First let me say I love your house. My dream is to someday own a little bungalow!! I almost bought one once but it needed more work that I was willing to do at the time. I know I am late to the party, and I am no landscape expert, but I'm going to chime in my .02 anyway. One of the biggest problems I think you have, in more ways than one, are those huge everygreen shrubs against the foundation. They will dwarf anything else you are doing and it will all look kind of washed out. It seems to me your vision is for a wonderful little perrenial flower garden in front of your house, and in the meantime you have behemouth shrubs to deal with. I would seriously consider taking them out and plant something more open, airy and smaller. There are excellent selections of small, open evergreens at high quality nurseries now days, many of them bred to grow small because your situation is pretty typical of what modern home owners are looking for. At the very least, I would take out the big shrub next to the steps. I had a similar shrub next to the porch stairs in a house I lived in once, and it was a major pain to maintain. An evergreen such as that will trap moisture (especially melting snow) up by the house and the railing and the stairs, all contributing to their faster decline--rust, corrosion and weathering of concrete. There is nothing ugly about your foundation that you need to particularly hide. Rip out that big shrub, and put in something light and airy and flowery. Or at the very least, extend the smaller shrub border all the way to the steps. But honestly, I'd bite the bullet and tear it all out, then you will have a clean slate to design YOUR garden the way YOU want it, not have to work around those ponderous shrubs that someone long gone planted because they just filled a spot. They have overgrown their welcome, IMHO.

Wow! What a treatI can't figure out how to update my member page with an e-mail, so that it can tell me when people add to a thread. Just realized a few minutes ago that Coralbelle and Dax had posted. Beautiful pictures are starting to form in my head. If I'm not real careful, I'll be throwing caution to the wind and going on a mail-order binge despite my best-laid plan to try to go local and do a trip to St. Louis area for more possibilities. Coralbelle- For me your several vignettes with 'De Groots' are a bonanza of ideas. SShhhhDon't tell Ken, but I'm awfully fond of fragrant hostas. Might have to tuck one or two in the shadier corner of this border. If Ken finds out, he might start tempting me with 'Stained Glass' or 'Diana Remembered', which I don't have yet. That would just add to the temptation you guys are giving me! "The third is again a trio of Spires with three Chamaecyparis pisifera (I forget the name - variegated yellow but very subtle) and a sweep of Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola.' This is a much larger vignette at the front of the house and I love it." Is this your grouping that's in the driveway border? Dax- "Make it look unusual! That's the plan right." You got it! And that's my weak point in terms of trying to resist the temptationsIt isn't clear to me yet how hard it will be to move from the notes and mental view into actual conifers found and planted in a reasonably artful way. 'Pusch' / 'Acrocona Pusch' -- Definitely a mail-order catch, right? But I do have a thing for red cones! 'De Groot's' Thuja -- This is one I'm hoping to find in St. Louis. Sounds like MBG likes it, too, but I still need to check their "Locate this plant" link. Where did you guys find yours? Okay, okay, on the Daphne. Maybe it's time to try one. Now, where am I putting it? Yesterday, I spent a little time at the ACS website, and I checked out all the Abies balsamea cultivars, thinking that these are pretty fragrant? Is that right? I think I noticed 'Weeping Larry', but I don't remember why. What's his growth rate likely to be? "Chief Joseph' sounds stunning. I think, however, you are trying to lure me into planting the whole border of my drive down to and into the hell strip. Why not, I say? Well, Hubby has to be slowly coaxed into these things, too! But maybe the Chief needs to be on my Must Have Some Day list. In my mind's eye I understand that the sharper breeds would add a hint of somethingcleannessrefinement? but for now I can resist the sharper needled forms. There's just too much I don't have. Now your hemlock suggestionwell, I just may have to have one of those. You called her a beautytwice. 'Gentsch's White' -- "soft. White-tipped and arching foliage in a globe form. A beauty." Sounds like she also needs to be on my "soft" list. Thanks again, guys. I'm wondering which I'll be able to track down. May have to give my two favorite local nurseries a call. They could "special order" for me and that might at least secure one or two of my choices or the 3 thujas that I'm still thinking might be a good start. You see, I have this gift card from Christmas And, yes, I'll keep you updated on where I go with this. Wellspring

