I guess for the most part I am probaly over reacting. This is all new to me. All of the plants seem to be doing fine, except for the peony. There were several of those bugs on the peony; not a full blown infestation (as shown above) but enough to cause some alarm. There were four to six on the under side of several leaves (which I think are springtails), 10-15% of the leaves are damaged. This is the plant that started it all for me. I have always loved peonies and picked it up one day at lowes. I was not sure where to plant it and once I did I thought well something else might look nice next to it and now I have a small garden along the fence on the side of my home. It still needs some work, but I am happy with it so far. The real challenge will be next year. The front of my house is f-ugly. There are several, leggy overgrown rhododendrums (sp) which I will cut back in a few weeks. The whole yard is shade; there is a super large tree that blocks almost all sun. I am planning on documenting the whole process from start to finish in my journal.

We have a small hill located on left side of the front yard which I felt was a prime location for modern roses. It is facing east and could probably have the space large enough for 50 mature HTs. It has a fence at one end that could take at least 5 climbers. Thus, when I realized I had the inclination to grow modern roses, I went to my wife to pitch this brilliant idea. I told her that I wanted to go back to painting as a hobby but my motor skills have left me. But I told her that I could use the hill instead as my canvas and the rose as my medium for this "painting". Further, it is going to a dynamic one, the flushing of the roses will give it movement. Stunned, she thought for a moment, and then she said ok. It has been 8 years since then. I have toiled hard to get to a collection matching the painting in my head. I tried to use 3 roses of the same shade, instead of 3 of the same roses. I had to do this to give me flexibility in facilitating softer transition between colors and still get good definition. Each year, after the 3rd year, my wife would ask when my "painting" will be complete. I always replied, "IÂm close". Yearly kills, removal of under and non- performing plants, wrong color or height etc, makes it an impossible and daunting task. The best compliment I received so far from a buddy was "it must be hard to negotiate between bushes". My good neighbor calls it "roses in steroids". My other neighbor thinks the cumulative scent is too much. So, I continue to work at it until somebody says "you know, that could be a nice painting." Lesson is be brave and have fun.

Ok I will do some before after shots. I remind you , I love to push photography . It is another obsession I have besides gardening. I will work the details. But I am still learning my camera also. I hate to RTFM. TRoth garden taken in failing light at sunset After I addressed darkness, lightened the shadows, and burned the highlights, and the addressed the overall blue tones by adding yellow. A cactus group shot that had a beautiful beam of light. I like light and I am always photographing it and it is always making me tear my hair out. This one I found flat compared to what I saw. After punching lighter the exposure all over and darkening the exposure values , I elevated the definition to accentuate the contrast in the textures. de blued it and de-greened it I think. I did take liberties with this next picture of the Kalanchoe Luciae be cause I wanted the viewer to be surrounded and swallowed by the plant. I am not always driven by reality. Usually I am, but sometimes I gotta do a "Georgia". I felt that this one was washed out from how I felt it was. This one I did go a little overboard on it. So Sue me. Here is another one from the K. luciae series. The differences are sometimes not that starling, but subtle , but the overall will be worth it. Notice the highlights have an indistinct texture and I just want to make things better even though the picture is fairly alright. I just like to fiddle. Things just seem a little fuzzy. I feel air and I don't like it. I popped the exposure lighter then darkened the exposure value, burned the highlights. I want that rich sense of space amongst the leaves and the red to pop and show the light coming through them. I wanted the texture on the leaves. I am a little distressed with the out of focus on the back highlighted leaf. The highlight is still reading as blown.. I should have gotten my tripod out so I could cut the F stop down but then the sun would have been gone. I got the fuzzy out of there . the air is clear. I can breathe now . OH god, now you know I am obsessed. You know what is weird. I can do this for peoples portfolios and I do for some artist around all over. They send me full sized files and I see if I can work them.

I have no need for the precision of a pH meter, so I just use the indicator solution, and the longer I'm doing this, my systems have become so predictable I know how my pH is going to behave for my plants (since I have a defined 100% change point to begin each 6 week cycle). Being within 0.5 pH units is fine, though I don't have any trouble calling my pH to the nearest tenth. I'm sure it helps that I'm a chemist and have read pH for a long time, though it was probably the pool that deserves more credit ;-) In any case, I would suggest you try what I do and see if it helps - get a bright white blank paper and fold it in quarters to get a solid white background. Place the manufacturer's calibration colors (if GH printed it on the bottle, then that) by or above/behind, and put it directly under a reasonably bright incandescent bulb, with a shade so the direct filament doesn't interfere with your eyes, until there are no shadows and the color is nice and bright throughout the sample. If you have some sort of plastic kit that is cheap or marked in a way that it is small or confusing, don't bother with it. I use some test tubes about 19mm diameter and angle them back to get a nice rich pure light. If I've been drinking or knocked on the head, or have been in low light reading for an extended period of time, I am more careful to compare the chart in tandem with the sample. If you get test tubes, try to get shorter ones or it will be a pain to clean the bottoms. To get good with indicator solution when you start dealing with it, make a few trials using tap and diluted vinegar just to get a few samples. The best is if you can do that and make a set of a few tubes at once at different pH. That makes you much more accurate since you directly can see the tones you particular solution makes, and they can appear different that the chart, but once you see what's going on, there will be little doubt. Also use a reproducible amount of nutrient solution in the sample, and a good eyedropper with say 3 drops each time. You'll get the hang of it, but really no one can do a perfect job with indicator if they try to do it outside with the lighting effects and background color interference for your brain to interpret. Good luck. This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Wed, Mar 5, 14 at 1:37