I checked that place and others out--right now I'm buying plants, but next year, I think I'll invest in some seed (and craftily pass the seed on to my friend. on to my friend). My Black Prince blooms are not red like in the pics, but much more purple as are the leaves. The whole plant is one of the neater snapdragons, I think.

Lisa, I have to go the store, so I'll comment on your wonders when I get back. I love it all, and I wish I had such diversity of plant material--and things reseeded better here, though part of the problem is the blasted quail. No seed is safe from them. Diane

Just size-wise Im seeing these avg sizes:

Cafe au lait listed as 4-5 ft..cream,pink,biege

Dark Monarch 5-6 ft...magenta smoky plum

Ivanetti is listed as 3.5-4ft ....maroon/purple

Winnie Jowey 3-4 ft ...peach

My DD are all grafted on Doc Huey and are around 3ft the second yr. I dont know if they will get really big. I suspect not.

Sometimes when I lay out the details where I can see them it helps me decide...hope this helps :)

P.S I got my 2nd Leafari order w the gloriosa bulbs today. They forgot one of the dahlias that I ordered so I emailed them. I will post up pics in a few..

Oooo, @nanadollZ7 I think you've settled my debate on whether or not 'Black Prince' should go in my Halloween bed. Next year, that is - I should be mostly done with roses, so I can focus on/worry about something else.

Famous last words. I expect to be soundly mocked for saying that this time next year. I'll try to post some pics of my seedling sweet peas and leafing out roses - all I've got, unless you guys want violet pics!

Wow the great photos just keep coming! Thanks everyone for sharing your photos and conversation! :-)

Nanadoll, wow you been busy! Great to hear your out and about! :-)

Things coming slow here but coming...lol

Bloomstrucks

Catmint//Walkers Low

Our most advanced roses...lol

Vaporvac and summersrhythm, here is my table before the guests arrived:

The rose in the left foreground is Mr. Lincoln.

Below, left to right: Chicago Peace, Darcey Bussell (in back), another CP, and Munstead Wood.

This was today:

the same Mr. Lincoln. It is humongous. I left the other objects in for scale. That is not a fly in the center of the bloom, however - just a trick of shadows.

Chicago Peace completely open. Love, love, love this rose. You can see Daisy (on all fours) and Desmond begging at the knee of DH in background. They were just too cute to leave out,

Thanks for the photos, look lovely! Shall the feast begin! :-) Beautiful blooms!

Diane, I'm glad, as others have said, that you were just busy and not down. I've got to find some penstemons this year. The names sound so nice. The black clem doesn't call out to me, but maybe I'll love the pics if you get it. Penstemons are best bought as plants and not started from seed, right?. I'm not a good seed starter. I bought a flat of snaps today in your honor. They're very small, 2-3" tall. Should I pinch them back? They're light pink so I'll probably plant them around some darker pink or red roses. I get such a craving for ice cream when I read your posts. None in the house at present; big problem.

Lisa, I really like your little Japanese maple. Looks like a good shape and good color. I like little trees that can go right in the rose beds because they don't cast a lot of shadow and stay pretty small. I didn't remember your garden being so mature and filled in last year.

Jim, your grass is always super green and your beds look very rich and composty. Whatever you plant this year ought to get off to a great start. Your Bloomstrucks are ahead of mine.

Lots of color on this thread now. What a difference a few weeks makes. Another week or so before I can plant, but we have the holes dug.

Sylvia, your Passover table looks beautiful and welcoming. You must have gotten through that long list of things to do. What kind of puppies are Daisy and Desmond? They look about the size of kitties.

Happy Easter everyone.

Happy Easter everyone! Have a wonderful blessed day!

Great photos Sylvia Wendel!

Here's the size of Gloriosa Super tubers Leafari sent. I guess they are about average sized.

Happy Easter everyone! Sylvia your table looks amazing. It makes me wish I was attending. The beautiful blooms and place settings are a feast for the eyes. I trust everyone had a lovely time?

Ac91, do post those pictures, and I would love to see violets. They hard to grow around here. I only succeed with them in containers on the patio.

Jim, everything is waking up at your place! I agree with Flowers. Your green grass is incredibly thick and lush. We don’t see such nice green grass around here much anymore. Mine is already turning brown, after a brief revival from the spring rains. I’m going to have to turn on the sprinklers out front any day now. I sure dislike wasting precious, expensive water on grass, but I have to keep the HOA happy. They’d be thrilled with yours!

Thanks Flowers! I just love that little Japanese Maple, too. I think all the extra rain really gave my garden a push. It’s really filling in, plus I keep planting more seeds and plants. I’m running out of room! I’m glad your holes are dug. That’s the hard part. Now you get to do the fun stuff, planting new roses!

