Hi Arlene,..thanks for that tip,..i will certainly put it in action soon,..once the warm weather starts those dratted wee flies are here,..Molly snaps at them,..so do i

Great advice about the fruit flies, Arlene.
Pagan Purples grows to 8 feet tall for me and is a huge bushy plant. I may try to divide it this spring.
Philip, your flowers are beautiful and I am wondering where in the world are you going to put all the plants you are starting You could supply an entire nursery!

Sometimes we have two glasses waiting for those fruit flies! They are annoying.

Beautiful photos and plants, Philip. Take photos of your vacancies, where you'll put your new plants, Philip. We are curious how the new plants can fit!

Hi Jeanie,..nice to see you you were missed.
Good question as to where i will plant all the newcomers,..its all in my head as to where i have decided what goes where,..i must admit i do get it wrong,..for example i have 32 Pansies sown,..if all goes well they will replace my long time borders of Sedum,..might not be a great idea as the Pansies will only last two years whereas the Sedum is there for years,..some can be seen below acting as a border between plants and paths.


Pagan Purples seem to be similar to my Delphinium ' Bluebird ',..tall and dense but very nice.

Arlene,..i do break out in a sweat when looking for a spot to just plant ONE plant,..the usual procedure is to stand with mug of tea in hand at the back door,..thinking i will move THAT plant over there to make room for a NEW plant,..but will have to move what is ' OVER There ' someplace else before i begin and so it goes every year,..this time i have a bigger work area since the old greenhouse was taken down so it can house dormant plants in containers or growing plants waiting to be planted out when something else has finished blooming,..keeps the old brain ticking over

I like those big rocks in that 1st pic.

It's almost always a move/transplant/squeeze in adventure with new plants.

Some sedums sprawl all over and hide rocks or stones while others are better behaved.

I knew jmorth would notice the rocks!

Most of the plants will be squeezed in someplace but its the new rose bushes from cuttings i have difficulty with,..some i give away but hate doing so until i see what the new bloom will look like,..there are always surprise blooms,..i will keep one of the white rose bushes and one Reine des Violettes,..the remainder will be swapped for something useful

Swapping is good. Sometimes we end up with a plant we'd never have purchased and love it.

Very true Arlene,..two small pots with Aubrieta i would never have considered until they were offered,..now i realize they will fit in very well.
I moved most of my Delphiniums to one spot as they were in three locations,..i think there are eight that have popped up this year,..of course i have seeds sown as well did the same with Foxgloves,..this should create more of an impact.
Geraniums i stored without soil and had them hanging in my shed over winter have started showing leaves since being potted 14 days ago.


March 25th.............................................................................April 8th.

That's a good reminder for me to pot up my geraniums held over winter.

Arlene,..did you hang them up without soil,..or did you knock the soil off and paper bag them

I only had six to work on,..lost the one i kept in the house.

I kept meaning to hang them up downstairs but never got down there all winter long. I'll let you know what happens. As I was digging them up I hated to lose all the nice green growth so I took tip cuttings and potted them up and put them in the very sunny bay window in the kitchen. They are doing very well and I'm very pleased.

Now Tip Cuttings i might do at the end of the Geranium Season,..delighted for you that yours are doing well,..i had no room to do that in the house,.. plus the old Greenhouse was due to be taken apart so that was out as well,..one could make a good increase in Geranium stock by Tip Cutting as compared to what i did.

Rain here for the past seven hours and looks like lots more for Sat and Sun,..we certainly don't need rain.

Despite the rain i still get dragged out to the garden like a magnet,..took a shot of some rocks i was given by a friend on a trip up the lake,..these i can use as the back of them are flat,..amazing what friends give me



Molly always surprises me,..when i was down river three days ago i crossed a small bridge taking me across from the river to the Canal,..lo and behold Molly followed without being told as usually i have to coax her seeing the walkway is a grid,.. plus she can see below.

Molly is a sweetie. I think most of us are in love with her.

Nice gifts from your friends. I can imagine jmorth is looking at them with a bit of desire in his heart.

jmorth was the first person to come to mind when the rocks arrived,..i never forget being at two Markets in the US where they had a huge variety of rock cut in slices,..beautiful color in all of them,..one Market in Porter,..near Lake Michigan the other up north in The Snowbird Center,..Utah,..i always had an interest in rocks,..we have an Island not far up the lake where there is lots of Black Flintstone.

Ah Molly has had a few good days outing when there was no rain.

What a treat for Molly! Smitty doesn't even walk in rain so there's absolutely no way he'd be walking in the water - horrors!

Philip, I love your sense of humor. I enjoy looking at your garden pictures. Those rocks have an unusual color. Nice !

Arlene i don't blame you or Smitty for not walking in the rain,..one brings home a very wet doggy and probably muddy as well.

Now Molly is a different kettle of fish,..she has webbed feet,.. she being a Tri-Colored Springer,..when we arrive near water Molly charges towards it,..jumps in and doesn't want to go home,..i do try keep her away from water in winter,..me thinking she will be cold,..i am fooling myself,..she thrives where there is water,..or mud

Mike,..thank you!,..i am usually in a good mood unless i am trying to post a picture from my own Picture Files and it comes up in the forum the wrong way around,..then i start foaming at the mouth,..no picture rotate system in ATP i never in all my years came across a forum without one,..its a basic requirement