Lots of work but you are very blessed to have such a wonderful garden. It is quite sad to see the flowers bowed down to father Winter. However, seeing snow on roses has its own magical appeal. I think it just makes those of us who have winters more appreciative of the growing season. There is nothing like seeing the snow melt and your roses growing and blooming. It is magical and quite an honour to see nature's handiwork.

Terracing can salvage lots of previously unusable space. I know. My yard is so multi-level that I have terraces all over the place. Kathy- I bought a packet of seeds last year, started them in some of those leftover nursery packs that had annuals in them. Planted them out when they got big enough. Broke each thingy into four and lined up all the plants. They grew and bloomed and NEVER stopped until a hard freeze. We had such a hot summer with record heat and they bloomed thru it all. I rarely watered them either. This spring I was pulling them up out of the daylilies there next to them and tossing them, I have plenty over there along that row.

Good Grief,you have some beauties.Seal of Approval is my favorite one.Its gorgeous.Patchwork Puzzle is beautiful,too and I love Radiant Ruffles,and Filled to Overflowing.. One of these days,i have to have this Seal of Approval and Radiant Ruffle.They are just gorgeous..Thank you for sharing your beautiful DL's Jean

But how did it get into the ground in such a pure form? Layer deposits over very, very, VERY long periods of time--like the limestone that's under my soil. Teeny shelled organisms die, lose their shells, and get deposited in layers that slowly (via compression) form limestone. Chilean nitrate looks to have been formed by planetary ejection and leaching instead of the action of life (which would tend to nibble on the nitrates for energy). It's not that pure, either--six to ten percent, although purer than anywhere else on the planet. he fusion process continues until all of the natural elements in the periodic table are created. Minor point, and only because I'm a stickler. The elements up to iron are formed due to fusion. Iron doesn't give off any energy as it fuses (it requires energy to fuse, actually), and elements above it are only created in a supernova explosion. That's still technically fusion, but it's not driven by the same processes. Here is a link that might be useful: Chilean Nitrate