I'm excited to see that you've received so much wonderful advice, Greenhaven. When I mentioned a cottage garden I was thinking of my version of it, which includes much more than roses and other flowers. For instance, against a bare all of the house I planted four junipers, with each pair having a lavender crape myrtle between it. There's also a privacy fence that's a hedge of closely planted junipers. They do as well in the heat as they do in the cold. If I lived in your zone I would design the area a a "winter" garden first, i.e. plant it so that it looks beautiful for that long time of the year when many things are dormant. As mentioned above, the typical yews and junipers might just be the best way to go. When those things are in place, you can design around them with softer elements for spring and summer interest. I think evergreens would form a very pleasing backdrop given the color of your house. Different bulbs that would give interest for several months in the spring would be lovely, and I wouldn't grow only tulips. Irises and daffodils grown in groups would look beautiful against a backdrop of evergreens. The suggestion of Awakening instead of New Dawn is a good one. A climber will be there for a long time and this rose has a much more old-fashioned look to it, in my opinion, although I understand it does have vicious thorns. It will be fun to see what you decide to do and I hope you post pictures of the process and the final result. Ingrid

Vera - Wow, sounds like such a nice day! It's so nice to take a stroll and see what plants are coming out of hibernation. After seeing your blue flax pictures, I'm excited about my little flax seedlings. It froze last night and will freeze again tonight, but should be nice by the middle of next week. Yea! I'm probably a big wimp, but I brought my WS tomatoes inside. I will put them back out tomorrow probably. Hopefully the transition from inside back outside won't kill them. I thought about transplanting them into cups, and putting the cups in a deep dish lasagna WS container, that way they'll maybe get a little more growth on them. I brought a couple herbs in that I already transplanted to pots that don't have covers. All the rest of the flowers, including annuals, I left to the elements. I imagine they'll be just fine. Jan - All the branches from the ice storm are a pain. Probably over half of the houses in my town have big piles of branches in their front yard. The city hasn't decided whether they're going to pick up the branches yet. Our neighbors decided to stack up a bunch of theirs, but unfortunately probably half of them are in our yard. We're hoping it doesn't kill our grass, but I guess if that's my main complaint, that's not too bad.

I have 10 3-year old clumps of Maiden Grass + about 7 mature clumps of Big Blue Liriope (Monkey Grass) that I would like to relocate . I would preferably like to trade for young Blue Fescue Grass or Little Bluestem Grass or any average Sedum like Autumn Joy or similar variety but if a trade can't be arranged, I am willing to let them go for free, providing you bring 2-3 bags of topsoil to fill in their holes which would result from their extraction. Local only (can't afford to ship)

Doctorant said it best! May I add that before you destroy any native plantings maybe it would be good to see if anyone else would love to have them. I know many in Zone 5 Indiana who would be very anxious to take them off your hands if you want to kill them. That includes me. It is so vibrant and really attracts the butterflies like crazy. If in a very moist and fertile enviorment you can get them to reach 8 feet tall. Their root system really gets thick and the plant does a great job of "grounding itself in". It really holds up the large flower heads it produces. The stems are so strong that you can cut them down in the fall and use them to stake up some of your other tall growers that need staking. Enjoy them for all the benefits they have to offer to our Indiana meadows.