Trish, how are you feeling? I hope the fish show their faces soon. We're all lying very low. I just broke by plans with Elaine and visiting Edwards. Too much Covid. The last photo you asked about is Evelyn with a moderate proliferation. Brother Cadfael is the pink above with the peonies in a couple of the photos. Munstead Wood is the dark red in most of the photos. Thanks for your comments on that snap. They are so much fun. Take care on the steps. Diane

Diane, your vases and tea service are just beautiful.

Diane - it's not a big job for me...my husband does most of the work in potting up new roses and digging out old ones. It's quite fun for me. :) :) Yes, I actually learned that what I have been doing for years and years isn't the right thing to do. I'd been putting alfalfa pellets on each rose (2 cups) and this year I did it again and did an additional 2 cups...that's what started this mess in the first place....BUT...I've learned not to put any alfalfa pellets on my roses in the spring...what was happening is that every spring my roses would get canker...I'd cut that off...more canker would come...etc. And it wasn't from the cold weather, because they were protected with blankets if left outside...but last two years my husband has been bringing them into the garage every evening. So it wasn't cold...but the acidity of the alfalfa pellets! So, I'm super happy to know that now. :)

Your Eglantyne roses are insanely beautiful...they're rose perfection!! Sublime!! I thought your table wasn't painted...I thought it was a beautiful tablecloth. :) :) Your peonies!!! Oh my goodness!!! Gorgeous roses and wonderful vases!! :) :) :) Happy, happy rose dance!!!

Kitty - when I was able to shovel, I would love to toss a shovel full of snow on my dogs. It was so funny!! Yes, I think we all have chosen some lovely roses...and we all benefit from each others' roses because we get to see gorgeous rose pictures!! I agree with Diane...2 feet of snow all at once is a huge amount!! We're pretty dry here.

Trish - what a lovely chore...going to feed the fish!! :) :)

Here's some pictures from many years ago:

Petunias

All American Magic

My two dogs that passed within a month of each other about 5 years ago. These were my soul dogs. Toffee and Jellybean.

Valencia

I lost most of my pictures from more than 2 years ago when my computer crashed...these are a few that I still have. :)

Oh, Carol, that's such a gorgeous decorative container for the petunias, which are lovely in themselves. You need to do that again (or maybe you do, and I haven't seen it). I love the color combination. All American Magic looks like it's the ground--it's hard to realize down there is a pot, the rose is so large and healthy. Same with the luscious Valencia. Do you still have it? I well remember your doggies, which you talked about back then and showed photos on the old seasonal thread 5 years ago. And I remember the sad time when they passed away so close together. That was rough for you. The tree they are sitting under is beautiful. Do you still have it? Thanks for showing us these great photos. I'm looking forward to a new rose year for you after the lousy last one. Last year wasn't so great here, either. If we have another scorcher like last summer, I'm turning in my pruners, !@#$. Thanks for the nice comments. I wish you could see that table in person. I'll have to take a photo.

Kristine, thank you. I'm going to have to run around taking photos of all this stuff--you'll think we're nutz. Of course, that will mean......dusting. Arg. Diane

Carol, great photos. That was hard - Toffee and Jellybean dying so close to each other. I know what you mean about soul dogs I had a couple of boxers that were like soul mates. One I had reminded me of Nanny in Peter Pan. She used to sleep on my pillow when I went out, and insisted on coming with me when my husband was ill in hospital, even though she just got to wait in the car. The other was really naughty, but so lovable and fun, and used to practically breathe me in on the other side of the door when I came home.

Thanks for asking, Diane, I'm feeling really well. I feel like I've got my life back. I had my booster yesterday, but it takes a fortnight to give protection, and like you I'm not keen to go anywhere. Covid is rampant here too. I'm going to drain the bottom pond soon - I'm not sure there are any fish there, and it's the only way I can find out. The fish in the other ponds go into a frenzy when I feed them, but there's not a sign of anything in the bottom pond.