The tubers look good Sultry, about the same size as mine I think. Thanks for listing my Dahlias for me. I tried to post Leafari‘s pictures of the dahlias I bought, to show the colors. My problem is deciding which color combo would look best there. I was settled on Cafe au Lait with Ivanetti in front of it, but now I’m leaning towards the other two. Maybe the Smokey plum of Dark Monarch with Winnie Jowey in front of it. Winnie Jowey has purple centers and highlights, so I think it would go well with Dark Monarch. I just can’t decide which color combo would look best in front of Mel’s Heritage. Maybe the purple would really add a big pop of color? I wonder if Cafe au Lait would “get lost” in all the light colors there? Lisa

Quick Augusta Louise picture from this morning. Lisa

Well, that didn’t work. Back to the app. Sorry about that! Lisa

Flowers are music, Desmond and Daisy are terrier mixes. They’re each around 15 pounds, Daisy is mostly Jack Russell, the long-haired kind. Desmond I think has some Maltese, some fox terrier, maybe even some chihuahua (big ears), but who knows,

They are our canine grandkids,

Lisa, the guests all said they had a good time ... the blue-haired niece had to leave early, the born-again Christian guest lectured the Jewish cousin on the meaning of the Passover story, my son who said he was coming early arrived 40 minutes late, the loud-mouthed SIL interrupted constantly, but hey - everything got eaten and the homemade ice cream was a big hit - no one noticed the slightly burnt cake underneath. We’ve had worse!

Everyone complimented me on the roses, which was nice,

Anyone else have fun Holiday dinners?

Sylvia, your puppies sound like a couple of energetic little bundles of fur (with jack Russell and Chihuahua in the mix) and your family sounds great! Lively conversation and interesting people make for a perfect family get together. I guess all families are basically the same, and we love each one for their eccentricities. And, slightly burnt cake would be expected at my house. It's quiet here today, with all our family out of state and friends spending the day with their families. It usually rains on Easter, but today is beautiful and sunny.

Lisa! What a glorious Augusta Luise! What color! Mine still hasn't arrived, but I'm anxious to get her in the ground and see what she can do. She's a little tender for here, but I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy. I actually have 2 coming. It was an ordering glitch - remember all the trouble we had because the site crashed? I was afraid to hit delete, for fear I would lose both. I agree that Cafe au Lait would get lost in front of Mel's Heritage. Up close it would be subtle and stunning, but at a distance, you wouldn't see it. Do you save your rhizomes from year to year? I would like to. Fall arrives quickly and all of a sudden it's snowing and I run out of steam before digging the dahlias up.

Wow the great photos keep coming! :-) I really enjoy looking at everyones pics! :-)

Neighbors tree:

Neighbors bush of some type...lol

Sunset last evening:

Gracie:

Once again Gracie steals the show!

Diane, I haven't got any closer to deciding what to replace the roses with. I have cut Anna Olivier back to the graft - hardly could believe how fast she declined - but the canker is rampant at the graft too, so there doesn't seem a lot of point in seeing if she will come back. But, she will probably languish there for a while, while I dither on what to replace her with. Etoile de Lyon will be next to go, and probably dear old Bill. I can't find those buddleia you mentioned for sale here. We have the Buzz series, which are small.

Here is one of the roses not yet affected - and looking so healthy it hurts!

Mme Lombard

And a seedling from the marigolds my little friend gave me

vapovac, seeing my balustrades reminded me of yours. I love that photo you posted with them in the background. Like someone else on here (was it you, flowers?), I'm longing to see pictures of your house (mansion), and lots more of your gardens. I like your ideas for the centre of my 'secret' garden. One of the problems is that it slopes. I had a birdbath there, and I kept having to adjust it, as the ground would slope a bit more or less, depending on rainfall.

Sylvia, I did laugh over your description of your lunch. It certainly sounded lively!

Lisa, your garden is looking great - so full. That Mel's Heritage is a wonder, and what a sweet little maple.

Jim, your plants look like they're about to burst with growth.

Sylvia, that was really good!

My new Queen of Sweden had one bud that didn't fully bloom but it's still cute :)

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everybody had a great day.

Happy Easter! The weather over here is still a tug of war between rain and flurries. Next week is supposed to be warmer and sunny. But I will wait till at least mid may before I plant anything.

Still no roses

Tried 3x to post -- Houzz is not having it. So -- I'm giving up. Going to watch sunset at beach. Happy Easter!

I wish we could all live in 1 town !! Imagine the fun in our yard!!

