When I lived in humid coastal TX zone 9 I frequently did light to medium pruning in the miserable end of summer. I cleaned out dead wood, lightly tipped teas & Chinas, added mulch & old manure on top & kept watered. Around Sept. I'd lightly feed. Sometimes I'd cut totally bare plants back a third. It seemed to work very well. I didn't prune every rose radically every year & I didn't prune plants under 3 years old more than the lightest tip pruning. But for that climate, major pruning at the end of summer seemed to work better than the traditional Valentine's day pruning of cutting all HTs back a third. By Feb 15 most all of the roses had fresh new growth & it seemed counterproductive to prune then. At the end of summer they seemed more dormant & in need of grooming, mulch & a light feed. I gave them a good dose of fertilizer Oct. 1 to take advantage of the best rose weather of the year that was typically mid Sept through late Dec.

Dawn, I find that most year's here in Central Oklahoma, the rainy springs make it difficult to get things in the ground, welcome though they may be. At least that will probably be an upside to spring planting this year. How many years have I wished for drier soil to plant in? Too many, and this year it seems we'll be getting our wish, but at a price. I usually watch for butterflies as an indicator, too, but haven't seen any yet this year. I did see Green Lacewings, though. I'm afraid that all too soon I'm going to see those rotten little striped cucumber beetles, too....argh................ Soil is way way way too dry. Even if I go out to water, it takes so very long to get it moist, with lots of run off. I literally have to get down on my hands and knees, dirt and all, and mix it by hand and hope that I am getting enuff into the soil that it will help....some. The Bradfords (another argh.....) are leafing out, as is my little Tulip Tree. I mentioned already I think that my Sedum is coming up in pots. Fennel is taking off like crazy. Butterfly bush is leafing out as well as False Nettle showing bits of growth. The Dianthus is putting up new, young foliage. Weeds are sprouting up in last year's pots. Some of my Daffs have already bloomed and the blooms are dead now. My Japanese Maple doesn't have growth yet, and it's usually one of the first, and it often gets bit by frost, but no signs yet. Both honeysuckles are throwing out new leaves, though. Glad to see my new one survived and hope it blooms this year. 'Blanche Sandman' has reddish orange blooms and my other one has yellow. BS got about 10' tall last year, so maybe I will get to see the flowers this year. I hope so because the hummers and bees will have a feast. I have trouble attracting hummers in spring. Always get them in mid-late summer. The hummers are on the move into Mexico, preparing for the journey across the Gulf. They may arrive early this year with the warmer weather we are having, and certainly that Texas is having. I will get another Monarch update tomorrow and will post any significant news on their Northward journey. BTW, do you have any milkweed coming up, Dawn? None here yet. I need to do garden cleanup, but am still hesitant due to overwintering chrysalises that may not be ready to emerge yet. This always throws me back a bit later than others for my in-ground plants. Another good reason for me growing in pots. Moni, I'm always confused on where you're located. Your address/name line reflects Zone 7b, which is Southern Oklahoma like where Dawn is, but I see your posts that seem to reflect you're further North than Dawn. Are you close to OKC? Dawn, I have some White 4 o'clock seed. Should I start it now in the fridge/baggy method? I already have the Broken Colors variety, but wanted some white for the moths. White-lined sphinx also use 4 o'clocks as a larval host plant. Although I've raised 12 different sphinx moth species in my yard alone, I still haven't raised the most common sphinx in Oklahoma yet! Frustrating. I have some overwintering Walnut sphinx and Tobacco Sphinx cocoons and they will probably wait until the 1st of April to emerge. I can hardly wait for butterfly and moth season to begin. Oh, I also have overwintering Wild Indigo Duskywing caterpillars. They overwinter as caterpillars and emerge in spring to continue feeding until they make their chrysalis. The WID is a spread-wing skipper and their cats are so cute. They curl up inside a leaf to feed, like little babies in a fetal position. TMI, I know. Y'all are feeding my excitement, you know! Susan

I am a wedding planner and have seen this done at many weddings. I think it is a great idea and have never seen it go wrong. Seeing that they are coming from the pond that the bride and groom are getting married beside makes it that much more special. My only suggestion is that when welcoming and thanking guests you tell them WHY there are fish on the table and offer them as a favor. Good luck and take lots of pictures. Kimberly Grubbs PS. As a symbol you might have the bride and groom take two from the vase on their table and put them back in the pond that they got married next to. Here is a link that might be useful: And Ever After

I've typed and submitted the Week 4 thread twice today and when I hit submit it just disappears into outer space. I wonder where it goes? So, I'm going to try again, with only the word test, rather than typing everything and losing it again. I think I'll change the Subject line too in case the system is having a hard time telling week 3 from week 4. Rebecca, In Texas in zone 8, we only could grow tulips as annuals, though I sometimes had them come back for a couple of years. I planted them here anyway when we moved here, hoping that being further a little bit further north would help them live longer. It really didn't, although they came back every year--sort of. The second year most came back, and then less of them in the 3rd and succeeding years until there were none left at all. I love tulips, but don't bother with them any more. The warming climate worries me too for the sake of earth and all its flora and fauna. I had big plans for working outdoors today, but the wind has been gusting more than 10 mph higher than it was forecast to gust, and the things I want to do are not something that can be done easily with wind gusts at 40+ mph, so I ditched those plans. Tim's flu has relapsed and he is upstairs sick in bed with aches, pains and a very sore throat. (I told him he went back to work too quickly after only staying home for two days last week, and now he agrees with me.) Wow, we had great plans for this day in the bright, sunny early morning hour just after sunrise when it was fairly calm, mostly clear and 61 degrees. Then the clouds and wind rolled in and everything just fell apart. Today's weather now looks better on paper than it feels in real life, if that makes sense. Nancy, Think of what you and I could do if we didn't have all those pesky deer! And, for Rebecca, it may be the same---only with the squirrels. If they come back this year, I imagine the war is on, though I am not sure how you can war with squirrels within a proper city---out here in the sticks, people just shoot them if they must. Dawn