Diane, I love your roses in those beautiful vases, etc. I was wondering if the Hazzard’s retail and wholesale were separate, I did place a wholesale order yesterday, but it’s good to know for future reference. Thank you.

Kitty, thank you. I hope Poseidon does good for you, I’m sure it will. I noticed you are also getting your second Wedding Bells. Even though mine hasn’t bloomed much yet, i’ve had it two seasons, and I think it’s going to be a good one. Do you have Beverly? I love that one.

Kristine, thank you. How is Azalea doing recently?

Trish, thank you! It’s so good to know you are feeling much better.

Carol, thank you. I love your assortment of pictures. Your petunias are gorgeous! Beautiful roses too. Sorry that you lost your soul dogs, I’m sure you have many fond memories.

You asked what kind of puppy my granddaugter is getting, and it will be a Golden Retriever, I don’t have any pictures yet though.

Belinda’s Dream, a non Kordes I can brag about!

Carol , my goodness those petunias !!! I have All American Magic and it needs a larger pot and some love to look like yours, and Valencia, I am in love with that rose !

Trish, I am so relieved that you are feeling better

There is nothing that slows us down like not feeling 100%

Diane, I have a question for you.

You use a Tone product and later a fertilizer. What is the difference between the two, why both ?

With all of the warm daytime temperatures I have been able to get a good start on front yard clean up. I still have 2 more roses to move from pots in to the ground..and several to move in to larger pots, guess that means more soil lol,.

Azalea loves being outside, still loves throwing dirt at me, good times lol.

Well, turns out my whole household was sick with, drumroll... Covid. We've all felt quite sick, especially my poor kids, but we are recovering. My brain functioning has finally returned to me, I had no idea what was going on for a bit there, the brain fog was heavy. So tired!

Oh Magpie, I am so sorry. No wonder that you haven't felt good.

This dang covid is getting mighty old. Prayers for a speedy recovery for your family.

Magpie, I'm sorry to hear it was Covid. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for you all.

Magpie, I'm sorry to read about your Covid. It's especially hard on little kids, and I hope you recover quickly. I am so sick of the whole thing. Two years of on and off quarantine. Colorado must be having a huge wave of the stuff like Idaho. I've said before that it feels like we've never left 2020.

Kristine, I do all my fertilizing in the late winter and early spring because once it heats up and everything fills in, the only thing I can manage is a spray of Miracle Grow in July/August. I think my roses need the second round of fertilizer because of our lousy soil, and the Tone takes extra time to break down and be absorbed over a longer part of the season. The granular fertilizer is some insurance that nutrients get to the roses before that first flush. Diane

Diane - oh yes, take pictures of all of your rose things :) :) Yes, I try different types of plants in that white cage...trouble is that it falls over with our winds...so I try to keep it upright by various means. LOL I like petunias in it the best. I haven't put anything in there since COVID hit, because I didn't want to go shopping with COVID around. Don't know what I'll do this year. Valencia died in the GGDO, unfortunately, and I haven't seen it since. Yes, that tree is still there...we have new neighbors and he wants to get rid of those trees...so they may not be there much longer. Thanks!!! I'm really hopeful about the new year for my roses. :) :) Photos of your table...excellent! :) :) :) We'll hope for no scorching weather for anyone.

Trish - Thanks, Trish!! :) :) Boxers have such personality to them!! And I love their muzzles. You really described them so well. :) :) What do you feed your fish? I love the visual of them going crazy when you feed them.

Sara Ann - Thank you!! :) :) Petunias are such an easy care plant. Yes, I do have many fond memories of my dogs. They were the best! Golden Retrievers are excitable puppies, but soooooo CUTE!!! Your granddaughter is going to be over the moon with happiness! :) :) Belinda's Dream is fabulous for you!! Those pink bombs are luscious!

Kristine - how is Azalea's potty training going? I'm glad you're teaching her to be someone who loves the outdoors and dirt! :) :) Thank you!! Petunias rule!!! :) :) And you are so right...Valencia is an awesome rose!! And it's a Kordes that I love...there are very few that do well for me.

