A glass of wine just before the dusk squinty mirror maneuver is sublime

If I wait until AFTER dark it should look perfect, I'd say! (What chickweed? I don't see any chickweed...)

In the dark..the chickweed will look like an exotic!

Or take on the look of Lady wildflower...

yep, that's what it looks like, all right...

Thank you WeedWhacker, very much. Yes, I so relate to your point about Gardening Magazines. I put in a Border in my 2nd year of gardening. And, you guessed it. I had been looking at Magazines like crazy. I had every plant that needed staking, in that border. I had to clip back, to fight mildew because the plants were planted per suggestion, but were far too close to thrive. Some things were smaller than the label claimed, and others much bigger. I pruned and fussed and was a slave to that bed that year. It was pretty hilarious. Now, I am careful to have only one or two experiments a year.

Rose and Jean you put a big smile on my face! Thanks
Gary

I love the humor here.

And yes, a garden to putter in, is a great thing.

I haven't read the whole thread yet. I'm only 6 pages behind. But I have given up on my Jimson Weed/Devil's Trumpet. I simply don't have enough sunny spaces for it. And enough space to winter it over. I have passed it on to friends who have sunny places to enjoy those big blooms.

Am about to give up on having fish in my ponds. The last attack by the raccoons eliminated all the fish on one pond makes me sad. At least I can create a nice water garden??

Cheryl, there is netting you can put across your pond, just under the water. It won't show, but it does eliminate loss of fish from predators.

Daturas do take a lot of space. We have native ones where we live here in NM.

Thank you Karen@Plantmanager. We have tried nets. Some of the littler fish went through. The raccoons stepped on the net and waited for them to swim through the holes. Or they would move the rocks and get under the net. The coons are pretty creative when they want something. Why can't they just stay in the garbage can?? We have had the ponds for 15 years or so. I thought I would be done after they ate all 5 of our 10 year old koi. Then I went to 25 cent feeder fish. Still having the problems. What's more, they trample on my plants in the yard, too. Grrrrrr! Maybe if I remove the fish attraction they will stay out of the yard?

Aw. I'm sorry. When we had fish in ponds our predators were herons who would wait at the side of the pond for a fish to swim by. They could catch them so quickly and easily. We never had raccoons. They sound like they're smarter.

We had Small Green Herons, too. Saw a large Blue Heron once. There is a bayou across the street from us and big lake not too far away. IDK why they would bother to come to our bitty pond for little bitty goldfish?? Yeah. 'Coons can open jars. Fish pond netting is nothing. Their claws are sharp as razors, too. I never knew something so darn cute could be so damaging! Thanks for the hints, though. I would do anything to have fun fish to watch! Maybe float some plexiglass??

Ours were blue herons.
Would those scarecrow sprinklers scare them off? They turn on the water when they sense motion. I wonder if there is any scent that raccoons would hate? I'm using garlic and cayenne around some plants and it's keeping rabbits away. Deer seem to hate Irish Spring soap scent. Maybe buy a few more feeder goldfish and try a few experiments.

Aw, Cheryl -- we all have to give up on certain things, that's only sensible! Giving up on gardening? Never!!

I think the secret to have a really fabulous-looking garden would be to grow only the plants that are easy to grow and do the absolute best in your climate; but, where's the challenge in that? I love trying to grow new things and things that really shouldn't be grown here (and then there are some things that I think are going to be no-brainers and give me the most trouble...). So, I don't expect perfection (and believe me, I don't get it, either )

I have a Scarecrow, too. I think the raccoons have figured it out! As long as they stay out of my attic like 2 winters ago when I had to go up and trap them. I should consider myself lucky, eh?

I will never give up on my gardening. Just tweaking things starting this year to make things easier as I get older and weaker. ughhh. I hate that I have to say that. Just being realistic here as I find myself struggling more and more to keep up.

It sounds like you've thought of and tried just about everything, Cheryl. It may be time to give up on fish. I've given up on having pretty fish in my greenhouse tank. I'm getting some ugly little mosquito fish just to keep the mosquitos down.
Without fish you could try having a pretty water garden...water lilies or lotus? I'm growing cannas in my tank and they love it. I'm looking for lysimachia to add to the tank. It comes in green and gold, so it should be pretty. I'm trying to cover most of the water, to cut down on algae blooms. The temps can go past 100 degrees in there even with vents and door open.

"Just being realistic here as I find myself struggling more and more to keep up."

I'm pretty sure quite a few of us here can relate to that!

Weedwhacker said:"Just being realistic here as I find myself struggling more and more to keep up."

I'm pretty sure quite a few of us here can relate to that!

I hate it that it takes me twice as long to do projects now. Naproxen and Ibuprofen are my friends now.