I just walked outside to have a look, another hard freeze tonight. So many of my roses have buds, which are drooping this morning, and lots of new growth. It will be a few days before we can access the damage. I've been working on taking out a bed in my front yard, almost have all the plants out of it, and trying to add more beds to my back yard. This is going to be my year for rearranging. I'm taking out all my cannas, I've decided they aren't a favorite. Moving a lot of my daylilies to edge beds, I did a lot of this last year so I don't have all that many still to move. I still have about 6 roses to move from my front yard to my backyard. Too much shade in the front. I have a low spot in my backyard that I have been using as a compost pile for the last 3 years hoping to build it up, it hasn't, so I've decided it would make a great bed for Siberian and Japanese Iris. Mostly I want to bring things together instead of having so many things helter skelter around the different beds. The only plants I plan to purchase this year are Million Bells, I planted only a couple of these last year under my roses and the impact was huge, so this year I plan on buying several. Other than that my gardening money is going for mulch.

I have all these grand plans, with only the weekends until daylight savings time, so of course it has rained almost every weekend and this weekend the hard freeze.

Betty

Sometimes it just seems the weatherman is 'agin' us, doesn't it? I'm kinda lucky--my oldest son, who is a gardener himself, moved here to help take care of his sick father, and he is doing a lot of the 'strong back' kind of work I can't do. And since his dad is too sick to care anymore, we're taking out a lot of his grape vines (they were mostly sick anyway) and adding beds where they were, so I'll have more space for gardening than I ever have had here. We had an arrangement--he got the two sides and I got the front and back. Made for a kind of funny lanscape design! He also got most the sun, so it'll be fun to plant more things that enjoy sunshine.
Do you grow Louisiana iris? They would enjoy your swampy area with the extra compost. Sorry you have to buy compost. Guess it's better to buy it and save your strength for spreading it, but here in Lafayette the city provides compost. Only problem is you have to supply the truck and the strong backs to load it and haul it. When there are livestock shows sometimes you can get the cleanings from them too, but the same thing goes I think. I used to drive around this part of the city and pick up the bags nice people left at the curb for me, but since the city started their compost facility I don't think I should.

To finish the things I didn't get to finish last year ;-)'

sea ya
tami

I am trying a few new things:
australian finger lime, nyctanthes arbor-trista (sp?), citron (buddah's hand & the plain one), gardenias (been *trying not* to get these for awhile now lol, esp. after reading the infamous 'suicidal gardenia' threads...know I'm gonna be sorry ;P- got mystery, and august beauty for around $3.90 ea. so figured I'd try 'em, still looking for a monstera vine to try, planning on trying some new gingers, heliconias, and other tropicals as well.

After so much loss to drought last year I'm only adding more of plants that did well last year. I am adding new roses. I am amazed that Roses are as tough as they are. I just planted 3 Home Runs, Brother Cadefel, Ispahan, Julia child, Kathleen Harrop ,Marmalade Skies, Marth Gonzales, Terra Cotta,& Pink Peace in last couple weeks. I would also like to finish a couple projects I started last year in my side patios. Ginger Gaia

Here is a link that might be useful: Gingers Flower Garden

I think you have an excellent idea, Tami. The trouble is, can we ever 'finish' a garden? No matter if it's a good year and I get a lot done, or a bad one where I get little or nothing done, there's always more, and I think I like it like that. If I went out there and there was nothing to do--Ugh! Guess I'd have to dig it all up and start over! I think I'll be done, but not the garden! lol!

Beautiful garden Ginger, obviously you spend a lot of time making your garden so lovely.

I think you are right greenelbows, it wouldn't matter how "finished" our gardens were, we could find something to redo. Besides, there are always weeds lol.

Betty