Holley, people ARE scared to grow roses. I have 85 or so at work and get asked CONSTANTLY about how much time I spend (mostly I water and I deadhead when I do it, spray once in a while and fertilize two or three times a year at the most) and cannot believe I don't hire it out to someone.....I DO hire out the grass but not the roses! I have people here who come in ans say they have had problems, cant grow them, killed them etc and mine are growing away.

I agree that the magic in a garden comes from the gardener. I am reminded of the gardens of my grandmothers. My mother's mother, Grandma J, was a very organized gardener, She had borders of perennials and shrubs in immaculate condition, no weeds, not croweded. She loved to walk me through the beds and point out the different flowers and explain how they grew and what they needed to grow the best. She was a teacher, and I think her orderly beds represented her need for order after being with unruly kids all day. My father's mother (Grandma D) had a garden that was totally different. She just stuck plants wherever the mood struck her, weeded occasionally, and focused more on growing vegetables and crops. She was the wife of a farmer/rancher, and had a more relaxed style of flower gardening. Both gardens were magical to me as a young girl, and both had their charm. I remember Grandma J's bouquets of sweet peas on the windowsill, of her bringing flowers to any gathering, and I remember Grandma D's delicious vegetables, and her wild beautiful flowers. Those memories inspired me to make the garden I have today. My garden is for my own enjoyment, but I hope my children and grandchildren will sense the magic I am trying to plant there. Kathy

Motor oil is very harmful to the garden if the bucket gets spilled, so be very careful! Mosquitos in the back yard: Get rid of ivy and other low growing plants which harbor moisture and create breeding grounds for mosquitos. Also get rid of any standing water, and use dunks or barley powder in your rain barrels. The best solution to pest problems is to remove the source of the problem (which granted, you can't always do, but getting rid of Ivy is a big one!!!)

Wantonamara, you come up on Thursdays? Next time you're in there, find me! I love meeting internet friends in real life. Speaking of that, it was great to see you, DFW! I enjoyed the heck out of that, though wish I would have had more time to visit. I'll see you at a swap sometime, maybe this fall when things calm down a bit for me. I couldn't get ahold of one of my waterwitch friends, but did the other one and they said they don't really do it anymore. But I'm glad John gave you the info for the water witch assoc. If I do find my other friend and they would be willing to talk to you, I'll let you know. "So you'll all come out to meet me when I come?.... " If you would have made an entrance like that, I can guarantee you that everyone in the entire place would have come out to meet you. *snicker* "Isn't it just amazing how many people are veggie gardening now? " Man, is it ever, Tammy. So exciting, too! I love helping all of them at work. Some of them come back and tell me how their gardens are doing. Just last Thursday, a couple of ladies named Willemina and Gloria came in, all smiles, to let me know how well their garden was doing. They were just so excited about it all. They'd been in a month or so ago to ask questions and buy plants. I just love getting feedback like that. I, too, hope all the new gardeners don't get discouraged. I try to tell them all that they will have setbacks, but to not look at them as failures but learning experiences. I'm also careful to tell all of them about the info desk at work. Be sure to let any new gardeners you come in contact with know about that, would you, Tammy? For anyone reading along who doesn't know about the info desk at the Natural Gardener, it's in the back room of the store where the fertilizers and tools are ~ there's always someone knowledgeable there, usually either the horticulturist or botanist on staff. Anybody can go in there and ask anything and get help. If you or someone you know has a problem, bring a leaf or bug or whatever is the problem and/or pictures if you can and they'll help you figure out what it is and what to do about it. You can also bring in some of your soil and they'll help you figure out what, if anything, you need to ammend it ~ that's a big money-saver since you won't be buying things you really don't need, and can zero in on what you do need. They don't do a chemical analysis type soil test, but they can look and see if you have clay or sand or etc. "Wouldn't it be great if we could get back to local produce?" Lord, yes, Tammy. I'm so glad about the new things coming out of Congress that will make all imported food have to conform to the same rules and regs that US-produced food has to. At the moment, they don't have to (unless that bill passed recently regarding this ~ I haven't heard). Seriously, someone can make pickles in their toilet in Mexico, slap on a nutrition label, ship them across the border and sell them here. The laws are so outdated, passed years ago when it cost too much to ship something to the US, so they didn't address imported foods. I'm so glad to see that's changing. And it'll be really good for local farmers ~ they won't have to compete with cheap vegetables from Mexico et al where they can be produced for much less money. Not to mention we'll have a much bigger chance of knowing what is and what isn't in and on the imported food. I'd better stop now before I go on even longer... Please do come up, TexJan! And again, find me in the herb section if you're there Tues. through Thursday. Look for me anyway as sometimes I fill in for others. I'll be doing that this Friday. I'd better go ~ got horses to feed and more tomatoes to plant. I'll see y'all more often soon I hope, once I get internet at the house again.