Hello silverrowen, Well the questions you need to ask are. . . What is needed to take care of roses and plants in general. They need light, water, food and soil. 1) light: roses need lots of sunlight at least 6 hours of full sunlight 2) water: roses in the ground need about an inch of water a week, container roses are a bit trickier. First take the saucer off of the bottom of the pot, because the roots don't like to sit in water. During the heat of the summer they need to be watered probably once a day, when it is really hot above 90 degrees maybe twice a day. Never let the pot dry out. The cooler the weather is you can go 2 or 3 days between watering. What I do is give the plant a good deep watering and don't water until the top of the soil feels dry to the touch, but the leaves are not drooping, if the leaves droop the plant is to dry. 3) food: this is easy just buy an all purpose plant food and follow the directions on the package. I usually halve the portions with pot culture. Do not feed the plant unless it is actively growing. Food is not medicine for a plant, it wont help if the plant is sick or dying. It will do the opposite, it will further sicken the plant. So only use food when the plant is healthy and happily growing. 4) soil: this is easy, just buy whatever is on sale in the store, just be aware that many bagged soils already contain fertilizer so don't feed the plant for a few months. usually it is 3 months, but check the bag that you purchased. And lastly, roses grow there flowers in cycles, so to encourage growth after each cycle of flowers the plant may need a little pruning. this is healthy for a rose. At the base of every leave there is a bud eye, that is were new stems start. If you are worried about pruning just let the plant tell you were to prune. This is what you do, after the flower has died watch that stem and look for new growth at the base of a leave. That is were a stem is starting to grow, and that is were you would prune. many cases new stems are growing even while the plant still has a flower at the end of the stem. you can leave the stem alone and let all these stems grow. for every stem there is a flower or flowers on the end. just take off the flowers as they die I hope I didn't confuse you too much, but this is the basics. if you have any questions let me know. Bob

Carol, it's so wonderful seeing you back at our Gallery! We miss your sunshiney presence I've been noticing wonderful sweet Debbie/Dovesong, has very occasionally posted too. I'm hoping that your roses flourishing will help keep you at the Gallery! Boxo came back so that I can happily stalk his Garden to my heart's content, lol!.... Carol, I hope your Lincoln is continuing to do well. Mine are 10' awkward giants, yeeeeeeks! Speaking about all our Rosie friends who inspire us, my Folklore and Broceliande was because of Markiz, Distant Drums was a gift from Jim, I got Compassion and Viking Queen because of Florence, I got Purple Beauty, Coronado, Typhoo Tea because of Beth, I got Marchesa Boccella because of Krista! :D HarmonyP and Carol, yes, Border Collies are sooo graceful and smart and beautiful the way they work sooo hard and want to please their owner. They always want to be by your side accompanying you, and in their eyes you are the Shepherd and they need to be told what next new goal to accomplish.... And oh, that intelligence is just amazing. HarmonyP, yes, the debate against Border Collie pet breeding is a very! serious issue, and yes, I do think it's appropriate to get on a soap box about this. BCs should never ever be bred save to breed for that intelligence, that keenness and sensitivity and love for work and never, ever! for looks or prettiness. Owning a B.C. comes with a heavy load of responsibility and dedication. They are not! a hobby or just-for-fun dog. Carol, many females have better biddability and are easier and faster to train because of this sensitivity factor; whereas sometimes! males because of their huge strength and size just become too independent-minded and on their-own-track of thought. I will ask my friend Pam which ones win more at trials-- male or female. She attends lots and lots of trials since it is her profession. Hehe, here are my final sets of photos, Rosie friends! Troika HT: Viking Queen Climber: Don Juan Climber: Royal Sunset Climber: And some new companion planting photos: As you can tell from Little E's photo, it's really hot in Kansas!!!