April 6th, 2007 Since I last posted here, I've updated pictures in "My garden" and in the "Perennials" section. But forget all that... my roses came! The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I ended up with a couple of days off in the middle of the week, and I was able to get the roses into the ground fairly quickly. Further down on this page, you'll see a listing of the roses I ordered. They were all in stock, and all but one were a good size (they gave me a discount on "Buff Beauty" because it was a size smaller). So that's the news... here's the rant: my dog is killing me! There's a patch of the back yard which I call the "wild side". A thicket of snowberry bushes, various ferns and a large rotting stump help to make the name appropriate. I've left it alone, mostly, only intervening to wage war against the Lamiastrum and Ivy, which are intent on swallowing the area whole.  Unfortunately, my dog has waged a campaign of her own. She's decided to dig up the stump. It's not that I don't admire her level of ambition. Anyone who has actually pulled a large tree stump from their garden knows how much brute force is involved, and this is a pretty big stump. If it weren't for all the damage she was causing, I'd be tempted to just wait and see how long it takes for her to figure out that she needs a 4x4 to haul this thing out. As it is, however, she's digging a freaking crater around this stump, and the surprising amount of soil she's displacing is making the wild side look like a backhoe has been at work. It's like a construction zone. So I've been trying to discourage her. I've filled the holes back up, and piled rocks in her way... but she just creates a new hole. I've piled up broken branches and twigs, but somehow she's cleared them off. I've tried just about everything short of chicken wire (no, I'm not going to do it, damn it!), and we've been battling it out for a little over a year. Then, last week, I went out and found... nothing. No new stump excavation. For a few minutes, I thought that maybe I had finally discouraged her. Then I found it. There's a new hole. It's not under the stump, but it's still in the wild side. It appears that Millie has now decided to dig up a live tree. It's an even more preposterous project than the stump, but I'm sure I'll have trouble convincing her of her folly. My dog and I are going to have to learn to share the garden nicely. Anyone know a good relationship counselor? March 15th, 2007 I've finally put a question (and answer) in the Ask an Amateur section of the site. The crocuses are just about finished, but there's a lot of other green coming up now in my yard. I'm excited to take a few more pictures so that I can update my "perennials" and "my garden" pages. February 27th, 2007 I've been working on the site a bit. The title bar at the top of the page is brand new, and much better than it was. BTW, most everything I do here is done on open source software. The site is written on NVU, the graphics are put together with Gimp. The price is right (free), and the Open Source community is awesome for sharing tricks and tips. The software is fully featured, and in my case, the results are only limited by skill level. I'm still learning, so if you find any errors, or have suggestions, please drop me a line in the Ask an Amateur section. February 20th, 2007 Okay, so I know I'll get very little sympathy from those in other parts of Canada, but I always have trouble dealing with gardening withdrawal during the winter. It all starts in the fall, when the nursery trade begins to throw in the towel. The mass merchants get out of the business altogether. Then the garden centers begin to scale back their hours and plant selection. Their final bit of effort is the fall bulbs, and then it just gets depressing to visit the nurseries, there's so little to see. (Some nurseries do a bit better at keeping it going during winter. See my page on local nurseries.) In my own garden, there are still some points of interest. In sheltered spots, my roses still throw off the odd bloom well into the fall and winter, while others display bright red or orange hips on their canes over the Christmas season. A few of my shrubs have an interesting winter season. I have a compact strawberry bush, Arbutus unedo "compacta" which puts on a display of white flowers right through mid-winter. There's a camellia in the front yard which blooms around the same time. Later on, I have a Viburnum bodnantense 'Pink Dawn' which blooms very nicely on bare branches... it's probably the showiest thing in my garden all winter. However, most of the garden turns to brown and gray during the cold season (again, I think I can almost hear the taunts of those Canadians in less moderate climates). I suppose it ultimately adds something to the hobby to take this forced break each year. If I were to wax more spiritual, I'd say that it allows contemplation on the impermanence of life. The seasonal cycle of rebirth in the garden is a powerful analogy to our own mortality. On a more mundane level, it simply provides a pause for a gardener to savour anticipation for the upcoming growing season. In either way of looking at it, the wave of new life in spring would not seem as precious if it weren't for winter. (Any comments from gardeners in more tropical climates? Am I just blowing smoke to make myself feel better, since you have the sun AND green plants all year 'round?) In the early winter, I find myself going through my books. This year, it was mostly roses. Last year it was native plants. The year before, I think it was daylilies. As the winter wears on, I get more and more anxious for my hobby to start again. Then, somewhere at the beginning of February, things begin to happen. I see the seed displayers arriving in the stores. The crocuses and early irises bloom, and even some of my species tulips put up their leaves early. In the meantime, garden catalogues have been arriving. I got mine from Fraser's Thimble Farms this week. Oh, and I put in an order for more roses from Hortico. Just for anyone interested, here's what I ordered: Emily Gray Ghislaine de Feligonde Complicata Earth Song Cardinal Hume Altissimo Polka Ispahan Buff Beauty (For those really interested, I linked the roses listed above to their pages on Helpmefind Roses.) I selected these roses from a list of roses which, for one reason or another, had caught my attention while going through books, and browsing web sites. I chose Hortico because they carried all of the roses I wanted. To be fair, there were other nurseries which had a good selection as well, but I didn't want to have to pay shipping three times to get the roses I wanted. In truth, I'm not sure I have room for every one of these roses (particularly the climbers), but I can probably chalk up my exuberance to the season. Hey, you deal with winter your way, and I'll deal with it mine.