Gorgeous roses all, with my favorite being Liv Tyler, Baptiste Lafay and Sonia Rykiel. My garden is one of the great passions in my life and I can't imagine a life without roses, especially old roses. The care I've given them has been repaid many times over with the happiness they've given me over the years. The planning, the planting, the growing - it's all been so exciting and pleasurable. Even the setbacks and challenges have added spice to my life, especially after I've overcome them! The garden will never be perfect, but striving to make it so is making me perfectly happy.

What a a well thought out landscape and lovely collection of plants. I so love your sidewalk planting - so much more interesting than a lawn. I think your Sasaella will be fine, so many plants are wrongly zoned anyway. I grow Sasaella albostriata and it is perfectly hardy for me. From the looks of the perennial plants you are growing, there really doesn't seem to be any zone difference at all between Zone 5 and Zone 3.

Those 4 were crisped beyond any hope...although I still can't bring myself to toss them. BUT, I have hope again... I now have 2 Fourth of July seedlings and 1 Graham Thomas from hips I recieved from a forumer on here and am hoping for more, as these are the seeds I planted last week. It's amazing the differences I can see from the miniature ones I murdered (that's the only way I can think of it LOL) Larger leaves, thicker stems, etc. Now...everyone keep your fingers crossed I don't screw these up. Julie

deborahnj - Ar first I thought that I was seeing things - I hadn't posted pics of my tree yet! I can't believe all those ornaments have survived all these years (esp. the paper ones). Are you going to give those all to him once he's got a place of his own? Anyway, we finally put the tree up last night (after seeing Princess and the Frog and buying teacher gifts, making cookies). Ta da! I'd like to say that *everything* on the tree was made by a loved one, but we've got some store-bought wooden beads that look like cranberries, some Mardi Gras beads that were in the box and DD wanted them, some big pinecones that used to smell like cinnamon, and candy canes we bought yesterday (of course the kids had to sample them). We do have the reindeer with "hand" antlers DD made 3 yrs ago (grownup - grandma? I forget - helped with the eyes) Some stars we bought at Michaels and DS painted (blush - I confess I forget what year - maybe 2001?), several "cookies" he has made in early grades (strange combination of applesauce and cinnamon?). He wants to make gingerbread (no time today - did 3 dozen chocolate cookies and then put a roast in, the power went out half an hour later! Thank goodness it came back on after cycling a few times. Next year's big gift - a generator!) Ceramic stars my cousin made for us (1 big one and 2 small ones) as wedding favors when she got married in 2005, glass ball with small gold beads another cousin made one year (DS wanted red glass ornaments - maybe next year), a buck and a doe we bought at one of DS's school bazaars a few years back And my favorites - knitted skate, stockings, sweaters, etc. that my grandma made about 10 years ago (she died in 2001). I also have some "stained glass" ornaments my siblings made for me about 25 years ago, and a stuffed gingerbread man I embroidered when I was a teenager. I was telling DD that DS had a jump on her, she'd better get crackin' so she made a few more ornaments today - incl. the star on top of our tree. DS actually thought of that one after seeing the straw angel was kind of blah, I was thinking DD could make a yellow paper 5-pointed start but DS wanted a Christmas star (18 points but we were lucky to get 10), and DD wanted glitter but I said foil would be easier (then regretted it as I was the one folding the foil as she taped it). Oh and for zipdee, the stand we got (along with the tree that Mom decided was too big for their house) from my parents last year (though I think your glossy red one is prettier) So much for the elegant blue and silver tree I wanted (and bought all the ornaments for last Dec 26). But I figured DD was still little, we had all these special family ornaments, I might as well let the kids enjoy decorating the tree for a few more years. Yes, we have multicolor (LED) lights! I have to find a Walmart with them in stock tomorrow since it's a new tree and new lights I'm short by about 20 ft.