Well it took me 45 minutes to read and catch up on the last few days posts! So a quick recap on what I read & try and comment on, but I'm sure I will forget someone or something, lol!

@Lisa - your garden is looking so full & colourful! You really are a plant collector! Love your new Japanese Maple, hope it does well for you.

@Sheila - saw your post about going to Italy soon, hope you have a great time. The gardens would be so fascinating to see.

@Diane - glad to see you have been busy, always love the photos you post!

@Sylvia - loved your dinner party recap!

Everyone in the colder zones, it looks like spring is finally happening! Love seeing the little bits of green starting up!

Well a belated Happy Easter to everyone! We had a very busy weekend. We hosted a big dinner here on Saturday & enjoyed a family visit yesterday. I was so busy prepping, cleaning, cooking & hosting that I have not had a chance to get outside. But we had 3 days of rain, with rainfall warnings & localized flooding. I also did not have a chance to take a picture of our table setup or the feast we had. We had spiral ham, turkey, roasted potatoes, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, etc. And finished it off with a few dessert options. There was sticky toffee pudding, a strawberry fluffy type dessert & a Cadbury egg cheesecake. It was all delicious! It all went well, but hosting big dinners is exhausting! Then yesterday there was the Easter egg hunt. My son has a massive amount of chocolate & candy. Luckily he does not mind sharing! Now that, that is over this week shall commence the full garden clean up and pruning. Hopefully, I can get a few dry days in. The daily temperatures are looking good now.

Here's the status of green in my yard now!

Alliums are starting up. Don't mind the weeds, these will be dealt with this week. And a magnolia bud, getting going! Oh and my grass has been changing from yellow to bright green within the past few days!

I love how active this forum is! Thank you guys for sharing and I hope you all had wonderful Easter holiday. Lisa, your garden is stunning so full of life! That's how I want my new garden to look eventually. I toyed with the idea of getting a little JM in there, too just couldn't settle on one and want to be sure i find one that will stay very small. Af far as the clematis I planted, I have one each, Nelly Moser, Clematis Henryi, Fujimusume and Rebecca. Trying my best to stick with Pink, Purple, White and Red color scheme throughout. I still have to get my trellises up, busy weekend, but fortunately they're still very small even though they've put on some decent growth. I'll need to get out there one night this week after work. I did get 13 lavenders in the ground along the perimeter and the tulips are starting to bloom! These were a bag of mixed bulbs I actually bought in 2017 and spent all of 2018 in my garage. I planted them last month and so surprised they almost all came up and are about to open up. They don't go with the color theme but figured they bloom early enough I wont mind lol. I'll try to get some progress pics posted this week. Any suggestions for climbers that won't get *too* big and won't get overtaken by the clematis I bought? Haven't even begun to think about that yet but definitely open to suggestions.

Superb photos everyone! :-)

Leaves just now coming on some trees here...Other trees nothing yet...lol

HalloBlondie, we're still making about the same progress toward spring. I think Jim's ahead of us with leaves on the trees. Nothing here but swollen buds on the maples. Your Easter dinner sounds delicious, especially that Cadbury egg cheesecake!

I have a long row of daffodils that I didn't expect. They had begun to decline the last few years and I assumed the underground varmints ate the bulbs, so that's where I planted my newish row of climbing roses. Now the daffs are back in force, claiming that bed as their own.

RayGun, I'll suggest Kordes' Arborose collection for climbers that won't overtake your clems. Most say 7'. Probably a little taller in your warmer zone.

Flowers, I've only got a minute--have to eat a late lunch and get back to work. Tonight is a choir concert, plus various singing groups are performing. I swear that Jemma is in all of them. But it will be a nice chance to see the new music building, a fabulous facility for high school students. I was planting more of the same earlier, and it's a lovely day, after two days of wind and cooler weather. The photo below is a glimpse of the magnolia when it looked good. The wind blasted it and now a carpet of magnolia blossom petals lies at the bush's (really a tree/shrub; quite large) base. The other photo is rock cress, still going strong. Daffs are over. By the way, daffodils are toxic to critters, and even deer won't touch them They are the go to bulb for those of us plagued by varmints.

Blondie, your weeds will be dealt with--I admire your work ethic in the midst of those yummy dinners you hosted. We had a nice dinner with honey mustard glazed ham (son in law cooked this on his outdoor Traeger cooker/smoker), roast chicken, over the top mac and cheese, old fashioned cuke and onion salad; and fresh asparagus. Only I had dessert later--luscious Oregon huckleberry ice cream (Tillamook, my fav). Still your Cadbury egg cheesecake sounds like my kind of dessert.

