I'm still planting here in Kansas. The last few years, I've found bargains real late in the season, and so ended up planting waaaaay into Jan. and Feb. Everything grew, but I still had daffodils blooming in the middle of June! The blooms didn't last nearly as long, and luckily we didn't have tremendous heat by then, but I still think it's worth it to go ahead and plant them, no matter how late. Our ground wasn't frozen when I planted. We didn't have 2 feet of snow to dig through, either! You have my sympathy out there in Colorado. Cindi

Gean, "Rob, you'll never have to apologize to me for buying more roses; I wish I had a neighbor that was so afflicted!" Thanks :), I wish all of us could be neighbors. I'll have 1 'Long John Silver' on a large trellis and rambling along a split rail fence right behind the trellis, (see 1st pic), and the other one along with 'American Pillar' on a pergola over my patio that I'll be building this summer. The others will be on similar pillars as the ones in the 2nd pic and on the south wall of the house. The only roses that died on me last winter were 'White Dawn' and 2- 'Fair Bianca'. The FB were my fault because they weren't buried deep enough. Yes, I'll be posting pics. :) Rob:)

Oh yikes, many people have bad experiences with landscape fabric. I tried using it many years ago - maybe they've improved the material - but it was awful, and this seems to be a common opinion. It isn't that easy to lay down, it bunches up, it gets punctured and weeds grow through anyway, AND last but not least, it doesn't break down for a long time. By that time, lots of roots have grown through and it ends up being difficult to remove. If you want to move your perennials around, then it's real fun dealing with that mess. It's better to use an organic mulch in the long run. Cardboard or newspaper along with mulch gives you pretty good weed control for about a year and you can smother sod or weeds or groundcovers underneath at the same time, all of which are quite the effort to weed or dig out. Breaks down eventually into a nice organic matter that enriches the soil. The worms actually love the paper. Not that I don't still dig garden beds, I just dug one last fall - wanted to plant it right away and I fuss and muss with placement so much. They say you can't be too thin or too rich, but I think you can't have too many flowers. :)

Good to hear from you. So sorry to hear about Shannon's health issues. There's a really nice rv resort in Spring, TX. We liked the one in Galveston but really love the rv park on the beach at Bolivar Peninsula. We were supposed to be sitting out there in June but since the house went under water we are living in the rv which is in the driveway instead. Tell Mike we said hi.