We have a few daffs that grow next to the driveway (they were there before we moved in). They look rather awkward where they are in comparison to the rest of the yard. I keep meaning to transplant them to the lily garden, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. My sweetie can't stand all of the weed-eating he has to do around my flower beds and constantly complains. Whenever he feels most resentful, he takes his revenge out on these daffodils and mows over them. I allow him to gloat in his bravado because it keeps him away from the rest of my flowers! Much to his chagrin, they always come right back in full force, it seems, in just a few weeks (their way of sticking their tongue out at him)! Tee! Hee! Come to think of it...maybe I won't transplant them! They are my saving grace by keeping my SO occupied and away from my other beauties! Shannon

I love the depth of your comments on human nature, Odinthor - "an inability to demonstrate the fullness of their hearts" for the deeply devoted in many respects. We all get passionately committed to something and then find ourselves building an overwhelming sense of responsibility and an awareness of how limited we are. I seem to find there are two possible responses to that growing awareness of the impossible in our lives - either we get anxious and focused on controlling ourselves and our environment to achieve that impossible perfection (like Kim's friend) or we develop a sense of humility and gratitude for being at least a small part of something bigger than ourselves (like Campanula and the endless joy of joining in the shaping of her wilderness). The same pattern often applies to us in other aspects of our lives, not just gardens but faith, family, and friends too. I was reminded of how much the latter attitude is both a choice and a long-term growing process for all of us last night. My daughter was chafing at the waiting and watching for her brother's Tae Kwon Do tournament last night, and I was reminding her to be patient and find something to be interested about in the activities. She turned to me exasperated and said, "Yeah, but nothing ever bothers you!" Shocked the pants off me, let me tell you - you mean you don't remember all the times I snapped at you, for starters? Then I realized that she's only 12, and her life has been absolutely filled with dramatic changes so far all the time - physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually. She doesn't have the luxury of a perspective to look back at the tapestry of her life and see the big picture of how things work together and work out - her tapestry is tiny and rushed and pretty jumbled up from where she stands (all gangly 5' 9" of her already, at that). That insight gave me the chance to do my "mom thing" and remind her (and myself) that an attitude is a choice and something you have to practice to get good at. Patience isn't something we're born with, but something we deliberately cultivate by not backing away from challenges (even the impossible ones) and handling the frustrations in our lives with grace and humility. Building that patience in the garden and life is something that all of you help me with at GW, and I thank you for it! Cynthia