Magpie - Oh how horrible...you all have COVID!! I'm soooo thankful that you're all starting to feel better!! This horrible COVID!!

Diane - whatever you're doing...it's working!! That's for sure!!!

Thanks, Carol. I was wondering if you could use those metal landscape pins to hold down the feet of your lovely petunia container. I used them for years on a little metal chair (until someone stole the chair). We have bad winds, too. Diane

You can just see the little metal chair with the wildlife Habitat sign. Metal pins held the feet in place.

Diane, I love that photo. Every plant looks so perky. How miserable that your chair was stolen. Who would do such a thing!

Carol, the fish are really tiny, and the fish guy said at that size flakes are best for them.

I didn't know Golden Retriever puppies were more excitable than most, but they are a great dog - one of the best,.

Trish - I guess I was probably exaggerating about Golden Retriever puppies. I have met a few older (6-9 month old) puppies that have leaped from across a sidewalk to jump on me. Very, very friendly. LOL Usually at the off-leash area. Oh, you just feed normal fish tank food. Cool.

Diane - there's no soil to put the pins in....This usually stands on brick or rocks. But good idea if I decide to put in in my garden. :) :) How odd for someone to steal that little chair...it's cute...for sure...but ??? I love those Black-eyed Susans! I think that's what they're called?

Thanks, Carol. Those are Rudbeckia hirta, Indian Summer, colloquially known as Black Eyed Susan, which is actually the wild type of Rudbeckia. When I was a kid, there were the wild Black Eyed Susan plants all over the open country. They were on the nearby hills and the slopes when we first moved here, and I assume the quail finished off the seedlings. After a few years of quail, no more Susans. They love the seeds and seedlings of this plant. They don't eat my Indian Summer plants in front or on the side yard. Strange. I think some wandering group of teens or subteens probably took the little chair. They need a good quail pecking. I hope you give my idea a try on the feet of your container in some garden soil. Could you try Rudbackia Indian Summer in your garden?

Thanks, Trish. Rudbeckia are doing their best to take over that area, and now it doesn't look so neat and tidy. I am happy, though, that a big rosemary plant is growing there and has been surviving our winters. Diane

Well, I drained the pond till there was almost no water left in it. Saw quite a few cloud fish - could easily have been the original 10 that I put in - a tadpole with legs (must have come in the plants), but no rainbow fish. Maybe he died, or maybe he's just very good at hiding. But good to know the cloud fish are OK. Weird that they don't appear for food. They must be very scared, and now they'll be even more scared, poor things.

Kristine, Azalea looks like a little sweetheart, such a cutie!

I love that picture Diane, everything is so lovely together.

Kitty, every time I see Our Lady of Guadalupe mentioned it reminds me of the summer mine took on a growth spurt. It might have been the next year I planted Zaide, and i think OLOG got crowded out, I need to move it to a better spot.

This was in August of 2016

LIEBESZAUBER (the red one). Very dependable for me.

Sara Ann, your red rose that starts with L is fabulous lol

I found an empty spot to toss some seeds. Maybe Bachelor Buttons. We moved a large grass plant that was taking over the world and now have a lovely spot for something. It is not an area that is really seen. It is behind a huge boulder on a pathway but it could and should have something.

Diane - good thing that your quail don't eat roses. LOL As to the Rudebekia, I don't have yellow in my garden. Maybe I should try some if I find any. :)

Trish will the tadpole eat the fish? Is that why they're scared?

Sara Ann - those roses are beautiful!!! Great bloomers!! What's the lovely yellow rose next to Lieb?

Kristine - begone grass!! :)

Carol, Rudbeckia Indian Summer is the easiest thing in the world to grow, and you don't have quail. Don't try the perennial Rudbeckia like Goldsturm to start. Calendula is another really easy one to direct sow and it self seeds, too. Big yellow perennials I like are heliopsis. Very reliable, does some reseeding, and has a very long period period. Just on my soap box for yellow.

