Thank you, Yes that is a pond in the distance, it is pretty big, and far enough away from the house, that I don't do much gardening on it. Besides we have geese that we keep on there. And they eat everything! The flowers in that picture are a type of native phlox, I did not plant them! In fact what I did plant there is hidden, I had put some rudbeckia in that spot 2 years ago. And last year added some Joe Pye, I almost pulled those flowers thinking they were a weed. I am so glad I didn't! Jenny P

Milly, I have a hosta for YOU, you betcha! I've had it for about 3 years now, and it looks cool even in this zone. Why don't you take a look at MILLIE'S MEMOIRS? hmmmmm? :) (Just trying to enable/help/addict and give the lonely hosta a companion.)

Update for spring 2018: Each Fall I plant more of this early spring corydalis (we probably have 15 or more now) as it reliably pops up where I put the tuber in the ground and it is successful in much less than full sun. (I wonder what dense planting would look like). Who else has these early season corydalis? Do they come in other colours besides light and dark pink?

So sorry to hear this. Hoping you both get home together soon. One suggestion. When my daughter and her baby boy were in separate hospitals, I took the pillowcase she slept on to her baby so he could smell her. I did that daily as long as they were separated. May sound corny but we felt it helped and the nurses had no problems with it.