Jim, I see you have flowering trees starting up. Ours are past their peak, but still looking pretty good, in spite of the wind. We have my enemy, honey locusts in front, and they are still sitting and waiting, like every year. At least they got a major trim earlier.

Ray Gun, you've got the admirable work ethic, too (not that we all don't have it). Thirteen lavenders, and all those clems, plus trellises--wow. I can't wait to see photos. Reminds me how tacky and in need of trimming my lavenders are. More chores--ugh. Hope your Easter was a yummy, happy one. Diane

Ahh, beautiful, beautiful, Diane. Love both the magnolia and rock cress. Why don't I have either?! I would like to add either a magnolia or a dogwood. Northland just got in a bunch of small flowering trees, so maybe one is in my future. So sorry the wind cut the magnolia's blooming short. I know about daffodils and deer, but I thought gophers and voles could and would eat them. At one time I had a 4' swath of hundreds daffs lining the driveway that wraps around the house. They started dwindling until there were almost none. Now, they're demanding their space back.

Your dinner sounds so yummy. I'm the only one in my entire family who likes asparagus and I make up for the others. What a help that your son in law cooks. Mine grills, but that's it.

Are Jemma's concerts ever on YouTube or a video we could see? I wish we could all hear her and see the new facility.

A question for you....how far apart do you plant your little snapdragon starts? Expecting temps in the low 30s next weekend, but I should be able to plant them soon. I'm going to pick up another flat tomorrow.

Very nice Nanadoll!

Thanks, Jim. Hope all is well with you and your family. Someday, our roses will bloom, right? Your cat mint is about the same size as mine, and your Rozanne geraniums are almost the same. It's just those darn roses that take their time. I need to get a brunnera pic up--it's going nuts in clouds of forget me not blue (brunnera is known as false forget me not).

Thank you, Flowers. I plant the snap starts pretty close together, if I have enough of them. But I can never get enough! I really depend on volunteers and snaps that come back after winter. That's odd about your daffodils. I've never had any critter eat them. I'm no expert on bulbs, for sure. I'd like to grow more, but space doesn't permit it. Magnolias are sort of a pain--something is always wrecking their show, be it wind, cold, heat, or rain. It's a verry short bloom display. Same with ornamental pears, and some crabapples. Only our red crabapples keep their displays going longer. You were so right about the purple smoke bush being late. I had faith in what you said, and lo, the smokebush is quite large, and all branches survived with little leaves now popping out. I hope I keep liking it. It's sort of a funny little bush.... I think there might have been a You Tube video from last December's capitol rotunda concert, but nothing from tonight. I was wrong--the concert tonight was held in the old, ornate high school auditorium. The music building is for classes and small performances. I started going to performances at this HS auditorium when I was about 11 years old. It had been a while since I had been in it, and I forgot how baroque the thing is. It's older than I am by quite a few decades. All Greek columns and lots of steps in the front make elevators necessary for accessibility....Below is some illustration work Clare did for her illustration class recently. I think she's trying to tell a story, but she claims not. Diane

Diane, I'm glad your smokebush is alive and well. I remembered how I thought mine was a goner, then it leafed out unexpectedly. They really look dead before the little leaf buds swell. I hope Jim didn't toss his in the trash. If magnolias are not easy care, maybe I'll think more seriously about dogwood. I have some redbuds and their show is over too fast. And, some years, they decide they're just not going to bloom.

Clare is so talented! Maybe she didn't intend to tell a story, but she could make one out of these illustrations. She has her own unique style in all her work. Any more books on the horizon for her? She's got a great head start on her career at such a young age. I remember the video of Jemma's concert in the rotunda. That was quite something! Would be nice if they video taped all the performances for friends and family who can't attend.

I'll make another attempt at pruning tomorrow. There's been a steady stream of tree people, barn people, people to move the chicken coop, and who knows what else all day. I don't like an audience when I garden. I didn't think it was possible to have more trees taken down in the rose garden without trampling and squishing a few bushes, but they said they can do it. So, I will have a few less pine needles to rake and pick out of everything. This is good!

No roses blooming for me yet, except for my cheater blooms from some new plants, but, today I discovered a bunch of lilies have sprouted as well as my intersectional peony.

These are the photos I tried to post yesterday. We'll see how they work today! Went to visit Dad in AZ -- hot there. We colored eggs. Might be his first time in...a few decades?

Sheltie in the sundrops! He says, "Hey, where's my Easter dinner?"

A view of the border. Boscobel and Poet's Wife are going strong. I'm a tiny bit disappointed in Olivia Rose -- weak necks! You can't really see her in this photo, though.

