good morning Alicia, and welcome! :) I am afraid this is a very quiet site, but maybe we can get someone from z3 or near there to respond. I am from z6 in Ontario so our gardening experiences will be very different, but we will still share a love or desire for gardening and growing things. I have gardened for a very long time but discovered winter sowing a few years back. I love it and hope you will too. I love growing my own plants from seed, and not just because they are cheap! lol! start collecting containers (2L pop bottles, juice jugs, larger water bottles, etc.) and then all you will need is some potting soil and some seeds. Once you have decided what you want to plant you may find someone to trade with or to share seeds with you for a SASBE. I have seeds so may have what you are looking for. :) If you haven't discovered it already, then I highly recommend the site, wintersown.org. I will post the link below. Tons of info!! perennials should be out now as many of them will need the freeze thaw cycle to germinate. next will come the hardy annuals, etc. Wishing you lots of success. p.s. let me know about the seeds Lois Here is a link that might be useful: WS info

THIS is the way your mother made her garden grow. She traded thriving plants with friends and neighbors. Which is exactly what we'll be doing at the New England Plant Swap this Spring. Sharing is the best part of gardening. When a plant does well enough here in New England, others want to know about it. They'd like even more to HAVE some of it. If you haven't been to a good, old-fashioned plant swap, you're in for a treat. Pot up your excess prized plants to share. Load up your bounty and head to beautiful Adams Farm at 999 North St. in Walpole MA on June 2, 2012 at 9 am. There, you will meet other, friendly, local gardeners with their booty for sharing. It's simple, free and fun for all. For each plant you bring, you can take a plant from someone else. All the details are at our web site: http://www.newenglandplantswap.org or we may be reached at info@newenglandplantswap.org. We look forward to seeing you there. Your mother would be proud. In fact, BRING your mother and other friends who like to share. Here is a link that might be useful: 2012 New England Plant Swap

Havn't heard of Snapshot, will have to look that up, although I can usually keep up with the weeds in the beds by hand. Took stock during a little stroll around on this beautiful afternoon. The irises are early, and looks like the herbaceous peonies will be, too. Cut a few lilac blossoms to bring inside, and a few hellebore blossoms for an Ikebana arrangement. Planted onion and leek sets and some wintersown lettuce seedlings. Wintersown milkweed is ready for transplant. The October-planted garlic is looking great; probably will have an early harvest this year. Pulled more c. incisa, and deadheaded tulip and daffodils. Water in the pond is just over 55*, so the koi are due for a feeding. The canna rhizomes look like they fared well over the winter, will have to get those planted ASAP. My spirea has grown amazingly, too ... a little too much, actually; I've been thinking about replacing it.

Yes, I have grown both. I love both of them. Well Being has a lovely bloom--more golden yellow with apricot highlights than Lady of Shalott, and the Well Being bloom has more substance than Shalott's does. It is not, however, the most floriferous bush in the world--but mine is not planted in an ideal spot--a bit shady and dry--so I always figured that was the problem. Whenever I remembered to run over with the hose and give it a good drink (I confess, I often forgot to), it seemed to want to start blooming again. At any rate, I have no intentions of getting rid of it--and once again vow to remember to water it more regularly. Needs an occasional spray for BS, but not a big problem. Here are some more pics: Well Being--perhaps a bit too yellow in this pic I love the contrasting reddish buds on Well Being. You can see how the red faintly outlines the rose petals on the opened bloom. The contrasts are really cool sometimes. I have mixed feelings about Lady of Shalott--being a literary person, I wanted to like the Lady, and I must say I like her bright modern colors--they are sometimes sensational, but the blooms don't last too long, and she doesn't rebloom very fast . But again, she isn't planted in the best spot (I've long ago run out of good spots for roses!). Perhaps my biggest disappointment is that she gets spotty and kinda messy looking around the knees from BS--not highly resistant as hyped, though maybe she would do better in more sunshine. On the other hand, I have no plans to get rid of her. She's taller than Well Being and has slender canes arching gracefully outward. Here's some blooms of the Lady--much more apricot with some gold highlights, although this pic shows more of the golden yellow. You can see--a more lax bloom than Well Being has: But look how apricot (with yellow at the base) the Lady can be. More shapely bloom here. Lovely two-toned buds on the Lady. Sometimes gets quite pale on the outer petals. Much more casual, informal approach to canes and blooms than Well Being. Can get quite apricot orange at times. Oh those danged David Austin blooms--soooooooo photogenic. I'm in love with her all over again and just sure that she will do better this year! Two similar but very different roses. You obviously need to get both! : ) Kate