I took a few more pics today. The roses haven't yet started blooming, but things are growing and green, and the perennials I planted are starting to fill in a bit more. Some of the Dianthus and one of the Campanula are blooming, but so far that's it. I don't remember ALL the specific perennials in these pics, but where I do, I'll name them. The Dianthus on the left is 'Rose du Mai', with the newly-planted Austin rose 'Happy Child' to its right, and Amsonia tabernaemontana after that. There's a Sedum poking through between the logs as well. The little blob of green near the logs on the left side of the picture, in front of the Amsonia, is Campanula 'Birch Hybrid'. Those lime-green leaves belong to the rose 'Honorine de Brabant', with a Sempervivum in the logs, and another Dianthus (a found variety called "Mom's Cinnamon Pink"). The yellowish-blob is Thymus 'Doone Valley' (and I still have to line that area with bricks....). The rose in the corner against the garage but in front of the railroad ties is "Sophie's Perpetual" (virtually no dieback from this Winter). The purple flowers belong to Campanula 'Joan Elliott', and behind it is "Secret Garden Musk Climber" which had to be cut to the ground and still has not woken up. The rose to the right of SGMC (behind the railroad ties) is 'Charles de Mills'. The rose in front of CdM (and in front of the railroad ties) is 'Clotilde Soupert'. To the left of CS is a tiny green blob -- that's Nepeta 'Walker's Low'. Apparently, the neighborhood cats have discovered my yard, and my catmints got squashed. I trimmed them back, surrounded each with pieces of branches sticking into the soil, and they're growing back again. Oh, and wherever you see what looks like a bunch of grass in the beds, that's actually one of my many Dianthus -- I don't remember the one in this pic. 'Charles de Mills' is the Gallica on the left in this pic, behind the railroad ties. To its right is another Gallica, 'Georges Vibert', which I pegged widely. One cane is about 6' long, with long laterals coming off it. The rose in front of GV (and in front of the railroad ties) is the Austin 'The Prince'. The twigs you see in there I inserted to gently spread its canes out -- they were growing tight together and straight up. So rather than pruning them out, I bent them out of each other's way, and stuck some branches in to hold them in place. It's what I was doing with most of the roses that needed "growth guidance" in lieu of pruning. That whitish blob that looks like a brain in the logs is another Sedum. The Gallica in the center (behind the railroad ties) is 'Georges Vibert' again. The center of the plant is where the big white tag is -- you can see how far its canes are spread. The rose behind it and to its right is "Sombreuil" the climber, which will be tacked onto the fence as it grows. The next Gallica, all the way on the right side of the pic, is 'Cardinal de Richelieu' which was also pegged out. There's also a couple Asters back there, but they won't look like much until late Summer. In the front row, to the far right, is 'Golden Buddha'. Between it and 'The Prince' I planted a Stokesia (further back, right in front of the railroad ties) and Dianthus 'Fire Witch'. And there's another Sedum in the logs. That big sprawling rose, stretching almost the entire width of this pic, is the Bourbon 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau'. It's almost self-pegging -- canes grow up, continue getting heavier, and naturally start leaning downward. I "growth-guided" them a bit by sticking branches into the ground to hold them in place -- either to prop them up, or in some horizontal plane direction. None of the canes are actually tied to anything. To the left of SdVL is 'Prospero', but I didn't capture it in this pic. Diagonally behind-left of SdVL is 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'. The little green blob in front of SdVL is a creeping blue Veronica whose name escapes me. There are some Sedum there as well -- upright in the bed, and creeping in the logs. Against the trunk of the pine tree, behind the gray stones, is 'Louis Philippe' the China rose. To its right is Geranium 'Nimbus'. To its left is a green blob with a small yellow dot floating above it -- that's my Aquilegia chrysantha 'Denver Gold' getting ready to bloom. To its left is 'Cardinal de Richelieu' mentioned before. In the back corner, behind the pine tree, is "Darlow's Enigma". Back in front, the tall rose on the right-edge of the pic, to the right of SdVL, is 'Golden Celebration. GC is actually growing up and arching toward the camera, though it appears as one straight stem in the pic. I don't remember all the perennials pictured here, but I know there's another Stokesia in there, and a few Echinacea starting to the right of GC. Against the fence, tied to the deer netting, is "Bleu Magenta". In front is the already mentioned 'Golden Celebration'. Pegged to the logs is the one thick cane of 'Blanc de Vibert' that grew -- there are a few smaller stems not easily seen in the pic. To its right is Veronica 'Blue Carpet'. The perennial to the right of GC is the Phlox 'David's Lavender'. To its right is the red HP rose 'Pierre Notting'. The rose on the right-edge of the pic, against the fence, is 'Bubble Bath'. Between it and "Bleu Magenta" are two different type-2 clematis whose names I don't remember -- but I know that the one next to "Bleu Magenta" is red, and the one next to 'Bubble Bath' is purple. The climbing rose against the fence in the middle is 'Bubble Bath' again, with 'Purple Skyliner' to its right (cut off in the pic). You can see 'Blanc de Vibert' with its pegged cane again, on the left in the pic, and the rose to its right (center of pic) is 'Tamora', which I moved from another spot. Behind 'Tamora' is a tall Echinacea whose name I can't remember. The bushy green blob to the right of 'Tamora' is a Salvia -- I think 'May Night'. There's also a Sempervivum in the logs. The rose in the middle row on the right-edge of the pic is 'Mme de Sevigne'. And the cane pegged to the logs on the right edge of the pic belongs to 'Botzaris'. 