Very pretty! I think I've got the same variety, had forgotten the name. It's in a very shady spot right up against the east side of my house, mixed in with hydrangeas. Seems to do well there, even though it gets hardly any direct sun.

Nice,
I saw a few of the red ones last weekend they look really nice. They seem to grow well around here too. I might have to find a spot for one.
-well not really. I think my list is already too long.

I love the dark Mountain Laurels. Think how beautiful it will look for you when its big and happily planted..

Springcherry

Hey bob, not only do I live in Chester county, but my birthday is May 2 too! How's that for a coincidence?

Rebecca

Rebecca:

I looked at your blog and started laughing. Those boulders in your garden . . . I refer to them as pebbles. They look so familiar. Whenever, I dig a hole, I usually pick one or two out of the ground. It makes digging quicker, if the pebble is under 200 pounds. However, I have to replace the pebble with purchased soil. My gardens are full of those 50 to 200 pound pebbles. I'm going to build a small wall with them too in another garden.

Your home is very nice. Those rhododenrons look like they may be decades old. My mother planted one back in the late 50s and every several years, we trimmed it severely and it always came back. She finally sold the house and is living with me now.

I am out here in the Oxford area where the horse and buggy is a common vehicle.

Thanks for the compliments on the house. Sadly, my dad let it go for years, hence the enormous rhodos. Among other things, I have 17 trees I want to take down-all black walnuts that were allowed to grow into trees that should have been stopped years ago. My feeble garden attempts are just the tip of the iceberg of what actually has to happen here. I've resigned myself to the fact that I am relatively young (42) and that change doesn't happen overnight. Hopefully by the time my five year old son is graduating from HS, things will be more like I imagine them to be in my mind. I live nw of downingtown. The common vehicle around here is a Range Rover, but if you go about 10 miles west, it's all Amish country. Great if you're buying cheap plants or quilt fabric!

Rebecca:

The prices on plants are cheaper out here than in the Routes 100 and 202 area. On some plants (specifically Dragon Lady hollies), the cost may be 1/3.

When I was 42, I bought my first house in MD just north of D. C. Now that I am 56, I am in my second new house--for 1 year--and I have planted over 100 shrubs and roses since last June. I expect to plant another 100 plants and hope to finish the foundation plants by this November.