Daffodils and forsythia, not just the winter jasmine that bloomed so much this warm winter that I think it used up all its buds. The saucer magnolias are starting at my parent's place. So beautiful!! I have a new big tree purchased dormant that I can't wait to bloom - a weeping double Cherry tree - subhirtsomething, I believe. Don't know if she's an early or late cherry, so it's exciting checking on her :) She was really a birthday gift, and I hope she shouts SPRING for a long, long time here.

Hello everybody, It has been quite a long time since I've posted on GardenWeb as my schedule has been exhausting and perhaps some of the regular posters remember me from the guru garden (Patrick Studio retail). As a former exhibitor at Canada Blooms, I find that since Loblaws stopped sponsoring the show, it has been going downhill. For individuals who've attended the show several times, the content is no longer original and often, the same speakers are back with the same topic from previous years. The last year we attended the show in 2006, we were within earshot of a booth that was selling absorbent sponges/cloths to wipe counters and wash floors. The salespeople at the booth talked non-stop and were really loud and I found it tacky and inappropriate to have this company exhibit at a garden show. Although some of the gardens are spectacular, there is less interesting plant material on display or available for sale. The seed that is offered (except perhaps for Florabunda seeds) is commercially packaged seed like McKenzie, Sutton Seed, and Thompson and Morgan. So if you are main goal in visiting Canada Blooms is to shop for seeds and plants, you might be disappointed. I don't feel it's necessary to pay an entrance fee of $ 18.00 (which to me is highway robbery) plus another $ 20.00 to park your car to buy products that are available at the most of the box stores. Occasionally, Home Depot has some interesting and inexpensive packaged plants (like Brugmansias and Passifloras) but so many of the more interesting vendors will not be displaying in 2008. Mason Hogue, Wild Flower Farm, Fiesta Gardens, Terra, and many others are gone. I feel that the main reason for this is that it is very expensive to grow plant material in early March given the enormous increase in energy costs. There are very few Canadian growers (in either Quebec or Ontario) that are willing to provide plants for Canada Blooms. The show is just too early. It is too bad that the show cannot be scheduled in April because I feel that it would be better for the public and the exhibitors. Given the changes in the horticulture world - two major growers, Janet Anderson and Epic Plants are both out of business and the little support horticulture is receiving from the media - just take a look at the few gardening shows (most are really about renovation) on HGTV I have the feeling that if the Canada Blooms management team does not change their approach - innovation and creativity are required here - this show will go the way of the Successful Gardening Show in Mississauga which is totally commercial and pretty awful. On the other hand, if you are interested in attending a show with interesting speakers and great plant material, there is a show in Peterborough - For the Love of Gardening in mid April that is a treat. I've supplied the link to the show. Marilena

Yep its definately sprummer. My high temp today was much higher than LA basin and usually in winter I am 10 cooler. No on-shore flow, May gray, June gloom etc here.

According to the Roberta's gardening representative on QVC, peonies DO grow in Florida! Gosh I am going to get some! This is so misleading. First they danced around the issue. The host asked if there was anywhere they wouldn't grow. He said they are cold hardy. Then a caller who purchased them said "I hope these will grow in Florida." He asked where she was in Florida and she told him Clearwater. He said there wouldn't be any problem. I bet if she had said Key West he would have given the same answer. On the QVC website it says they can be grown in zones 3-8. It costs $36 shipped.