I think of my yard as "The Garden of the Good Intentions." Another gardener friend says it more bluntly - "my intentions are good but my execution stinks." Photos are terrible at showing the hoses, scattered pots, weeds, whatever. The heart sees the beauty that is there, or is dreamed of. Your garden looks good to me! Who cares about the trash bag, or tarp??? Out here, where it doesn't rain from May - Oct, every bit of lushness is a treat. People would kill for those hostas. My "Rooguci" clematis is a spindly little thing, and yours is so lovely - I've finally figured out that clematis wants way more moisture than I'm ever going to give them! Anita

Brock, if anybody is guilty of writing too much, it is I, appreciate your input on the matter. I believe you are correct, it's Chinese or Japanese roof iris aka crested iris (did some googline). I did see zone 5b somewhere which is the colder limit for them, and I definitely think there is a difference b/t 5a and 5b, but I might be able to squeak some things through anyway. Now that is distressing that they may not survive the winter. I just set them out this afternoon, new area where there is no protection, and will have to mulch (or something) for the winter and expect to lose them. There are too many similar in this class to know exactly what to expect. If they make it through the summer, I could pot a few up and bring them inside, but that defeats my purpose as I have enough already to winter inside. They look so nice with that pretty foliage. Yes, I could move some, but I've got scads more plants waiting to be set out. Yes, I agree that some, not all, mail-order retailers exaggerate the zone business because they would lose sales. A topic for another time, tired after setting out 24 plants, used my bulb planter which made things go a little faster. I think I had my tiller set to till and not cultivate, oh well, it had gotten so bad so fast, it needed the extra power, but I'm worried if I could have compromised the roots forming on the Austins I set in there ealier. They should recover.

Someone brought up Yelp, and I have got to say that at least around here Yelp seems to be frequented by people who are dissatisfied with every service they've ever received, anywhere. My dentist, who regularly gets "Best of" in local magazines based upon votes from colleagues and patients has only a few reviews on Yelp, and they are terrible. But they started out with things like "I have been to many dentists, and I have never been to one with an oriental rug in the waiting room, so I knew I was going to be ripped off, so when he....etc." Really? I have been to my childhood dentist, a couple specialists and then one generalist as an adult. So "I have been to many..." anything, sets off warning bells in my head. Same with people who've hated the meals and service "Every Time" they have been to a certain restaurant. How many times do you need to decide you hate a restaurant? It takes me once. I know people (who I won't go out with socially) that manage to lodge a complaint and get something comped at every fine dining establishment in the city. These are the people who post on Yelp. I think most rating services are skewed one way or the other, so I pretty much only rely on actual referrals. It makes things difficult when trying to find someone, for sure.

Mitch, The parrot thought the frozen (dead) turkey was a former pet who had obviously misbehaved and thus was thrust into the freezer. The turkey was an example of what could happen if he didn't shape up.