It's possible that one or two came back, but when I was there (right after Memorial Day) the canes were black and there was no foliage. It was startling since it was an entire bed of about 15 roses. They did have a lot more HTs that I imagined. I had read that they had many OGRs, from the era that the home was built and that's what I wanted to see. I did get to see many of those and purchased Rose de Rescht based on what I saw there. I'm also thinking of getting Old Blush climber because it looked so nice. I just don't have a lot of room for another climber. I'm going to try to go next spring. Hopefully there wont be a killer freeze.

I see roses. Lots of roses. If it was for me I would widen the sidewalk; plant cottage style flowerbeds up near the house and leave the lawn for down by the sidewalk. Things like Garden Phlox, Shasta Daisies, Crocosmia, Hydrangea... I also like a 'Hollywood' Juniper or two at the corners up near the house but they do better out on the coast. I'm not sure how well they would do in W-S. I like Crape-myrtle's but I would only do one if it is a large one. To me the purple ones bloom for the shortest period the pink ones bloom longer and there is one white one that will bloom very late around here. New ones get developed every year so cultivar names are unimportant. Another cool look for that house color would be one of the purple leaved Mimosa's (I know, a mimosa! shame on me but I like them). Since I garden in the deep shade when I see full sun exposure I want to fill it with perennials and annuals that bloom all summer, others may want a shade tree.

Anna, there are three different gardening programs on-going at the JC Raulston Arboretum. The Gardeners of Wake County will have their annual seed swap at their next meeting on Tuesday night Jan 20th. They meet the third Tuesday night (7:30 I think) of each month. Here is a link to their web page. http://www.gardenersofwakecounty.org/ I am not a member but attend occasionally and plan to be at this meeting. Each meeting they have a 45-minute program with a speaker with some unique gardening insight. The Piedmont chapter of the Rock Garden Society meets at 9:30am at the arboretum, usually on the third Saturday morning of each month. They also have a speaker at each program and a plant auction sale at the conclusion of the meeting. (Members donate plants for the auction.) Most members of the Rock Garden Society are also members of the Friends of the J C Raulston Arboretum, as am I. The JCRA has programs approximately every other Thursday night at 7:30 pm as well as a number of events on weekends. You can find out more from these organizations web sites. but if you have additional questions, feel free to email me.

Hi Marsha, Welcome to RMG! About the soil in the Metro Denver area, there are a few members who have a sandier soil, but almost all of us have nasty clay--and I suspect what you're calling clay back east is a joy compared to the Rocky Mountain Clay! You're right--you just keep adding organic matter year after year after year.... I DOES get better--eventually! And if you pick the "right" plants, you CAN grow things in it! Some of our members build raised beds and fill them with "store bought" soil to give them better soil quickly. Lots of advice around here for raised beds if you decide to go that route. And lots of sympathy for your soil problems if you don't! ;-) I'm going to link two threads from when others were moving out here and asking for advice. I think you'll find pretty much all your questions answered between the two threads--and probably a lot of info about stuff you haven't even thought about yet! The first is a 2014 thread from somebody who was moving here from the UK! http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2131647/an-intro-and-questions?n=9 The second is an old thread from 2006 from somebody moving here from New York and, in addition to other info, is talking about drought! The good news is that virtually ALL of Colorado is now officially out of drought conditions, though it's still always a good idea to try to get some sort of an idea about what watering restrictions could be imposed in the future for any property you're looking at--maybe ask about what restrictions were in place when we were still in drought. The first thread has more info about xeric plants than this one--this one has more "general" info about living out here. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2139011/gardening-around-denver-drought-question?n=10 I know there was another thread from someone asking about the different areas to live in the Metro area, but I sure can't find it! There's some info in the above threads about the different areas, and if you have questions about a specific area, just come ask. About the views, you can get good views pretty much anywhere in the Metro area, it just depends on the individual lot. The "olde" Denver areas generally have lots of established trees and you'd be less likely to have a view. If you're hoping for something on a greenbelt you'll need to look at the newer subdivisions since that's a relatively new concept. I'm on the north end (Thornton) and there's a lot of new subdivisions north and west of me where I'm sure there are views, and there are neighborhoods just east of me (120th & Colorado Blvd.) that have greenbelts running all thru them. (I used to live down on the south end just north of Parker and had a view from Pike's Peak almost the whole way up to Long's Peak. Oh, how I miss that view!) When you come out I recommend you start with a drive from one end of the city to the other--just to get the Big Picture about what the different areas are like. Also want to let you know that we have two plant swaps out here each year. Where they are is determined by who volunteers to host them--they've been held everywhere from the extreme south end to the extreme north end of the Denver Metro area! It's a fun time getting together with Gardening Folks, and is a good opportunity to pick up some free plants--even if you don't have anything to bring yet! When you get moved out here just keep an eye out for the swap threads! We'd all love to meet you! Welcome to the Friendliest Little Gardening Forum in the West, Skybird