'Botzaris' actually has two canes pegged to the logs, seen left-of-center in this pic. The climber against the fence to the right of center in this pic is 'Purple Skyliner', again with two clematis between it and the fence-climbing rose on either side. Down front, in the right edge of the pic, is 'Mme Dore', which actually looks much larger than it is. That's because behind it is 'Monsieur Boncenne', and they're lined up in this pic. Behind MB is 'Jude the Obscure' which is the tallest of the three. They're actually further apart than they appear in this shot. The fact that I didn't incorporate composted manure in the area where I planned to put this path made for quite a color contrast -- emphasized by the bricks I used to line it. I didn't use any colored mulch -- what you see in the path is the color of the mulch WITHOUT the manure worked in. The thymes in the path are hard to see, but trust me, they're there and growing. The rose against the fence where the left line of bricks makes the curve to the right, is 'Ferdinand Pichard'. It hasn't grown anything long enough to train to the fence yet. To its right are two more clematis, then the thornless climber 'Yellow Sweetheart, CL', followed by one more clematis. On the right of the path, the tall cane with the green blob on top is "Yolande de Aragon". 'Orfeo' is trained to climb the tree trunk, with two different clematis (one purple, one white) planted on either side of it and already making their way onto 'Orfeo'. A wider shot of the same area as in the previous pic. In front of the tree and a bit to the right is 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux'. Just to the right of the bricks is 'Mme Laurette Messimy' coming back from being cut to the ground. To the right of the sliced log sticking straight up is the Dianthus 'Greystone' with a few white flowers. To its right is "Rose de Rescht" (with 'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux' behind it). Stretching along the deck railing is a cane of the Hybrid China 'Nouveau Monde'. I planted a purple-flowered type-2 clematis at its base to use it as a trellis. Here you can see more of 'Nouveau Monde' as it begins to eat the deck railing. There are a few more vigorous laterals sprouting from the base of that cane which will be tied against the railing as they get long enough. The arching cane to the right and in front of NM belongs to 'Abraham Darby'. To the left of NM (hard to see in this pic), against the corner of the deck railing, is the Hybrid Perpetual 'Georg Arends'. Planted against the stairs of the deck is 'Reine des Violettes' which isn't quite tall enough to start tying to the railing, but it will grow as a climber there. 'Abraham Darby' will be encouraged to grow away from the railing, forward toward the front of the bed, as it's already beginning to do on its own. There's another tall Phlox in this pic, to the right of AD. The low green blob further in front of AD is Geranium 'Dilys', with "Rose de Rescht" to its left. The white tag with nothing behind it belongs to 'Lady Hillingdon' which got cut to the ground by Winter, but is sprouting anew. This area looks a little bare because I'm planning to put things I'm starting from seed here -- taller self-seeding annuals. 'Reine des Violettes' is seen here again at against the stairs. To its right is 'Paul Neyron', which in this pic is lined up with 'Mlle Blanche Lafitte' which is planted in front of it. Here they look like one plant, but they're spaced apart. To the right of them, with a couple tall canes leafed only at the top, is 'Rose du Roi -- original', with "Bermuda Spice" to its right. Mixed in there are a few more Dianthus, some Sedums in the logs and a couple upright ones in the bed, Lithodora 'Grace Ward' against the logs to the left of 'Rose du Roi', etc. You also see a large black barrel planter. This is what I'm using for my fragrant dark-red or crimson Hybrid Tea collection. The larger roses get planted in these, the smaller ones in 15" pots. The barrels are resin, 22 1/2" in diameter, and cost $20 at Home Depot. In this one is 'Chrysler Imperial' which lost all its top-growth in Winter but has three new shoots coming from the roots. I went back and took a couple more pics showing the back-row "gallica bed" a little better. Here's "Darlow's Enigma" in the corner behind the tree, 'Louis Philippe' in front of the tree, Geranium 'Nimbus' to the right of the tree, Aquilegia chrysantha 'Denver Gold' to the left of the tree, and an upright Sedum whose name I can't remember against the gray stones. In front of the stones, where they meet the railroad ties, is 'Souvenir de la Malmaison'. Behind it (and behind the railroad ties) is 'Cardinal de Richelieu'. And once again, the widely-pegged 'Souvenir de Victor Landeau' stretches almost entirely across the picture. 