Received Bonica, Burgundy Ice and Yellow Submarine today! It felt really good and mightily relaxing to be outside and planting again.

I set Bonica and Burgundy Ice so that they'll interlace, I think it might be a really pretty duo. Well, .....if they happen to bloom together anyway!

I bet they will look great together! Burgundy Ice can be such a rich color. Can't wait to see the photos.

Isn't it a great feeling when you get your hands in the dirt again? I just received Vavoom from Garden Valley Ranch in California, and will plant it on Saturday. I selected the particular plant I wanted in person while visiting the nursery with Zuzu in February, but waited until now to to have it shipped to New York. It's perfect planting weather right now - very cool, with day time highs in the mid 50s, and the forsythia just bloomed this week. I began all my pruning two weeks ago, and it took two weekends of pruning and 9 extra large paper lawn bags to dispose of all the canes that died back during our harsh winter. I spent last weekend scratching in fertilizer, but have yet to finish that task (that's what I'll be doing this Saturday).

I just looked up Vavoom. Very pretty!

I didn't have a lot of die back this year; with the exception of my Sunsprites. They're black down to the top of the compost hill that I covered them with at the beginning of winter. I haven't started any pruning yet as our forsythia is still in the bud stage, but next week will probably be great to get started with that.

I'm noticing some physical effects of an unusually sedentary winter, with a few more aches than I'm accustomed to with the beginning of digging season. I'm out of shape!