Well, I just did the official count of roses after doing the annual June death march (to make a final judgment of roses that didn't survive the winter), and the present total came out to 1140 roses. I've officially joined the premium level of rose nut, which apparently hits if you have more than 1000 roses. Now as for time spent, I'm sure you're thinking that I either: a) spend every waking minute in the garden and have no other job, or b) hire out most of the rose care to someone. I don't do any of the above, since I have a more than full-time job and family with kids at home, as well as something vaguely resembling "a life". Also, I'd never trust my roses to any outside person, particularly the usual "mow and blow" services. We do our own lawn too. So what are the tips that keep me mostly sane? Well - as sane as anyone with over 1000 roses can be. 1. I don't spray anything. No spray is lazy gardening, and it makes the roses either shape up or ship out. I used to spray Liquid Fence once a year to discourage the bunnies, but I think they're so bewildered by the vast array of choices in my yard that no one plant suffers too much. Besides, my son complained of the Liquid Fence smell, so I don't even do that. Ditto for insecticidal soap - I've gotten a good balance between good and bad bugs and I don't see any rose slugs or aphids any more. 2. I get reasonably regular rains. As several folks mentioned, that is a key for successful gardens and a real time sink if not there. During our dry seasons in August (and this year, June) when we don't get any appreciable rain, I water all the garden beds for an hour a week each with overhead sprinklers. This involves setting the sprinkler on trips from inside A/C at 5 minutes a bed (maybe 1/2 hour total time). As I said, lazy gardening. I also plant all new roses with the Watersorb water crystals, so they have moisture reserves to protect them against dry temperatures. These crystals die down after a year or so, so they learn to survive on their own once established. 3. I don't weed, I mulch. As halloblondie said, there are few garden things that are more effective labor savers than organic mulch. For me, I can weed anything that pops up in my garden beds with two fingers, except dandelions or bindweed. 4. I make garden efforts do double (or triple) duty. For instance, I winter protect with bagged leaves rolled to the edge of the garden bed or stood around the particularly fussy tea roses in one bed. Those filled bags kill the grass at the edge of the beds, meaning I don't have to edge the beds. Then in spring, I spread the leaves around the base of the roses and other garden plants for mulch, and store extra bags for use later in the season. Leaves then break down lightening the soil and substituting for fertilizer by adding a little nitrogen. 5. Bundle gardening tasks, and make the roses mostly fend for themselves. I admire those of you who use the fish fertilizer sprays and things like that regularly, but I never seem to get around to it. I save milk jugs to fill with water when planting roses, and I have jars of fish fertilizer I always intend to use later in the season to perk up the newer planted roses, but I rarely get around to it. I sometimes add a little alfalfa, Ironite and 10-10-10 fertilizer once a year to the established roses, but I missed last year and haven't done so yet this year. If I successfully do the established fertilizer, it's usually bundled with pruning tasks in March/April so I spread the fertilizers around established roses before layering down the mulch. 6. Don't sweat the small stuff - roses are much tougher than you think. Chewed leaves, bugs, blackspot, wilting, lopsided growth - bah, you can handle it! And if not, you don't belong in my yard. 7. Monitor the important things. Canker needs to be dealt with swiftly and brutally in my yard, and Japanese beetles get no mercy and swift and (hopefully) painful death. 8. Enjoy the time you spend, and share the joy with others. Remember why you do this in the first place. You don't HAVE to work in the garden, you CHOOSE to. If it becomes drudgery, downsize and/or simplify. I agree with all of you that gardening is my #1 favorite activity in spring/summer and it's where I most want to be. 9. Take care of your body and listen to it. I have several herniated disks in my back, a hip replacement, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, I'm in my 50's, and I'm allergic to everything that grows outside (so why am I a gardener??). I take care of my back by careful positioning and movement, stretching out frequently, and having treatments at home that compensate for full long days pushing my limits. I also make sure to stop and literally smell the roses, or hang out on the swing gazing at and appreciating a good day's work. Oh, and one of the two best activities to counteract arthritis?? You got it - GARDENING. The other is light weightlifting - both involve gentle weight bearing movement - and I get my weightlifting in my 50 pound bags of alfalfa... Movement is medicine, and I put it to its test. So how much time to I spend in the garden to maintain 1140 roses? Depends on the time of year: - Most of the summer into the fall, I spend maybe 3-4 hours a week on the weekend deadheading, cane monitoring/trimming, and taking pictures of roses. The latter occupies most of that time by far. I don't deadhead roses individually with so many blooms (like Darlow's Enigma), but chop off sprays when dead if and when I feel like it. Within this 3-4 hours is usually also monitoring and picking fruits and vegetables. - Spring pruning and rose planting season is more like 20 hours a week in the garden, usually long days both Saturday and Sunday. I also prune around 75 roses for our church, which adds another 20 hours I work in somewhere. The 20 hours in March/early April are pruning, inspecting, pulling off protection/mulching, and (maybe) fertilizing. The 20 hours in late April/May are planting and watering as needed (including the vegetable garden). - Late fall I return to 20 hours/week for a few weekends to plant the 1000's of bulbs I do each year, but the roses by then are on their own. After bulb planting is done in early November, I start collecting and placing leaf bags in my usual 3-4 hours a week max. See, it's doable! Not that I recommend this many roses for people who aren't insane, but I still have time for my family and work and church and cooking most of the meals, though I draw the line at cleaning house (that's why God made teenagers). Cynthia

Jackie that's crazy that you had 8 straight days of rain! We both live in the Bay Area... but in my neck of the woods we only got about 2 good rainy days. Now there's no rain scheduled for at least the next 2 weeks. Sigh. Kelly I swear by mulch mulch mulch and more mulch for both winter and summer in my climate. But be careful with your sources. I'm not sure, but I think the grub problem I recently have been dealing with may be in part from the "free" mulch I got from tree trimmers in the area. Sometimes they trim healthy trees, but often they are cutting down unhealthy trees infested with things like beetles. You could probabaly feel safe using free mulch if you also used a systemic soil killer for grubs underneath (poisonous and not so great for invertebrates though) or predator nematodes (I bought mine through Natures Control and think they would have worked better if I applied them BEFORE the grubs hatched and took over). In the end, it may be cheaper to buy mulch instead of using free mulch and treating it. Just my opinion from my recent grub infestation though. I used free mulch before this year and never had any problems until now... so who knows!