Kristine, "that red rose that starts with L", haha. I'm going to use that, plus all those Madame de...drive me nuts; then there's Erinnerung oh, the heck with it. I'm really jealous of these spots that seem to appear in your yard, ready for planting. I was just thinking how, as usual, I have not decent spots for half the seeds I just bought. I need a display space in the dining room for my seed collection.

Beautiful, beautiful roses Sara Ann. I especially love that rose that starts with L.

When I ate breakfast, I noticed not a birdie in sight, and the feeders had not been touched. This just never happens, although hawks will keep the little birds away for a while at times. A few hours later, still no birdies. Then I spotted a kestrel in one of our trees. Voila, my answer, and I hope he gives up and goes away. We have kestrels hunt, flying high and hovering over the gully in back, at times, but they're not as common as regular hawks. Diane

Well, now that my Covid symptoms are starting to clear up, I'm able to see much more clearly just how allergic to the guinea pigs' hay I am 😭

I only grow roses that I can pronounce, like Bliss, Julia Child and Memorial Day lol

Gruss An Aachen is my most exotic name.

Magpie, oh no, allergic to the Guinea pig's straw

Is there an alternative? Having allergies are terrible. I see my poir husband suffering year round.

I just cleaned up the last canna and big ugly grass plant and realized that this new little area for something will be a shade area

I might just fill it in with Alysum. It will definitely look better than the weeds .

Diane, Kestrels I will have to look them up.

I grew Indian Summer and it was wonderful. It came back for as long as we lived in that house. I had no idea that there was such a difference between Indian Summer and Goldstrum.

I need to find a place for Indian Summer and I do have lots of pots to plant in.

Trish, Carol had a good question about the tadpole. Maybe that will be the preditor in the pond.

I actually don't know if it's their hay. I guess I just assumed. It could be the guinea pigs themselves. Anytime I'm anywhere near that part of the house at all my nose and sinuses are all irritated, and when I clean their cage it's awful. And it takes so so long to clean up after them and my little daughter hates that they've taken up so much of my morning with her, this isn't really working out the way I'd hoped 😔 this week is a wash.

Magpie, I'm glad that you're getting better, but totally understand how debilitating constant nasal allergies can be. Hopefully, as you feel better, some of the nasal stuff will ease up, too. I get awful nasal allergies year round but much worse in spring and summer, and even more annoying is my eyes watering and itching all the time along with my nose. Then as if by magic, around October, my eyes totally clear up, but the nose could stand some improvement. I'm always using eye drops and allergy pills with limited effect. Much less of that in winter. Can your daughter help out at all with the piggies? I know she's really young.

Kristine, there's a lot of difference between the annual, R. hirta and the perennial R. fulgida. The perennials start blooming later and quit blooming sooner. Their blooms are smaller, and they spread very slowly, but don't reseed like the annual kind, which is what I want. The reseeding is so relaiable with Indian Summer that you would think it was a perennial. I hope you get to try some again. So carefree for us oldies. Diane

Stuff from the past because going through old pic is more fun then housework. Diane

Bumble with a belt on veronica.

Mercury Rising coreopsis

Weird natural hybrid snaps.

Beautiful everyone!Hopefully, I;ll be notified of further comments.I dont know why I;m not getting them. I checked my settings and they;re still good. 😣

Great to see you back here, Vaporvac.

Carol, it is possible, I suppose, that they're afraid of the tadpole, though, in another pond, there are the same fish but in a different colour, with lots of tadpoles, and they aren't worried by them. Who knows?! I dropped in a couple of pellets for the tadpole yesterday, so that should keep him busy.

Diane, keep 'em coming. I'd much rather look at your photos than do housework, too!

Thank you Kristine, Carol and Diane! Kristine, you could grow the L rose under Love’s Magic, that’s its other name.

Carol, the yellow rose is Sunsprite Floribunda, it’s very fragrant too! it can put on some gorgeous blooms IMHO!

Diane, gorgeous flowers, i second Trish’s comment!

