I take photos instead of buying now. In display gardens if perennials you can return to that garden next year to view the display again and don't have to care for the plants. I have purchased perennials on clearance toward the end of summer. That way I only have a few weeks of watering to do for them. Not all make it, so am going to restrain myself this year to only the $1-2 ones & only if also hummingbird nectar plants, evergreen, or early/late bloomers. Summer garden is full! A nursery about 30 min. away offers 20-20-20 fertilizer jugs with free refills for the life of the jug. They know when you're there & look around you'll be tempted to purchase something. I have 4 that fit in a milk crate. Great for container plants and baskets. I don't visit as often as I was a few years ago, so only a few times a year. On my last visit I bought the granular concentrate to mix it up myself. My son was happy because he has been telling me to do that for years instead of having to stop by the nursery when nearby.

I placed an order to Roses Unlimited the other week with clarity and purposeful thought -- really, I did. Old Gray Cemetery had to be on the list because my original one died this spring, and I had to have another. I love my Red Radiance, so I got the original Radiance for the antique HT bed in front of the house. The other 4 are ones that I thought would be interesting: Mrs. Keays Pink Noisette (you know about me and found roses), Dr. J. H. Nicolas, Ringlet (a cool Alister Clark climber), and Pharisaer (an old HT). With my fall Palatine and Pickering orders, I concentrated on getting roses to replace the ones that I already have budded on Dr. Huey. The exception to this is Peace. I have Peace from a Walmart bag, Peace VID ownroot from Vintage, and now I'll have Peace on multiflora. I'm going to grow them all just to see what happens. I agree with the assessment about shopping at an actual nursery (except when I'm with Robert -- hey, Robert, how many plants can you stuff into a BMW?). Went to the nursery yesterday to get some supplies . . . wandered through the plant section and oohed and aahed at lots of stuff (tropicals were 50% off, BTW) . . . went back inside and left with 2 bags of spagnum, a huge bag of perlite, and 3 packs of bamboo stakes. No plants. But, put me in front of a computer with a cat in my lap and a credit card close by . . . you all know the rest. :) Connie P.S. I blame it on the cat.

My advice is to buy a bunch of seeds and grow them. Eat them any way you want. no recipe needed. Some will be better cooked but some are great raw. You will know. just eat a pinch in the garden and see how it tastes and the texture. everything can be stir fried with anything else. recipes are not needed. You can cook it soup. you can put into salads either cooked or raw. I got most of my greens from Fedco Seeds for about a dollar each. You can hardly go wrong. Pick a dozen and grow them all and see what you like. For salad I like a big bowl that is about half Mizuna and half lettuce. Hope that helps. I also love Mizuna in soup. I dont do stir fry much. Mizuna is a must grow! I plant as early as possible in the spring and harvest all summer right past frosts in the fall from the same plants. I simply chop off the leaves above ground so the grow tips keep producing. Asian greens are pages 52 to 54. Let me say that all of the greens can be eaten raw or cooked any way you like to cook them. Do it your way. I microwave the leaves in a covered bowl and then freeze them for the winter in zip lock bags. You will never grow enough so plant more than you think you want. I did some new ones this past year and will be doing more new ones next year. Everyone's taste is different. You have to find what you prefer. No one can tell you what to eat. You have to determine that yourself. Good Luck Just dive in. You will be glad you did. There are no bad Asian Greens. You can trust Fedco that all their varieties are tested and taste good. Here is a link that might be useful: fedco catalog

I'm sorry to hear about your baby.It's NOT your fault. Whenever our pets get diagnosed with something, we all go into this mode...Maybe IF I did something sooner...I should have noticed...etc. That is not the case. Pets get illnesses just like people. I believe that when its their time, its their time. All we can do is make them comfortable and give them the best existence we can. Some illnesses are treatable, some are not. My dog has been diagnosed with Hypothyroid, Kidney disease(not much I can do there) and Cushings (she has a TUMOR growing on her brain-the pituitary area). None of those are my fault. She is sicker on paper, than in realty- TG. At first, I was in denial. Then I got scared. Then I got angry. Why her? She had a rough (puppy mill) beginning. Then I accepted it. I just lost the older one last November (she lived a good long life-18). I didn't expect this one to start getting sick right away... Anyway, I decided that I will give her the best life I can. I take her for rides-to her store. I walk her. I play with her. I feed her good food. I am making her life very happy. I have no idea how long she'll be around, but I'm not one of those people who will put her on some awful tasting food for her kidneys just so that I can get an extra month out of her. I know some people force their dogs to eat crappy food, just so they exist. I'm thinking what is life for her if she cannot enjoy her food? I feed her whatever she wants/likes. I just don't give her too much protein, or anything that would make her sick. She seems to be happy. That's all I can do. Try to put yourself into a mode where you realize that every living being goes through a cycle of life. One day you'll be together again. Enjoy the time you have together now and don't show her YOUR STRESS. They can tell.