Lilyfinch, I saw your cute bubble pics on IG. Lucia is filled with such joy. She and Henry are delightful. Lisa, you had me laughing at your dwarf SdlM. Goes perfectly with my non-blooming variety. But, your poppies! Wow! Now, that's a poppy! How long do Baby Blue Eyes bloom? Had to look up Bubble Bath. How have I never heard of that one?! HalloBlondie, I'm going to suggest he just add on to the small barn, which is more of a big shed. It houses his ATV, snowblower, lawnmower, wagon trailer and junk. We have just under 6 acres, but the out buildings are all clumped together near the house. Not the best look. Altorama, I'm torn between pampering my Edens and neglecting the heck out of them. Maybe I should send them to you for a few years, then you send them back to me once they get the hang of it. Sultry, the answer to your question is - not a clue. He asked me to find some barn pics to show the builder. He said I should choose because he wants me to like it. Can't be too upset with that! Lily, you'll soon be growing things you couldn't before and your growing season will be almost year round. Only a couple hours away is Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach. You'll love all the garden bling in addition to the huge plant nursery. Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach is fun and Pageant of the Masters is incredible. There are the missions all up and down the coast. San Juan Capistrano was a favorite. If you like Mexican food, you will find that it is so much more authentic than Mexican food in the midwest. You'll love the jacaranda trees, camellias, gardenias and being able to grow your own citrus. I'd grow citrus for the scent alone. The fruit is just a bonus! Plants that were annuals in TN will be perennials in CA. You can visit Grace Rose Farm for a day trip. Sounds like they're gearing up for visitors, big time. The entire Santa Ynez area is worth staying a day or two and visiting Solvang, and a little further up the coast is Carmel and Monterey, wonderful get-a-way spots. At least, they used to be. A stop in Santa Barbara is a must. And, if you like antiquing, Summerland, just outside Santa Barbara was always a must. Not sure if it still is. Deborah would know. These places are not especially close to San Diego, but more like day or weekend trips. And, I am positively green with envy you will get to visit Lisa and Ingrid.

@Flowers - I have a pagoda dogwood & a magnolia called yellow butterflies. They both are happy here. The magnolia is more tree like than shrub shaped. I bought it as a single trunk tree. I would have like one of the kousa dogwood trees, but I don't really have a spot for it. I purchased both as smaller plants, so they are just starting to get some size. I will take photos as they progress. @Diane - her illustrations are fantastic! It's very time consuming & tedious to do this type of work. Hope she really enjoys it. You are right about all the spring bloomers going so fast. But I think in my area where we have had 6 months of cold, the first buds & blooms of the season are magnificent! It's nice if a tree or shrub can give you the spring blooms, ornamental feature like berries and have fall colour. My serviceberry trees & dogwood do this. I would like to add a Red bud some day as well. Yesterday I found my first flower of the season! We went for a walk in the woods near us & we spotted these little blooms. The forest floor was covered in these popping up between all the leaves! I will post photos next.

Kelly, the peony company may become more reputable if they keep selling gorgeous peonies like that one. I am crazy about tree peonies, but most of mine reverted back to species large, single white petals. I think I had them planted too shallow like herbaceous peonies. I've never seen one quite the color of yours. The yellow stamens really set it off. I don't have Cherry Frost, but have heard good things about it. I know how it is, hoping for a climber to at least get a few feet tall. I'm in the house instead of outside because we're having another wind storm. Every time it looks calm and I change shoes and pull my gloves on, it starts up again. Those pine cones are murder when they fall on your head from up so high. I need a gardening helmet.

Oh, what a long day, and I still haven't had a decent dinner. I deadheaded til the sweat ran down my face, hand watered a bunch of stuff, and sprayed every rose in my garden with deer repellent. To top it off, Jemma and I found over 200 more pics on a second file in my memory card, so we now have organized, filed, cropped, etc, over 700 photos! Jemma will be taking my camera away from me. I plead temporary insanity. All those days I didn't post, I was taking photos--ha. And you thought I was working in my garden. Pippa, I've always wanted to grow Gruss, and your photo reminds me why. She's such a lovely rose. I love the linaria. I've become interested in wispy delicate plants to weave amongst the roses. I've been trying out anchusa for the past year or two. Thank you, Flowers. Love Song is a favorite of mine, so I guess that's why I have two of them. Yes, from now on Jim is Sir James, OBE. Sorry, Jim. Kristine, I'm glad you're getting some help because your day sounds like mine--only I don't have a baby to care for. I can't imagine how exhausting it must be, but you still grow lots of lovely roses and other plants. Did you grow delphinium this year? Deadheading is my biggest job right now, too, so I can sympathize. It gets me that we work so hard all year so the roses can bloom a while, only to have all those luscious blooms dry up and die. What a waste of beauty, it seems like. Thanks, Blondie. What a shame that some Canadian roses don't take the cold well. Your Morden Sunrise may be small, but it's quite cute, plus nice and thick. It will be lovely all covered in blooms, so be sure to post a photo. I guess MS does better in zone 7 and above--ha. I'm interested in baptisia, so would love to see more photos of Sparkling Sapphires. It should be a stunning plant in full bloom. Love the solar egg. Now I will show you our Finn on a Bike whirligig. Diane