Some close ups of Sunsprite

Excellent portraits of Sunsprite, Sara Ann. The first one is frameworthy. I love the last one with its clarity and the pretty bud close by the open rose.

It's good to read the fish report, Trish. I hope the tadpole grows up to be a nice fat frog. I probably will keep posting stuff. We might as well keep things colorful. Do you have any photos to show us?

The birdies returned to the feeders in early afternoon and ate the seed up as they usually do. So it was replenished and all is well. I guess Mr Kestrel/whatever gave up and left. Good. Diane

Yes, it's some more blast from the past. Campanula carpatica, Blueberry Hill Rose, and dianthus. Diane

The Chair!

Jude and Fred canoodling.

Sara Ann, Sunsprite practically leaps off the page. Such a blast of cheer. It's grey almost every day here, and our humidity has broken records!, so that yellow is very welcome. I love the last photo in particular.

Diane, you are the Queen of Perennials too. I'm glad that kestrel's taken leave. We see them circling here sometimes, and they cause the other birdies great alarm. Sorry, no photos - nothing seems worth taking. I'll try to remember to take my phone down with me tomorrow, and see if there's anything. I've ordered a flowering gum called Baby Orange. Dwarf (ie under 24') flowering gums are very popular here now. They make an incredible display in summer, so in a few years time I'll be able to post photos of it! Baby Orange only grows to 10'.

Melodye, if you're around, I'm so glad you mentioned Di's Delightful Plants. All but one of the ten I ordered are doing really well, and that one was in compacted clay till a few days. I moved it, and I think it's doing something now.

An observation, I bought a hundred plastic protectors for the tubestock - need to keep dogs, bush turkeys and bandicoots from digging them up etc. Not all got a protector (they got surrounded by rocks instead), and some that were without were not growing much. I freed up one the other day for a poorly plant, and am amazed that it's doubled in size since then! The distributor says the plants like the extra humidity they provide, and also less UV rays.

Magpie, that's rotten that you're allergic to the guinea pigs/hay. Maybe they have to be re-homed.

Diane - You saw a kestrel in your backyard? Oh that's SO wonderful!! I know they love to hunt birds....but I'd love to see one up close. Still, I hope the birds can be safe in your yard again. I think I'm going to stick with my seeds I got already..lots of Zinnias and a few other things. I'm excited to try seeds...my first time. :) What a delight!! I love seeing your Veronica with the bees! I saw in a magazine that scientists have discovered a new bumble bee...here's something about it....The newly discovered Bombus incognitus looks just like another species, Bombus sylvicola. Researchers recently discovered a new species of bumblebee in the Rocky Mountains while studying genetic diversity of bumblebees in the area..... So the bee you showed could be either one of them, because they're not one species, but 2! Oh, I thought that your Mercury Rising plant was a cosmo, until I saw the last picture which showed (yes, the name LOL) the size of the blooms. :) Your daisies look wonderful...so contained and well shaped...and maybe you could market (no idea how) those snaps? Oh, good to hear that the birds are back. :) Diane, then you show those other pictures!!! So good for the soul!! Yes, the chair!! It really was special...like it was specially crafted for a fairie. :) :) Your Jude...oh my!!!

Kristine - my daughter, Kedra, has allergies all year round too. She (and your husband) should start a round of allergy shots.

Magpie - I'm sorry that the guinea pigs aren't working out like you thought. I've been there with animals...and I know that the thought of years and years with a critter that causes problems can be hard. I actually had to go on antidepressants for that reason many years ago...I lost 40 lbs, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. So I do get it. What worked for me was to give the animal away, free of charge. So you do have that option. Good luck figuring out what to do. :)

Trish - well, it sounds like the tadpole isn't the problem. :) Man, oh man!! I googled your gum tree...incredible!!! I've never seen anything like it before!!! I'm so glad you bought one!!

