Thank you, thank you for the "beautiful home" comments. When it was new eight years ago, I was enthused about keeping it clean and orderly. That mindset went by the wayside with the advent of gardening. Now the new decor has revitalized my domestic instincts. I hope it lasts, but I'm really getting less gardening done. I have planting to do now and I've wasted the cooler weather being inside. Oh, well, such is life. Cath, one could argue that I was doing the wrong thing by seemingly buying every blue & white fabric in sight, but in the end it turned out well. The original pillow covers were a very odd abstract design, very not me, so it worked out well with some work on my part. And DH loves it, too. He asked me to make a cover for the recliner to preclude stains even though it is stain-protected. Do you believe he picked a blue & white toile from the stash! Campanula is right. They are larkspur. Delphiniums don't work here - too hot, I guess. The larkspurs reseed and start coming back every January. I'm starting to pull them out now. They have lived their life beautifully. I don't know if the heat is doing them in or they are just this short-lived and are running their natural course. They make a spectacular splash in the garden during the time when stuff is frozen back and roses aren't ready yet. Freezes don't bother them. Without them the late winter/early spring would be so barren. I love that they come back on their own. I'm not disciplined enough to be doing seeds in August for planting in Sept/Oct to make a winter season garden. Did it once and don't think I'll ever do it again. That's all hot-time here and doing the tedious work of distributing tiny seeds in tiny pots while sweating on the screened porch is not my idea of fun. I suppose I could do it in the evening. I'll have to think about that. They'll have to be reseeders though. More research. So, Suzy, I think we have the apparel language straight at least for now. I would dearly love to visit the UK and France but it is highly unlikely since I don't buy lottery tickets. But if I do, I will be up to speed on the language. And thank you for the "Sherry's famous larkspur" comment. It made me smile. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I usually think in terms of what overall effect I'm after. Peaceful and serene? plant lighter colored roses in similar shades. Look at me effect? Clump together a number of brighter or darker roses. Dynamic energy? Lots of contrasting colors--perhaps even a couple that slightly "clash." Subdued and reflective? lots of blue plants (not many roses qualify, but lots of blue companion plants mixed in with white or light-to-medium pink roses will work. (I also call that my classic English garden colors.) A couple other considerations: try to get contrasting shapes for extra interest--a clump of iris near some roses, for instance. Or if it is close to where you sit outdoors or a path (to the garage, maybe) that you often take, make sure it is a rose that re-blooms well and often, perhaps one that smells especially good, maybe one that is not too thorny, definitely one that has an nice overall appearance (not just stunning blooms). Or, pick out one or two roses that seem to do particularly well in your garden and get several more that can be placed/repeated at periodic intervals--helps unify that section of the garden to see a few repeating elements. Depending on what roses you select--such as the David Austin shrubs--a number of them look especially good clumped together--Austin recommends 3 planted in a triangle, with about 18 in. between bases. I do that with some of his narrower, upright roses--like Molineux and Queen of Sweden--makes them much more eye-catching. I'm sure there are lots of other possibilities. One thing I do is sit there for several hours while I rest and consider what I like or don't like in the view from that direction. View seems rather boring--go stick a bright gaudy rose right in the middle of the boredom. That will liven things up. Or is the view kind of jumble--hard to focus on anything? Put some unifying repeats in there. Color seems too close, in your face? Substitute some more delicate shade or pastels. Lacks variety? Put in a tall climber or tall shrub. The point of sitting there for a long time is that sooner or later your reaction will break through--I'm bored with that view, that view is a jumbled mess, those colors are getting lost in the distance, etc. Then forget what the rules are and fix that problem. At least, that is what I do periodically. Good luck. Planning can be half the fun of rose-gardening. Kate

Good Morning, Everyone! Thank you all for the "welcome back". I missed each and every one of you. Stormy here today on this Good Friday. Dark and a bit chilly out. Good weather for gardens though. Glad for the rain though. We've had high temps and high, dry winds this past week and wildfires every day. Nothing close to here, but close enough that I could smell the smoke. My dogs erupted in chorus with every firetruck that passed by over on the highway.(hehehe). I took pictures of the gardens on the 31st. Glad I did, as the hot, dry winds dried out all the pretty yellow Jonquils later that day. Blasted hot winds ruined them before our Easter Sunday family picnic and egg hunt. They were magnificent in chorus with the yellow forsythias, white Bridle's Wreath, and Redbud trees now in full bloom all over the garden. My beloved Jane Magnolia is breathtakingly beautiful this year and smells so wonderful. I planted out some Orange Perfection Phlox yesterday. Tried them last year, but they didn't make it. This rain may ensure these do. I dug around in the bin at the store until I found one, just one package with moist peat inside. Holding it up to to sunlight, I could just make out something possibly alive in that dark green plastic bag. Makes me mad to pay five bucks for dead rootstock. They are not the best looking root stocks I ever saw, but think they will make it. I only need one to survive to establish a nice clump this year for next year's blooms. I also planted a package of purple Liatris and a package of Freesia bulbs for summer blooms. I love the smell of Freesia. Yummy. All the Peonies are up and beginning to make tiny flower buds. Hopefully the red ones and deep magenta ones will bloom this year too. If they do, it will be their first time. Some deer came into the yard this winter and ate the top branches off the one surviving River birch sapling, but it is recovering nicely now. I caged it with a tomato cage and for now they are leaving it alone. They are "camped" up on the hill, hiding in wait for my juicy, delicious roses to start blooming, no doubt. :[ I've been taking the dogs for walks up there every morning and hopefully their pee and poop will make them think twice about coming any closer to the back yard. My English Shepherd could easily take down a whitetail deer. DH said this weekend he would finish stretching field fence around on the inside of the existing barbed wire fencing to keep out critters. That won't keep deer out, but it will keep our dogs in, so we can let them run loose on the property. That will be great. They need the exercise and I need them to do their job protecting the place. They love it, too. Hopefully the raccoons & coyotes will take the hint. Keep Out! Anyhow, so far so good. Gotta go check on my chicks. They poopy up their water really fast and will be ready for breakfast. :) Talk to you guys later. ~Annie

Amy, I think he's lying, and the wife is actually the one with the scruples. At least she's trying to dodge you and not lying to your face. She's also not "using" a property they are not making payments on. She probably knows that would be wrong. Just a different way to look at it. He knows they missed payments, he has to know, he's married to her and it sounds like she's done it before.... Maybe they are financially strapped and they just can't make the payments.. Bet, he didn't fess up to that... no, he just passed the buck onto blaming his wife... What a guy. He's just as much at fault for the payments not being made. And, by the way, what was his reason for not showing up when he was suppose to - bet he can somehow blame that his wife to... how convenient. I love guys like that... can someone get their wives to agree to sink money they don't have into a place only they will enjoy and somehow make the wife look like the bad guy and still come out smelling like roses themselves. How do they do that? So, by the way, when do you expect to get that check I'm sure he is sending right off in the mail to you for all the missed payments? And, will that check come before or after the call from their lawyer asking for half the worth of the house? Sorry, I still think there's a lot more to this story, and that you need to get a lawyer and straighten this whole thing out once and for all.