Pauline, lol Yeah, I know, boo hoo. We actually got a really great deal on the house because we bought one that someone else put a deposit on, picked upgrades then changed their mind. Permits were already pulled. There is no way we could even afford this house had we not bought like that. When we came into the picture the house was going for almost $450k. We then said, ok, we don't need the granite in the kitchen, or the fireplace in the family room, nor the $3K faucets in the master plus other misc things, then we made them an offer almost $100k less. It ended up being less then what the base house costs, we still have tile / granite in the master as well as a beautiful fireplace between the bedroom & sitting area. While we did good, there are a lot of builders hurting, they are lowering prices but not our builder. My guess is that after the house went up, someone else came in looking to buy it which is why they wouldn't help us with the very 1st offer we had on our house. We asked for $7,500, they said no. I've been watching the market here and know there are a few houses that they haven't been able to sell, 2 in particular that are the same model as ours but on crummy lots have had multiple price drops. There are a few other houses sitting that are estates. We got through Tuesday with a lot of luck. The mover had to bring a 2nd truck which they had around the corner or something. We were nervous it wouldn't fit and it didn't. We ended up loading the plants in a 26 foot U haul - even stacking the plants there wasn't enough room so when we got to the perennials I just threw plants one on top of the other and figured they would grow back. We left hubby's desk because it would snap in half had they moved it and my daughters bed was broken (hubby) so we'll have to go shopping. Once I get my money from my dad's estate I will take her for a new bedroom set. Our buyer walked through the house not knowing if we'd be out by closing. Hubby ended up leaving with my car, then came back for me. My agent called, I told him that I was going to vac the house but the power was shut off. The movers finished up just before he was ready for me. I had enough time to go through the house, close windows & change my clothes. Hubby called he was really upset. Turns out the buyer thought we'd leave the electric hooked up for them. How silly. Their agent is the wifes grand father, he knows better, for them not to call all of the utilities was something he should have told them to do. The things that came up in the inspection ended up working out after all. We have a crawl space, at one time the owner before my hubby dug it out and put in a service pit. It's 7ft tall by 20 ft wide, about 30 or 40 ft long and holds the water heater, furnace & softener. The old owner put up concrete blocks to hold the dirt in, but when he put them in it wasn't level. You can clearly see that it isn't a load bearing wall and there were no cracks in it to suggest it's moved. Their inspector actually wrote it was amateurishly put up, but it ended up being our problem. The title company had already put the agreed on terms in the closing sheet, so they were forced to accept a $300 deposit my hubby gave to the contractor we picked. The rest of the total repairs was credited to them so if they decide to use someone else, they are $300 short. This was a huge stresser. They ended up calling the contractor Thursday and decided they didn't like him for some reason or another and wanted to change what was agreed on. By the time we got the phone call it was after 6pm on Friday, the start of a national holiday. I don't know how either of us held it together all weekend, we were so stressed. We fully expected not to close Tuesday due to it. The funny thing is I don't remember them ever going down to look at the service pit the 2 times they were there, even when their inspector was there. When they came for the walk through Tuesday, you'd think he would climb down the ladder to look for himself, nope. We also offered for them to come and look at it weeks ago, they never took us up on the offer. We got screwed with our cabinets and ended up with almost 1/2 of what it was worth. In hind sight, we should have had our attorney deal with it months ago to have them take them out. Yesterday I couldn't even put the kitchen together, I put a few things away but decided I'd open boxes in case we needed something & would deal with it today. Once the movers left yesterday, my daughter & I set up all the bedrooms, including computers & TV's. Comcast had come early in the morning, before the computers were unloaded so we couldn't check to see if all of the rooms had internet & we didn't. Hubby and my son worked on unloading the plants (about 500 pots) then made the hour drive to return the truck. By the end of the night I set mine up (which is supposed to run the wired rooms) but the net in the bedrooms wasn't working so we have to get the people that wired the house out today. My son was upset, he couldn't play his Xbox so I told him to bring his stuff to the computer room & hook up there since it's the only room that has internet. Once he did that he was happy. It's going to be another long day. I should have started already but sitting down feels too good. lol You would think that the house would be pretty clean but it's not. The kitchen cabinets are pretty gross, there is dust all over them. Hopefully by tomorrow most things will be put away that we use daily so that I can start looking in the rest of the boxes for stuff I'll need. I still haven't found my business card holder or tools. While we tried to keep everything organized, when the movers came to unload yesterday boxes went in the wrong rooms so we have to deal with that. The top floor is done, I have piles of boxes that need to go to the main floor or basement, I don't doubt stuff in the main section needs to go up. It will be 10 years before we do this again. I don't know how people do this every few years. Moving is the pits. I can't wait to get outside and deal with the gardens. A lot of the roses started blooming because the inside of the truck was hot.

