Wonderful! Thanks for posting these; I LOVE looking at other people's garden pictures...especially veg gardens, since I'm in my first year growing one. Wish more would post their garden photos. :-) Here is a link that might be useful: My new blog! Simplifying in Suburbia

Thanks again, especially for the candytuft ID, they are the stars of the spiral right now but they're starting to go to seed. I have a fountain in the front yard, and although I agree it would look great I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle in that particular spot. Birds love fountains, consequently they need to be cleaned frequently and it always involves splashing a lot of water on the ground and walking around the fountain a bit. Maybe I could get a birdbath and hook it to the irrigation system, but a statue would be easier and require less maintenance. I think I'm a one fountain person, a second is not something I relish taking care of but I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the one I have. Most recently a bench has been added to the garden, I realized that the place where the path brushes the raised bed is the coolest and most comfortable spot to hang out so I mentioned it to the DH and next thing I knew we had a new bench. I love it, it's perfect for sitting and enjoying my new area.

Luuk, I wish I could expect perfection of my hosta, but it is not to be. I love to garden, and hosta are my thing above all else. Wish I'd discovered them about 40 years ago so I'd have all this history with the development of hosta when the first great hybridizers were doing their thing. So it just hit me, that here we are at the far frontier of hosta culture, and it is where no man has gone before.....or close there-to. So I decided to stop stressing out about it, and figure those problems we are having in our zone is similar to a soldier/sailor at war. It can get to be ugly, you know. I am highly supportive of my hosta, and I don't criticize them for the slug holes, a bout with southern blight, some spots on the leaves, signs of nematodes, heaven forbit some frost burn (now how did that get in there?), and I decided to show the ugly with the pretty. They are doing the best they can. Why I say that is I have been repotting the big number of hosta I bought in 2012, and I am amazed that some of them are alive at all. I was so ignorant! They flourished in fact. Even when one non-draining pot smelled so musty I was shocked. Yet it was one with a root ball so dense I had to shake it to make it turn loose the old potting mix. Now that is a TOUGH HOSTA. I also have an idea why DonB has hosta leafed out and yours are still pips, Bragu. I can see Don and his DW out there on the driveway giving a big ole college try, She dressed in a green/gold (U of Guac) cheerleader outfit, he bullhorn in hand, telling every hosta GIVE IT ONE MORE FOR THE GIPPER.....the ole team spirit. Cheering them on works like a charm. And here is a picture from MY garden today....still in the camera in fact...or on the SD card not even downloaded. Note the big dude on the left margin, that is Victory elevated to give the others some shade. He is about to be relieved of western sunshine duty by a big pot of Tropicana Canna looking good and wide to assume shade duty. That canna LOVES the western sun, let HIM do that job! Victory will go to the far end of that row of golds where again he will be elevated, making a fine umbrella shape to anchor the closest row of golds which will all be fragrants, with some greens of appropriate heritage on the outer half of that double row. On beyond is taking shape in my head as the duplicates, which are sacrificial lambs if need be to take the most inhospitable location where afternoon sun is brutal and a solution escapes me...momentarily, of course. I've also decided to move the Pink Pirogue from one end of the garden (north end) to south end, 100 feet through dense hosta jungle to proceed without incident. Just I have to empty the sucker of the worst soil I ever saw, and hope the blueberries forgive me. Maybe I can make bricks from it. But all that isn't shown in this picture, unless you can see into the shadows. We are looking north here. I was out prowling the garden while dinner cooked on the stove, and light was fading. I hate to be indoors at twilight. It is the most perfect time of day. Except sunrise, when there is mist hanging in the air up in the trees. And that is when ideally, I like to go to bed.... This post was edited by moccasinlanding on Thu, May 8, 14 at 23:30

I am so happy to see your pictures again! I was here back then, but mostly lurking, which I still do a lot because I am not very good about id-ing my plants since the dogs destroyed my labels and I gave up There are a few I know the names of, but not too many. You were one of my secret mentors when I started my hosta planting! I am sorry your 'When I Dream' was a disappointment, but there is so much to love about your gardens! Thank you for that!!!