'Cardinal de Richelieu' is to the left of the Aquilegia, with an Aster whose name I don't remember to the left of CdR, with "Sombreuil" trained against the fence in the back, and 'Georges Vibert' the Gallica in the left edge of this pic. Here you can better see how far 'Geroges Vibert' got pegged -- the rose "starts" at the white tag, but that one cane goes almost to the next arbor vitae trunk to the left. That corner looks so dark and empty with "Secret Garden Musk Climber" not yet awake (or resurrected?). OK, so the "lawn" still has a lot of weeds, but after getting its first cut, it looks kinda nice. As I look closely, I do see blades of grass emerging from between the weeds, so the seed I put down just might be enough to overtake them in the course of the season. But either way, come August, I'll put down something to kill the broad-leaf weeds in the lawn, and seed again in September. I wanted to take more pics when roses were actually blooming, but I'm getting a bit impatient and wanted to do an update. :-) ~Christopher

Thanks, buford. I think I've bugged enough people about beetle problems for today, will give it a rest. I'm so confused at this point, I don't want to ask any more questions, don't know if the ext guy can help or not. He told me to take the traps down, but when I asked if the beetles would disburse now that I've already drawn many, he didn't know. Beetles miss the traps, and traps only trap part of the beetles you attract, grub control spring and fall plus supplemental with Merit or similar, several chemicals, sprayers, spreaders, additives so what you spray will adhere, and that doesn't cover those that are in the neighbors' yards totally untreated whether I trap or not. Read some more, think I will move the trap in the back yard if I have to put a nail in the wood trim on the big, wide metal door, single-car garage (ground too hard many places to sink my shepherd's hook I bought, or just get rid of it, or take it down and cover it well, and wait and see. So many other choices. Plus the traps I am using, the beetles they draw will stop and feed on plants in the flight path, don't like that. Ag guy told me a week ago that all the neighbors have to put up traps for them to be effective, and they would be facing the same problem I am, too much shade, small yards, lots of trees and shrubs, no roses in the block I'm aware of. But once you have them in any numbers, you have to do something or they will totally destroy some plants, even feed on the underside of leaves, haven't been looking there. My clump of birches in front may have been attracting them all along, never saw any on lower leaves, most limbs have had to be trimmed off, but no telling how high they could be in those tall things, and they feed from the top down. I didn't ask any more questions, just summarized a PORTION of what I googled. The useful link is for KY, not my state, but lists the plants definitely attacked and those relatively free of adult beetles. Here is a link that might be useful: Managing adult beetles, U KY Coll. of AG, ext. entomologist

My advice is to buy a bunch of seeds and grow them. Eat them any way you want. no recipe needed. Some will be better cooked but some are great raw. You will know. just eat a pinch in the garden and see how it tastes and the texture. everything can be stir fried with anything else. recipes are not needed. You can cook it soup. you can put into salads either cooked or raw. I got most of my greens from Fedco Seeds for about a dollar each. You can hardly go wrong. Pick a dozen and grow them all and see what you like. For salad I like a big bowl that is about half Mizuna and half lettuce. Hope that helps. I also love Mizuna in soup. I dont do stir fry much. Mizuna is a must grow! I plant as early as possible in the spring and harvest all summer right past frosts in the fall from the same plants. I simply chop off the leaves above ground so the grow tips keep producing. Asian greens are pages 52 to 54. Let me say that all of the greens can be eaten raw or cooked any way you like to cook them. Do it your way. I microwave the leaves in a covered bowl and then freeze them for the winter in zip lock bags. You will never grow enough so plant more than you think you want. I did some new ones this past year and will be doing more new ones next year. Everyone's taste is different. You have to find what you prefer. No one can tell you what to eat. You have to determine that yourself. Good Luck Just dive in. You will be glad you did. There are no bad Asian Greens. You can trust Fedco that all their varieties are tested and taste good. Here is a link that might be useful: fedco catalog

Well, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm a fan of open concept (not having kids in the house may make the critical difference!) but I also do enjoy having different spaces to slip away to. I've had two open concept homes, both of which could accommodate that separation: not all open concepts demand cavernous rooms and yawning spaces everywhere. Our current house, for example, has a separate TV room/library that has a dark and cozy feel to it because of the narrow windows; a spare bedroom is a light filled exercise/music room with our 600 LPs and uncounted CDs; and, not least, our living area is a compact, comfy room with good lighting, good seating, and a small tv which, obviously, is turned off if one of us is reading - which is often. Plus, our little deck is a good place to be until mid afternoon, when the sun comes around the corner. So, lots of getaway spots in an open concept in a modest sized home. The trade off is that the individual rooms are on the smallish side, but we seem to be living large in them ;)