Good morning! I can't believe it is another gorgeous day out there. I can't remember the last time we actually had a long holiday weekend with weather so beautiful you could actually enjoy it. [g] We did something very rare yesterday....we actually sat in the yard. lol We normally are always working in the garden, but DD came home from three days of participating in a wedding of a friend and was tired enough to slow her down. So we dragged the lounge chair out of the basement and she fell asleep listening to the birds. DH read the paper and we saw a pair of neon orange orioles for the third time this spring. I turned on the sprinkler....we are dry here....and while watching the soothing motion of the sprinkler, I did some LALATing [Lounging and looking at things] Now that doesn't quite roll off the tongue. :-) Marian! How nice to see you posting! What is the name of that very colorful iris? It is quite eye catching. Do you have a lot of iris? I had never grown an iris until someone gave me two clumps at a swap about three years ago. Last year I made my first iris order. I ordered three and they added a bonus, so four lovely rhizomes arrive from Mid America. I follow specific instructions to the letter to pot them up. The next morning I head for the pots to see how they are doing and the darling squirrels had dug them up and run off with all but one of them. I tried salvaging the one that was left, which had bite marks in it and managed to repot and later get it into the garden. But I had no idea which one I had left. Here it is! I had to post a photo to ID it on the Iris Forum because it wasn't any of those I ordered, but was the bonus they sent. It is called 'I'm Back' and was a Thomas Johnson 2007 introduction apparently. So how are you doing Marian, and what is new in your neck of the woods? Cynthia...I am enjoying your garden. Love your Climbing Pinkie. So full of blooms! I envy you your huge windchime. I am collecting windchimes now but DH does not like the sound of a loud one, so I am limiting mine to soft sounds. Gardenbug....your spring garden is so chockful of gorgeous plants. It must be amazing in person. Do you have a lot of fragrant plants? Great shot of the robin and her eggs. They are quite large aren't they? Love that color! Mary...DS has quite a sense of humor....lol. And so do you! :-) Woody....I really enjoyed your photos! I would bet your friend was very glad to have you with her at the nursery. You are quite the busy bee. I bet you can't wait to see the swagged rose starting down the chains...and I can't either. :-) Kathy...I do like that idea of taking photos at garden centers. I would love to see the one you buy your succulents at. I always try to remember my camera in case I see something I want to think about later. Love your new succulent arrangement and the pot is a beauty! I have a Nora Leigh which is coming in variegated again but it is only my second year with it. Sorry to hear it may convert. My Frosty Morn Sedum had a lot of green on it this year, but I just pull off those and it seems to fill in fine. BTW, speaking of begonias, where are photos of your collection? The JJinTP, had been grown from seed and apparently took 4-5yrs to produce the bloom. I know they do winter sow quite well, but who wants to wait that long to see a bloom? A plant I can be quite happy having just one of. :-) Happy Memorial Day! :-) pm2

Deanne - here's what the lilac and clematis combo looked like when we got home yesterday afternoon. The mockorange desperately needs a severe rejuvenation pruning. When the clematis - and the bit of New Dawn rose that grows through it - finish flowering, it's all going to get cut down so the mockorange can regrow (or die and be replaced!)

Kathy, I've seen a place where this was done -- Or I think that's what it was, anyhow -- in a little park in the middle of Officer's housing at the old Mare Island Naval Station. There, they had used concrete standards that looked like they might have been used to tether horses. Maybe 4 ft. tall. From one to the other was swagged what I'm fairly sure must have been anchor chain. I've seen it in one other place, where really thick rope was used, and there again it must have been something for maritime use. I think both rope and chain draped to maybe 2 ft. from ground level. (Sorry this is from memory). The posts were easily 10 ft. apart, but I think that might depend upon what roses you plan to use. With the rope one, the roses were planted by the uprights. I'm sure that was common usage. Wish I had more to give you, but if you do it, I'd sure love to see photos. Jeri

Campanula -- I think the defoliating is a Florida/California thing. Since we don't really have winter, the plants tend to keep virtually all of their leaves from last season. I like to remove them to tell the plant spring is coming, as well as to dramatically reduce the number of black spot spores in the garden. It is indeed labor-intensive, but if we can do it, we like to. Pillars are an interesting way to grow a columnar rose. It works especially well with roses like 'Don Juan' that tend to make a few very stiffly upright canes that resist bending. And yes, if you don't trim such a rose properly, you get a bunch of flowers on the top. It is through the creation of many cut stems all along the length of the pillar that we get even bloom throughout the height. I'm trying to think where, near Cambridge, you could have a good look at some pillars. I'm fairly sure I've seen some at Peter Beales' Nursery. Don't recall seeing any at Mannington Hall. I'll put a link here to a 'Don Juan' in the FSC garden -- I'm a bit hesitant to do that, because it was not at that point ideally trained to the pillar, so it's not a great example. Still, you can get an idea from it. Malcolm