Grass. Verbascum. Plantain. Adenophora. Weeds, weeds, weeds, weeds. Rain, rain, rain, rain.

And then there's working 5 days a week. What's up with that? Someone should pay me to garden. Oh yeah, that's called retirement. Huh. Can't afford it.

Why do we do it?

I don't know why I bother when I look at my cotoneaster hedge stuffed full of bellflower and that invasive daylily and I know I will NEVER get rid of them all. And when I'm weeding chickweed and it breaks and then next time there's more. And when it takes me 4 hours to mow the grass then in 3 days it's long again. Oh and when it rains and rots my expensive lilies. And the years there are so many mosquitoes I don't bother weeding between May and September.

Things that make it worthwhile: when I see those first sprouts in my indoor sowing. My mockoranges that I love with all my heart, and Mme. Plantier who is about to bloom and I also love with all my heart.

It's also worthwhile when I drive by my house and think it even looks good from the road.

Plus if you keep that really tough spot weed free it cuts down on the homicidal tendencies throughout the day.Nothing like hacking raspberry suckers out of rock hard clay to work out the frustrations. Oh and it keeps that squirrels fat the dogs occupied and gives the cat somewhere to hide when she is after the birds. Not to mention that if I stuck the DH in a bucket and left him there for a month he probably wouldn't forgive me like the lady slippers are.

It wouldn't be worth it if it were easy.

Lose yourself in the beauty of one single flower in bloom, then take a deep breath. Above anything, gardening teaches you patience.

Nice pic Marcia.

:)

It's been a grind this spring but the fragrance from this rose just overpowers my senses and it takes days to recover - all summer long! And when it stops blooming, I'm also done gardening for the season.

Hang in there nutsaboutflowers!

Which rose is that, Rosecavalier?

Personally I haven't had a whole lot of time to garden, but it hasn't been all gloomy for me. Right now my meconopsis has put out a single, incredibly beautiful bloom. It's mostly blue, but my soil's Ph must be creeping up there because the centre has a gorgeous purple/pink cast. Even if the rest of the season is bunk I think it's been worth it.

Um yes please do tell Rosecavalier. It looks a lot like my John Davis, but the leaves are a little darker...

George, i had a meconopsis for a few years. I never thought about Ph, but the first year it was a beautiful blue, but in later years, it wasn't quite as blue as before. Someone told me that it was like a "holy grail" of plants. I was so proud of it! Should get another one, eh? :)

It's Strawberry Hill, according to the alt text.

Is that your beautiful garden this year or is it a picture from last year? Between the snow, rain and hail we rec'vd in the last three weeks I am only hoping that my garden blooms even for a short period of time. My bedding out plants are just sitting there and the hail we got last night didn't help......but I'm still remaining optimistic.

Yup, NAF, I'm right there with ya.

My grass looks like native pasture and has native pussytoes, thistle, alfalfa, sage, quack grass, brome grass, native grasses, big bare spots where not even weeds will grow, and dandelions galore. We have an ENORMOUS farm yard, and half of it was once cultivated, so mowing it with the ride-around feels like a horrible circus ride from hell. (and my tractors shocks aren't too happy)

My flowerbed, which was dug deeply and amended, already seems to be reverted back to straight clay in some places. :( I need to do more composting, because peat moss sure doesn't do the trick. Most of my lily leaves are starting to turn yellow from all this rain. My martagons have either iron chlorosis or serious over-watering issues. One of my Emily Carr roses still hasn't come back. A bunch of plants that I would have been happy to have go away DID come back. My Josee lilac hasn't come back, and I seem to have lost the bill for it, so I can't even cash in on the guarantee. Our long lane has really bad washboard and pot holes but we can't afford the $800 price tag for 2 loads of gravel. My round pen is under water, and my 4 year old colt still hasn't been ridden! Nothing except some NOID red tulips are blooming. My plants are all leggy. My Black Lace elder died.

*siiiiiggghhh* Oh I could just go on for pages. Suffice to say...I feel your pain. But I AM optimistic that the sun is going to kick in (this coming week by the sounds of it) and then the garden is going to kick into super high gear and everything will bust into bloom. Sure, there will probably be some thistle blooms too, and certainly some dandelion bloom...but blooms just the same. It'll happen, NAF. Its got to.

I feel your pain but there's just got to be good weather around the corner. It's frustrating that it's so cool out as well as cloudy and rains every day. I lost a few cucumber seedlings due to cool/wet and am worried about other plants which are soggy. Still, what can you do? Hang in there with hopes it will get better, and then we'll be able to enjoy our yards.

I still have 3 vines to plant but keep buying other stuff as well (who can resist a brightly colored new guinea impatient plant, always room for one more!

Four Strong Winds, if you're asking about my picture, it's from last year. It doesn't look like that yet this year! :)

Good eye Shazam - it is Strawberry Hill.

This is one of those roses that, up to now, has recieved little recognition. I think I've seen it mentioned once on the Roses Forum (rose grower from England) and HMF doesn't even have any comments! It's just another "pink rose".

In 2006, I saw this rose at David Austin's nursery in England and learned from one of their managers that this was the best rose from 350,000 crosses they make annually. That's right, the best rose from 350,000 crosses - of which about a half a dozen actually make it to market.

It is located on the east side of my house (against the basement wall) - in full sunlight at 6:00 AM as I send this message and recieves afternoon shade. On a spring like this, there is a small amount of powdery mildew on the leaves which I wash off with water every 3 days - it will out grow the PM.

To my nose, the fragrance is sweet but powerful licorice. I've never experienced that fragrance before.

I've produced several crossed seedlings from SH but haven't been able to replicate the fragrance - but it's sure fun trying!