As a follow-up to this issue, the Jan/Feb 2006 issue of Garden Design magazine has a short article on the pros and cons of rubber mulch. While this publication is not known for its technical articles (tends to be more visual and fluffy), I found this encapsulated info to be particularly relevent to this discussion. The article was a review of various scientific studies conducted with product and seemed to be rather unbiased. On the positive side, it reports that the primary plus was that it made use of 100% recycled materials. It also noted that when used as a mulch recycled rubber won't attract insects or termites and has a 95% weed supression capacity. On the negative side, it has the potential to leach zinc into soils, it is susceptible to combustion, it can include ground steel (steel-belted radials), which can be dangerous, it has an unpleasant chemical odor at least when fresh and it takes 100+ years to breakdown. The final recommendation was that it is a product that is best used for decorative rather than strictly horticultural purposes. Probably the most telling aspect of the article was a quote by Rufus Chaney of the USDA Agricultural Research Service that advised that for the zinc factor alone "rubber should never be used in gardens or compost". I'd certainly expand that to include container gardening as well.

I've learned not to wear sweaters when pruning. They catch and snag constantly. If it is all that cold, I put on a sweatshirt which has a smooth exterior. I recently bought a zip front sweatshirt with a fleece lining in a man's size small. I had looked for one in women's sizes for many years, and never found one. It is really warm; so much so that if I'm still cold in that it is time to go inside and call it a day. And if it is not that cold, heavy twill or denim shirts are the best protection. Again, look at the men's or boy's departments. Rose pruning time is not the time to make a fashion statement. Rosefolly

Patrick, What a wonderful gift to your mother and sister, and loving tribute to your late dad! It's one thing to dream up a grand project like that, and quite another to labour at it month after month, as you have done. And you have such good taste! Your lyrical descriptions have sustained me while waiting for my first Molineux buds to open, and I have saved for reference your treatise on fragrant roses. You are so right about The McCartney Rose, it's a monster! I hope you will not regard it as bad etiquette to add pictures to your post, but I would like to dedicate these photos of McCartney to your huge heart and enterprise. This plant has been in the ground since 2005, I can't imagine what your mum's bush was like! And a close-up of those amazing blooms: I would love to see what you have done there and also with your own garden creation. Do hurry up and post pictures! MayBee

I love all these plant ideas. Most I've heard of, many I've grown, and some are going to open new doors for me! Thank you, everyone! PeaceofMind - I had totally forgotten cleome. I grew it in California; it got over 5' tall and wide. It's wonderful. Gardening for seven years in California, and then moving to North Dakota is a shock to the gardener's soul. Still, "Bloom where you're planted!" has always been my motto. Roses; Lavender Lass, NHBabs, and MNWSgal - I'm going to study the roses you suggested. I would love at least one rose in the garden. Stepping Stones - I'm picking up several large ones today. I have a couple 12" stepping stones in the Hosta garden. While they do the job, I sometimes have to stand on tiptoe with one foot on a stone, then bend and stretch to reach whatever I'm fixing. My old stiff body is starting to rebel at such gymnastics, so more stones are in order. I checked out a neighbor's large garden the other day. She has pathways of stepping stones through the center, and branching off to the various areas. Her stones are all larger, 16" or 18" in diameter. It's so easy to "walk" through her garden. Once the plants are up you don't even see the larger stepping stones. Idea stolen! LOL Restraints and Issues - My front yard is flat; the deck is flat; the front of the house is flat. There is one tall, but puny, white spruce tree to the left of the gardens. I keep all the bird feeders there. They are a source of amusement and joy during the long winters. I sit near the tree in summer and enjoy not only the feeder birds, but the Purple Martins at the end of the garden path. I drew the outlines of the gardens to miss the tree's shade and keep the garden plants in full sun. Past the Driveway - I cannot plant anything to the south (left) of the driveway. Wes keeps a 14' trailer and his boat, parked to the left of the garage. He has to pull them out into that grassy area before getting on the driveway. I do have a potting deck and bench against the fence. We measured and tested the clearances before he built it. Purple Martins - From the spruce tree, on the other side of the gardens, near the drive way, is the only place in our three-city-lot sized yard that I can have the 15' tall Purple Martin pole. It's just visible in the upper right corner of the first photo, and in the background of the "tomatoes" photo. Their colony has to be 40 feet from trees in every direction; they have to have open flyways; there cannot be tall plants near the pole, etc. My PMs come first. They arrive every mid-April, raise their young, and leave the first week of August. I have hosted them every summer since 2003. I will try to not go all weepy and happy talking about them, but because of them I can't have anything too tall in the gardens. The obelisk is fine; it's far enough away. The tomatoes closest to the pole was worrying them last year so I'm not putting tall plants past the middle part of the garden. If it came down to the garden or the Purple Martins, the birds would win hands down. Still I hope to make this a colorful, scented, interesting, balanced, and pretty garden. I want to make the hummingbirds, butterflies, and all the little warblers and wrens happy while they gobble bugs. Shrubs - I could not put any shrubs in the garden that get more than two or three feet tall. Do you think I could get a sense of "height," "structure," or "design" with shrubs this size? Suggestions? Steps and Deck - We've discussed putting shrubs on either side of the steps, near the deck area. We both love evergreens and the angled steps make two perfect niches for shrubs. I just need to research what would do best. I would like them to be no more than 5-6 feet tall; they could be slender, or they could be more conical but no more than 3-4 feet around at the base. I would set them out from the corners so when even when mature they would not look squeezed in. Wes' main concern with the clematis on the deck is the moisture, and the stringy dead vines all winter long. My beloved Jackmanii could be cut down every fall. I don't know what the problem really is. I know he would not mind a grouping of evergreens along the deck as long as he could get between them and the rails. If I staggered them and grouped them correctly they could add a sense of a background to the garden. Any suggestions on evergreens? We would not want to have to prune them. Winter Interest - I don't have to worry about this. Once the 3'-4', or more, of snow falls, nothing is visible. We put tall orange stakes at the edges so Wes can snow-blow my path to the birdfeeders without hitting the garden rocks. I didn't have this problem with my California, or Delaware, or Arkansas gardens! :) Last Spring - This was taken last year on June 6. We had just started planting the veggies; some of the Purple martins had returned and Spring was in the air. We don't plant things before the end of May here. We're expecting snow this Friday. You can see the areas by the steps where I could put two matching shrubs. Do you think those two, and maybe three (?) something near the right end of the deck would help give some backdrop/height to the gardens? I'm moving the flag pole bracket (on front facing left post) to the left of the front door. That will move it back 8 feet more away from the birds. It "bothered" them last year. Here is most of the front yard. Our yard goes from the privacy fence and white garage on the left, to past the bird feeder tree to the right. The back yard is just as big, but it's filled with trees, is in full shade all day long, and is the summer domain of the two mostly-in-the-house pups (huge hunting dogs.) No gardening to be done back there. :) That leaves the right-hand section of the front yard to fulfill all my gardening fantasies. You can see the other side of the steps which are begging for an evergreen, the tomatoes, and the PMs' gourds. He pulls the trailer or boat out often in the summer. Thankfully not enough that it destroys the grass. I hope to get a new system for the birds by next spring. I want to elevate the gourds up to 18-20 feet. They'll feel safer, and it will take the gourds out of the line of sight from the street to the house. From mid-April to early-August my yard is filled with the joy, the wonderful songs and calls, and the aerial flight displays of the voracious flying insect eaters. The ones with the lighter colored chests are the fledges (babies just learning to fly) from last year. The dark "black" (iridescences purple) ones are the males, the ones with dark grey chests are the females.