Sara Ann - those Sunsprites are fabulous!! I love that screaming yellow!!! Fabulous pictures! Now I want one....but I have too many roses coming. :)

Here are some plants...not browsing all over...just what I can find in a few seconds...so not the best pics.

Orange perennial poppies. They're growing in about 10 inches of soil. Fabulous!!

double cranesbill

iris

Painted Daisy

another poppy

That tree in the garden was killed by snow in late August a few years ago. Peonies are blooming...so it's early in the season and the roses are just starting.

bugnets???

Berolina

Diane Loomer

Jacques Cartier

Peach-faced bellflowers...I love these!!

Violet's Pride

Trish, is a gum tree a Eucalyptus? The Baby Orange tree sounds wonderful. I need to do some research about flowering gum trees. It sounds like you've got more animal pests than I have. Bandicoots sound interesting. Do you have some of the same birds of prey that we have in the Northern Hemisphere? I was surprised that you have kestrels.

Melodye, we're missing you. Please let us know how you're doing. Diane

Carol, so there's a bumble bee going incognito? Love it. even the name Bombus is funny. I just wish our bumbles would come back. The ones with the orange belts have all but disappeared. Yes, I've grown a whole lot of coreopsis in order to find just one that's a decent plant for more than year or two. I've tried about 13 types. Coreopsis became a fad type about 15 years ago and the hybridizers just kept bringing out "new" types that were not good plants and they all looked about the same. I've sworn off the things. Early Sunrise is the only good one in my garden. Those daisies grow that way--I don't do anything special to them. Every year, someone backing out of the driveway runs over them. It's hopeless. And they only bloom for a week or two. I forget all the varieties of plants you grow. I love the poppies--aren't they great and so easy care? And the cranesbill is wonderful. I've never seen the double one. That iris is just gorgeous. What's amazing to me is you grow all this in such a short and challenging season. I think the weather would make me give up on gardening. Now I must look up Bombus incognitus, gum trees, and bandicoots. Diane

Yes, Diane, a gum tree is a eucalyptus, or these days some are classified as corymbia. And we do have hawks and kestrels and eagles. As for garden 'pests', I'd far rather have what we have than your deer and quail! And, as for bears and armadillos- good grief! Let alone gophers.

Carol, I too am amazed at what you accomplish in such a short season, and with such shallow soil. Good luck with your seeds, and I hope you have the best year yet with your roses. Your Violet's Pride is lovely.

Thank you Diane, Trish and Carol!

Beautiful flowers Diane and Carol! It’s amazing to me how floriferous some flowers can be! So beautiful!

Oh boy!! Nice color to wake up to this morning

Sunsprite !! Holy moly sara ann, what a yummy yellow

And Carol, your Berolina is such a yummy color, and what a glorious Violets Pride .

Sara ann, Loves Magic is a much more doable name lol.

Diane, your yard is beautiful!

Your dear departed chair is adorable. I can never understand how you can feel good about something that you stole. Working hard for something, a lucky find that makes you feel excited or a beloved gift are sll things that make you happy and proud. But when you look out at a chair that you stole, how can you find any pleasure in that ? No conscience I guess.

Trish, Im glad to hear that the tadpole gets to stay and enjoy the pond. Your new tree is going to be fabulous!!

Diane - Yes, Bombus...funny name. :) :) Thankfully we still have the orange belted bumble bees. I wish yours would come back. It looks like your painstakingly prune to shape all of your perennials...they all have such rounded shapes. :) I've had to resod the area that my daughter would always drive over...so those daisies are tough!

Trish - thanks! :) :) What helps my plants (growing in such shallow soil due to glacial till) is that I use my whip/string shredder bucket thing every spring and mince all of the growth from the previous year. Then the worms take it from there. We have a lot of worms in that small area. I used to do that in the fall...but I decided to leave growth up over winter so the birds/insects could make use of it... the first for seeds, the second for overwintering sites.

Thanks, Sara Ann :) :)

Thanks, Kristine - so true about stealing.

