We are not able to put any "structures," so fences and trellises would be out. The actual budget is $200, but mulch is going to be about $100, so that only leaves $100 for the plants. The weed barrier looks ugly, and her stuff is making it over to our side anyway, so it is time to do something. Will the composite barrier be any more effective than the black fabric or less blatant? The barrier doesn't bother the other neighbors, but it bothers us. They like the message it sends, but that isn't our intention- we just want to have a nice looking lawn. We cut our lawn longer because it is better for the blue grass, but that just makes the invaded areas look worse. Their weeds were just mown with the deck all the way down when the picture was taken. It only takes about 2 days for them to get out of control again. I'll see how much knock out roses are in my area. I might be able to get clippings from my grandmother's. I was never impressed by knockout roses because hers only get 1 or 2 sad blooms a year, but the pictures online are pretty. They are in a full shade area at her house, so they may fare better here.

WIrosarian is correct and it's pretty much like asking what can I plant that the deer won't eat? The answer is, it doesn't matter much because it depends on what they feel like that evening and if they can reach it, it's fair game. Same with the beetles, which begins here with rose chafers, different in appearance to JB's but oh, so alike in appetite. RC's emerge same time as the first roses begin to bloom. Early or late, I don't know how they time it but they time it right. Yellow's are goners for sure, followed by white and pink roses. Fragrance simply draws them in like a magnet, all of which means my old garden roses get devoured. Reds and dark colors will get eaten sometimes too, poor Bayse's Purple and scarlet red Eddie's Jewel this year being prime examples of apparently delicious petals. After a month or so of the rose chafers, the JB's continue the assault, basically following the same preferences. My poor Polereis has not had an undamaged bloom all year. And some roses like Morden Sunrise have leaves that are entirely skeletonized. Yes, once they've found your garden, more beetles will come. They send out chemical signals to advertise the bounty they've discovered. But do you know which rose in my garden seems untouched by either evil beetle? Yup, the Double Knock Out that the previous owners had planted. Figures, doesn't it? And so far, neither bug is interested in my daylilies. Small wonder why the number of DL's I grow is fast approaching and ready to surpass my roses! At least diverging into other collections allows me to separate and mix the roses in between other plants. Sometimes that helps a few rose blooms to escape detection here and there. My worst garden for damage is the strip along side the garage (facing east and prime rose territory) where I planted a long bed of mixed yellow rose varieties and purple and blue tall bearded iris behind. This was planned and planted before I realized the rose chafers here in the village are just as bad as they were out in the country where I was surrounded by hundreds of acres of fallow fields (their prime breeding ground.) And it was before I knew I ALSO had Japanese beetles here to contend with. That bed will have to be dug and redone at some point because it's just too painful to see all the damage there in a row with nothing else to look on. Cheery, no? Still, I continue to tend my (fewer) roses and hope for the best. Maybe NEXT year, the beetle count will be lower and I'll see more blooms....hope (and gardening) springs eternal!

Like Zeffy, I hated the puter. I was living with my ex who had one. We ended up getting internet, I had a Hydrangea that wouldn't bloom and some how ended up on one of the gardening forums. I wasn't allowed to garden with him, I used to sneak roses into the garden. He used to be so mean that he'd have to dig up the part of garden where I had a few roses. I had a Gene Boerner; went to my dad's with the kids one day, came home & it was destroyed. No clue what he did to it. Ended up having him removed, started coming to rose forum.. that was back before user names. Think the name I used was SBA@NJBell. At one time there were a lot of us named Sue on the regular rose forum, we used to sign our name OOTO (one of the other) Sues. At some point GW started growing, we had to make user names. I remember how ticked off some of us were lol I wanted something original, took me days to think of Rose Lover - and making it into Roselvr. Been through a lot here. Many people coming & going, some of free will some to "Disney". I've been "Spiked" many times. I used to hate waking up knowing either I'd be Spiked or Disney'd. There was a time when saying the name Veldfire would send your post to Disney, or you to Disney. A lot of people left to go to his forum. Although he was banned, he was able to hide his IP and get here to read. lol GW lost a lot of people to his forum. A lot stayed there, never returning. I've seen vendor's and hybridizers that have come here and given their time, banned because someone didn't like something that was said. We've lost a lot of great people. Before Veldfire there was another forum on Delphi, haven't been there in years, we lost a lot of good people there too. It was one hybridizer who started it I think.. We also had a guy named Sharif from Bangladesh who used to post other people's pictures. I think Anne got him banned one day, she finally proved he was stealing people's pictures & posting as his own. I'd already been "Spiked" a few times due to him, almost banned. We lost Rosesense back then. I met GW members. Cindy Tx, met her in New Orleans. Sue Belle; Helen FL, Karl; who saved our butts in New Orleans when my hubby left the travelers checks in a restaurant. Karl was able to tell them who it belonged to. Baldo, Anne, The gal who writes the column for New Orleans; her name escapes me right now. I've met a lot of nice NJ people Anyone remember Kang?

ahhh, lilies! my favorite flower. until the red lily beetle arrives. but there's a way to deal with them (more later). as for which lilies to choose: all are lovely, but i am partial to asiatic and oriental. both are easy, want full sun and good soil. you may wish to cage the bulbs with hardware cloth when you plant to prevent critters from eating them. lilies will pull themselves down to the level underground that they prefer, but do plant them as instructed. the asiatics do not have a scent, but the orientals smell fabulous -- you can smell them across the garden! to deal with the horrible red lily beetle, get some Bayer Rose and Garden systemic spray (blue bottle). apply when it's NOT breezy and when beneficial insects are not in the immediate area. this will work like a charm for about 2 to 3 weeks, then re-apply. the beetles are about 1/2 inch long, bright red, no spots. if they show up in spite of your efforts, they are difficult to catch as they fall straight down when disturbed and land on their backs, so their black bellies are hard to see in the dirt. i put one hand very carefully under the leaf it is on and catch it , then crush it. its larvae are utterly disgusting, as they hide inside their own excrement and look like blobs of poop (which they ARE!). you can scrape them off and crush underfoot but it's a very nasty job. use a utensil, not your fingers, LOL! good luck -- i'm glad you will grow these for your granddaughter. have her choose some from a catalog! the photos are drool-worthy.