Yes this new garden is probably going to be the smallest and most slapdash garden I have ever started out with. It couldn't be helped, it was this way or no garden for spring. I knew I could never survive winter without some hope of a garden! The lasagna style garden formation has worked out quite well over the years for me. This time however it was a formidable prospect. Our property was abandoned for several years so the grass was waist high when we purchased it. My husband knocked down the grass then mowed it quite short. I sprayed the area twice with roundup (which I wouldn't normally use) and then I planted a bunch of roses, 7 varieties of species lillies, dozens of bulbs, some hosta, catnip and a few reliable perennials, willy nilly. I was fairly certain I could have heavy losses from frost heaves but it was the best I could do that late in the year. Happily, I located the garden in a spot where the snow naturally drifts and collects all winter so it looks like I only lost one plant. The tulips and daffs are blooming beautifully and cheer me immensly! I have stacks of newspaper I scrounged for and saved all winter waiting to be put to use. My DD brought me a dozen bags of mulch for Mothers day too. I am waiting for the soil to warm up more so that I can lay the newspaper down and cover it neatly with mulch. Because I didn't get a vegie garden area going last fall either I am going to plant vegies in the flower bed. Lots of empty space for them there while the perennials take their first year of "sleep". Instead of towering spires of delphiniums and alce it will be heirloom tomatoes and bean pole towers. It will be cool I think! Right now though I am glad that I live in a rural area because this years spring chaos mess would never fly with in town neighbors. We have 5 acres we are cleaning up and clearing brush on here. We are also clearing out the area we want our new home to be built on (and building it ourselves!). I suspect no matter how hard my husband and I work this summer that we will never be caught up and untidyness will rule!

Some ryes (canadian virginia)are called foxtails. Texas native wildflowers need cold to bloom properly especially blue bonnet. Other wild seed mixes might have flowers that become obnoxious weeds. I'd look them all up. PJ Here is a link that might be useful: wild rye

AC: Yes. I have a different critter attacking my roses at the moment, but I've been keeping an eye out for girdlers, too. This area is home to them (Agrilus cuprescens). All the research I've done supports your prevention methods. I've read that the heat of summer is a good time to detect the infestation. The tips of the canes tend to wilt noticibly in the heat. All the university and agricultural sites I've visited suggest pruning off the swollen area as you have been, bagging the canes (burning would work, too) and then continuing each year. I know. Argh! According to Utah State University, this procedure will knock out most of the culprits in your garden over time unless there is a host site nearby. My cane borer bombardment arrived with the antique home and garden upheaval across the street where the ecosystem was wild and wooly and hosting a legion of critters for many years. But to get back to your question regarding rose cane preferences, there was a study conducted in Utah in 1964 and published in an Entomological Society journal which noted that rose stem girdlers on raspberries selected either first year or second year canes depending on the berry variety. That implies that your curiosity about texture, density, thorns etc. could potentially produce practical "rose variety preference" ID results. Utah State University Extension looks like a good place to contact. It seems to be a hot spot for rose cane girdler conversations. Good luck with the girdler prevention! In a garden, it's always something, isn't it? I not only have cane borers, I have Verticillium wilt occupying prime rose real estate in a corner of my garden and murdering my lilacs. Nothing very satisfying is wilt resistant. Junipers? Shudder. Carol