And Carding Mill is looking just elegant and gorgeous and oh-so-pretty. A bit pinker than most photos I've seen. I've fallen in love with this rose!

And I think I'll stop there. Houzz doesn't seem to tolerate many of my photos these days.

I wrote 3 long posts yesterday, but none went through. Let me just say that I love your photos, loved catching up on your holidays and gardens. I went to AZ Th - Sat to see my Dad who got out of the hospital, then came back Saturday night. Yesterday was also my birthday! So hubby bbq'd his baby back ribs for me yesterday as our Easter Sunday dinner.

Happy Springtime!

Diane -- those illustrations look like something out of a children's book! She is so talented.

Happy birthday Debra! I'm glad to see you had a great time with your dad. :-) I wish mine were closer.

Thanks, Deborah. When Clare was a senior in HS, she did publish a children's book in advanced placement art. She writes her books, and does all her art for illustration on the computer, using special nibs and software to do the drawing and coloration.....Your photos just invite us to enter your garden for a nice stroll. I love all the planting combinations that set off your roses. I wish mine were blooming--sigh. I hope your dad is progressing well. Congrats on coloring eggs. I can't remember the last time I did that...I've found that posting photos separately from my text posts is more successful for me getting everything to show up properly. I'm glad you had a happy birthday. Love bback ribs, too.

Flowers, thanks for all the nice things you say--I hope Clare tries another book soon. She'll be graduating from college a semester early--in 3 1/2 years, so she's got to get those goals in place....I agree that I like to garden in solitude, too, but it's nice to have people move those chicken coops and trim the trees. I'd like a hole digger and rose transplanter. Diane

@Flowers - I have a pagoda dogwood & a magnolia called yellow butterflies. They both are happy here. The magnolia is more tree like than shrub shaped. I bought it as a single trunk tree. I would have like one of the kousa dogwood trees, but I don't really have a spot for it. I purchased both as smaller plants, so they are just starting to get some size. I will take photos as they progress.

@Diane - her illustrations are fantastic! It's very time consuming & tedious to do this type of work. Hope she really enjoys it. You are right about all the spring bloomers going so fast. But I think in my area where we have had 6 months of cold, the first buds & blooms of the season are magnificent! It's nice if a tree or shrub can give you the spring blooms, ornamental feature like berries and have fall colour. My serviceberry trees & dogwood do this. I would like to add a Red bud some day as well.

Yesterday I found my first flower of the season! We went for a walk in the woods near us & we spotted these little blooms. The forest floor was covered in these popping up between all the leaves! I will post photos next.

Here's a few shots from the woods.

@Deborah - your roses are looking great. I also love carding mill. The blooms of it are always a great colour & it has a great shape. Mine also seems to be fairly hardy, which I know is not an issue for you. The only problem for me is that it seems to get black spot more than many of my roses. But still worth it.

Happy birthday Debra!

Hi everyone!

I started a new Spring thread:Thanks everyone for making these seasonal threads such a success! Keep the the conversation and photos coming! See you all in the new fresh Spring thread Part 4....

HERE:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/spring-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-4-dsvw-vd~5678070[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/spring-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-4-dsvw-vd~5678070)

I have my first bloom! Buff Beauty stashed one down by the wall tucked under some leaves:

And then I caught an heirloom iris backlit just before sunset last night:

Flowers, thank you for the suggestion! I will definitely look into those Kordes climbers. I know Kordes is renowned for their disease resistance so I'm leaning toward their cultivars generally.

nanadoll, thanks for kudos! It was a lot of work getting the bed all dug out and planted up but so rewarding as I'm sure all of us enthusiasts will agree. I mostly had success with the lavender I planted last year in my first bed so I'm hoping to replicate that in the new space. I just love the look and fragrance of lavender and I want a nice hedge! I'm hoping to get the trelises up tonight so I'll post some pics ASAP.

Everyone's photos are looking great and it's finally feeling like spring here! Happy gardening all!!

Happy birthday Debra!

Hi everyone!

I started a new Spring thread:Thanks everyone for making these seasonal threads such a success! Keep the the conversation and photos coming! See you all in the new fresh Spring thread Part 4....

HERE:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/spring-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-4-dsvw-vd~5678070[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/spring-is-here-seasonal-thread-part-4-dsvw-vd~5678070)

Thanks Jim. I'll pop over there..... this goes so fast! : )) Halloblondie, that looks like Spring Beauty. Those are still out here, but we are definitely ahead of you. We took Sunday off and went hiking as well a couple of hours from here in Adams county. What a perfect day! Here are some pics. Click to see clearly.