It's SPRING! And I have zone envy, too. Bill, your photos are wonderful and tempt me to move further south. NHbabs, love the stones and bleeding heart. Mine are in a shady area so I don't think they are as far along as yours. I love forget-me-nots when they bloom but then they get tall and unsightly looking. Should i just clip them? After an internet hunt for Black Chokeberry, we found a nice though small selection at Scenic Nursery in Raymond NH but they were already 6' tall. I wanted something next to a spreading cottoneaster that wouldn't get any taller than 6' and preferable stay shorter. These didn't look like could be pruned back much. Should you check out this nursery, it's in a delightful spot tucked next to a river, be warned that they are not open on Saturdays. I thought their shrub prices were reasonable. I ended up with Halo Dogwood. Our house is white so I think the red stems will look nice in winter and provide some perches for the birds we like to watch/feed. I keep meaning to take photos of my garden. After watching for bloodroot by the side of the road, I discovered I had some in my garden. I must have gotten it at last year's plant swap and it's very happy in my garden (soil on the moist side). The wonderful Viburnum Onandago that had to be moved away from the house was moved to my future wild life sanctuary. The viburnum kept getting taller, even after pruning (I waited a year too long) and was at least 9 feet tall. The pruning caused it to spread, I think. Fortunately, my husband has a backhoe. We only lost a couple of branches. I know this area of our property can be wet but it's wetter than I expected. The next day any holes left from backfilling were filled with water. A wonderful dark purple leafed perennial that doesn't bloom until late summer appears to be invasive. I don't want to remove it entirely but maybe it should be someplace else. It is Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecracker' (Hairy loosestrife) . Does anyone have experience with this plant and a recommendation about whether or not a should remove it from a medium size bed (about 15' x 4').

I'm using IKEA cab's in my kitchen & am having Traemond install them. I had paid $50 to have the designer come to my house to measure, since I didn't trust myself. She wasn't the most personable person & her measurements on one wall looked to be off by 3". I thought that could make a difference, so I went back to IKEA & expressed my concern. They sent out one of the installers. I was very impressed w/ the guy that came out to remeasure. He was very professional & all he does is install IKEA cabinets. I'm going to request him to do my installation. The cabinets have a 25 year warranty on them, so that should tell you something. Plus, I actually had a custom cabinet maker out last week to discuss a custom hood for my range. I told him I was doing IKEA cabinets & he said they were great. He mentioned how the hardware is really good. Not the handles & pulls, but the hinges & such. Said they were very strong. Also, I've been to a couple of renovation home tours in my city & some very reputable contractors had IKEA cabinets in the houses they were showing & they looked very good. Sarah Richardson, great Canadian designer uses them in some of the houses she has redone on her show. Sometimes she has them custom painted, which is what I'm doing. I'm not worried in the least bit. And, you can't beat the price! Use the IKEA installers & just let them know you want to make sure they're installed by their best installer! Good luck. I think you'll be very happy you did this.

Diane - thanks!! :) That fountain is new this year, and I've really enjoyed it. :) I can't wait to have yellow ramblers on both sides of it! :) Although, I don't really like the comination of yellow and the brown of the wall. Oh well. :) Lilyfinch - no problem!! :) :) Fall is on September 22...so I'll start a new thread then. Your Lucia is adorable!! She's growing up so fast! I love her rainbow unicorn!! And I love how proud she is of her artwork. :) What a sweetie! Your roses look great!! I didn't know that Lavender Crush smells like lemons!! I really want a strongly scented lemon fragrance. Mmmmm. You are a mother of 2 small children. :) You have years ahead of you to make a garden perfect (if that's possible...LOL)...right now it would be great if you could try not to judge yourself. You can't do everything. You are a fantastic mother and have gorgeous roses. Try to enjoy the moments peacefully and happily. I speak from experience...be kind to yourself. :) Titian - that is heartbreaking about the fires, people and animals. And the darling koalas. Hard to imagine the devastation. :( And I hope your Rosie will be okay. But that's good news about you walking so far!! Be careful, LOL, or she may have you starting some marathons! Flowers - I googled, and 10 km is a bit over 6 miles. Oh....already answered. :) Your kids are so athletic! Wow! How did you ruin your knees? I'm worried about that, because my area of Calgary is the foothills...there's no way to walk aaround my house without going down, up, up, up, down, down, up, up, up, up, up...etc. I try to walk 5 km every other day (if the air quality is good...which it's not today...we're in moderate air quality conditions today). I don't want to ruin my knees. Diane - climbing in the smoke? That's like smoking while they're climbing. I like the ice cream diet better...make mine a chocolate with caramel sauce...wait a minute...extra caramel sauce. Wow...you're artistic!!...sculpting, embroidering...hey...aren't you the famous quilter? I forget. ... too many blows to the head. :) Titian - so good that you called about the koalas!!! I'm so proud of you! :) :) They're such defenseless, slow animals that are so habitat specific. That's great news about Rosie! How old is she? My daughter just did an Ancestry.com and she's 53% Swedish. I'm 50% Swedish and 50% Slovakian. They even show that my daughter is from Northern Swedish ancestry. She's been doing family trees and has one date that goes back to 1480. She's done extensive work on all sides of the family, and it totally aligns with the results she got. It's funny that both my husband's and my relatives come from Northern Sweden and here we are years later and reunited the Swedish genes. LOL My husband is Swedish, Norwegian, with a bit of German and NW Europe in there. I think it's so cool! Kristine - wild turkeys!!! How cool is that!! They're so much more functional and "real" than the delicious ones we've made. :) Diane - I would love to see pictures of your quail! We've had quail a few times around my perennial garden. They've never stayed long enough to do any damage because we have dogs. :)

@Nona Muss - I understand exactly what you’re going through. My first contractor didn’t do a pre slope under the pvc liner on shower floor. We got that addressed - and then he decided to not use any of the three bags of white thinset (he purchased) to install the carrara tile on the shower walls - but instead used mastic ”because it was faster.” When we pushed the issue, he packed up and left. The second contractor (with over 200 4.9 star Google reviews) sent over his “business partner” to bid the work. His “business partner“ then said that he felt so bad for me re: every thing that had happened with the first contractor (including needing to rip out the slate bathroom floor bc several pieces failed to bond), that he would start the work himself ASAP + work over the upcoming weekend. Well, it turns out that he wasn’t a “business partner” - but a new employee. He produced fraudulent receipts for materials (that I reimbursed upon recipt per contract) - and stopped showing up. I did a quick background check and discovered that he had been in prison for over nine years for aggravated battery + fraud charges (had been out for 18 months). I asked the owner about whether he had done a background check - he told me that he hadn’t run it yet. After I told him about the results of the background check I did, the owner asked me if I noticed the scar on the guy’s upper arm - and then told me that when he asked the employee about it, he said it was from “being shot by a cop.” I swear I am not making this up. He also stole some jewelry from me. Third contractor - great guy - had just started work - and then was sentenced to 90 days in jail related to a third DUI conviction. My fourth (and final) contractor is AMAZING. The third and fourth ones are both TCNA certified - I didn’t hire the first or second one - my SO did. Although I don’t blame him for what happened. My SO had glowing references from two of his law partners who had used the first guy for several projects + did research on the second one (who was the second highest bid out of five). I thought that by now I would have not only finished two bathroom renovations - but also my laundry room + kitchen reno (which is close to starting FINALLY). I actually wish I had never even begun - my bathrooms were fine - just a little dated.