Yay Audrey!!!! Now, you can post more than one pic in the same post - just go to your next pic and do the copy/paste thing again ... as often as as you wish. (open a separate browser window with your photobucket account - or open notepad and copy all the the stuff there before posting.) If you want to post in the same thread within a few minutes, just change the subject like pit said - but you did that above, so you know. GW has a timing thing with how quickly you can post to the same thread. Looking forward to seeing your sprouts. PV

I posted some tips with two examples on the Iris forum, will link. It's about using exposure compensation in bright sunlight. Also I use fill flash with an external flash w/diffuser sometimes, can also force the on board flash. That takes practice getting the right amount; I use flash exposure compensation set depending on how the light is and how close or far away I am. You will notice that many macro photos posted are blurry. That is because just a couple mm that close and the slightest camera shake will cause blur, also slower shutter speeds. Well, the trick is not to use the super macro setting but aperture priority and the regular macro setting. I could then stand further back and still zoom in w/o the other problems mentioned. But that was with my p&s camera I don't use any more. Usually I just use a regular zoom lens, get as close as the lens will let me (some lenses won't lock focus if you are too close), and since I have 8 mp to work with, I can crop in closer. I do not recommend ever using digital zoom though. One more thing. In shade, don't bother with exposure compensation, keep it at 0, but bump up your ISO to at least 400 sometimes 800 if very low light but not if your camera produces a lot of noise, better to use flash instead at normal ISO setting. That will force a faster shutter speed. Every camera is a little different, but it's worth your time to learn some extra skills. This is not going to make sense now after going through all that because I shoot aperture priority at least 90% of the time. That way I can control the depth of field and choose the aperture I want. Some people won't understand what that means and use the pre-programmed settings on their cameras. Here is a link that might be useful: My post in thread called misleading iris photos

Diane, I planted right up to the sidewalk. What's more my bed is on a slight slope as well so I did get problems in the beginning with soil being washed out. I planted the smallest and lowest ground covers in the areas by the sidewalk. These are plants I wouldn't have to worry too much of. These can take some abuse from being accidentally walked over and maybe the occasional dog pee, or being accidentally pulled up by snow removal. So check the first photo I posted on Sept 8. I planted lambs ears, lady's mantle, thrifts with creeping thymes beneath. I also have spring bulbs there like some fritallarias. As for the snow removal machines. I've not had them pull up my yard yet but it does help to pile up all the snow in my area on this bed. We do pile up the snow so high that its above my head. it may not be apparent but my bed is hedged with yews and boxwood. This keeps the plants in place and also helps with soil errosion. The flowers will look neatly in place when you set up hedges. So no the taller flowers are not planted closest to the sidewalk. I designed my bed from the point of view of my front door. If you have a 60 foot bed, I would suggest you plant the tallest plants in the middle. To make the flowers pop out, give the plants a backdrop which is why I use ornamental grasses and a smoke tree. Tallest plants shld be in the back of the row, shortest in the front. When you do plant your daffodils, try to plant them as if it's a meandering stream. and when they do go dormant. cut off the leaves and overseed with annuals. This will give you continues colours through out the season. hope this helps with your plans

Larry, you may be behind last year, but you are ahead of me. My tomatoes are only about 4 inches high, but they look nice. I actually had to start over once. I started with a poor starting mix the first time and it dried out so quickly that I gave up and started over. Even after that, I planted too many seeds and probably have 60-70 plants, but I don't have a lot of variety. Outside I have planted onions, potatoes and a few peas. I threw some corn salad seeds in the onion bed, but I think the birds cleaned most of it up before it sprouted. When we had a hail threat, I covered one onion bed with row cover just to make sure I didn't lose them all, but the hail didn't come. I think the robins are having a family reunion in my garden this year. When we get past the next 10 days, then I will worry about getting everything in.