Carol, I missed your later photo additions. Violets Pride is just luscious. And your peach leaved bellflower is much more lovely than the ones I grew. Most bellflowers don't like our climate. Exceptions are Campanula carpatica and that long Polish sounding named one--starts with a P. Also Campanula rotundifolia (don't you grow that one?; I think it's hardy at the North Pole). I don't prune any of those round shapes. That's how those particular plants grow. I do cut back spent blooms. The Campanula rebloom all summer, but the Shasta Daisies are just a one timer.

Kristine, I love the way you explain how stolen things don't bring joy to the average person. I think the chair was taken by kids who probably threw it down some hill. For several years, we had some kids in this village who vandalized stuff and got into all kinds of mischief. But that seems to have calmed down--probably because the troublemakers went off to college or to work.

Trish, after I posted above, I did some research. Bandicoots are a hoot, and, not surprisingly, a marsupial. But I really enjoyed learning more about eucalyptus trees (I remember that California had some where I lived). So there are 12 kinds of Eucalyptus, so unique, and I believe, all are native to Australia. Their "flowers" which are bright and look like colorful hedgehogs are composed of just stamens--that's why they look prickly. The Baby Orange is an eye popper--lots of orange hedgehogs. I would love to grow such a tree amongst some orange roses. Could you have a few orange roses near your tree? So how did all those raptors get to Australia? Were they introduced? I know they didn't fly there. Diane

Diane, I think all our raptors are native. The largest one around here - though I haven't seen one in decades - is the sea-eagle. Bandicoots are referred to as tick taxis here. There's one at the moment who's pretty busy - loving the soft soil after all the rain we're having. I never found a worm when I first moved here, but I'm finding more and more now, and presumably so is the bandicoot. They love newly planted things as the soil's been nicely loosened for them.

I'm following Australian Native Birds on Facebook, and am astounded at the variety of birds in this country, and so colourful.

You now know more about eucalypts than me. I didn't know there were 12 kinds. We have spotted gums at the bottom of the garden, and a pair of lorikeets are nesting in a hollow in one of them. They've been keeping an eye on all the work we're doing down there. They sit at the entrance to the hole, and look around very curiously. Suzi reckons they'll be very happy with all the bottlebrush I've planted.

Baby Orange is going in the native area - I'm not allowed any roses down there! I did think some orange roses would look rather good around it. The corymbia I'd really have liked is called Summer Glory, and is a purply pink, but it grows a little too large, though I'd have overlooked that, if I could have got it. As I said before, flowering gums are all the rage here just now, and are hard to come by. I've been on the lookout for months.

Thank you all for letting me vent about the guinea pig situation. I guess adding to the household is always a big adjustment.

Anyways, I think I'm going to add 3 new clematis to the property this year to compliment the roses. I hardly have enough room for all my annual seeds, so naturally I have to make even less room by adding more perennials lol. But gosh they are pretty aren't they? I wonder if pollinators like them at all, though. I'm going to have to read about it first.

Carol, one of your lovely perennials is Burnet.

Diane - Oh, thank you!! :) :) Bellflowers love my conditions here...I love them! Yes, I do grow a campanula. :) Yes, LOL, Santa probably grows one or two. :) :)

You won't believe what I just bought from Vesseys!!! I bought a Snowball bush!! It's hardy to zone 3 according to Vessey. I know it won't look like yours...but it should be good enough. :) I sure hope it's hardy to zone 3. I'm also getting some Wild Columbines Mix and Miss Clementine Avens (Geum). The Snowball bush will come in a 4" pot...so it will take a few years, I imagine, to get some growth on it. :)

Trish - I googled Australian Sea Eagle...love this bird!!! The white chest is very striking. Bandicoots are tick taxis. LOL Like Armadillos in the U.S. transmitting leprosy! I think that's true. It's so strange to me that you get lorikeets in your yard...like you live in paradise!

Magpie - maybe your body will get used to the guinea pigs and your allergies will go away. My daughter's roommate has a guinea pig. Kedra's allergies aren't bothered as long as he keeps his door closed and the vent shut.