on the outside, but it is a cutthroat world. One can't hardly avoid self-marketing. That's why I recommend Barbara Sher's work.