roses in my heart

Spring has Sprung!

The sun is shining. Most of the snow has melted. I can see our front lawn. We've taken down the Christmas lights. Yeah, it's spring:)

Les & I are feeling like such 'home-owners' these days... getting a few things cleaned up in our yard, waiting for the snow to melt, planning what we want to plant this year, and dreaming about maybe finishing our drive-way this spring! To that end, we headed off to Gardenscape this past weekend to have a look...

Now, I had never been to Gardenscape before...but what a fun day that was?! With Starbucks in hand we browsed all the booths and planned and dreamed some more. And as a result, I now have wayyy more information about driveways rolling around in my mind than I would have thought possible. I am actually becoming well versed in talking about concrete, surface mounts and paving stones, if you can imagine?! We started out with different ideas in mind, but right now are leaning toward paving stone again. I like the whole idea that if something goes wrong, or time marches on, you can always fix it (vs. cement which would have to be jack-hammered out and re-done). Now we'll just have to see if we can make it fit our budget. If any of you have any advice/suggestions, I'd love to hear them...

I'm also dreaming about rosebushes these days, and what else I might want to put in our back yard (it's like a blank canvas). I bought a beautiful rose bush our first summer in the house, but it didn't make it through the following winter, so last summer I was rosebush-less, which was very sad indeed:( I talked to several ladies at Gardenscape about rosebushes, but I still don't know what to choose. I think I'm going to need advice from my flowering friend, Brenda, who has some gorgeous rosebushes along her driveway!

In the front, I tend to plant (or as some would say 'over-plant') a lot of flowers. This year, we're talking about raising the flower bed a bit and putting some rock-ery around it. Decisions, decisions.... I might need to tour a few of your gardens to get some ideas. I hear that Donna and Gloria both have beautiful flowers (but I've never seen them), and I know that Brenda all but lives in her garden come summer. I think I'll have to go on a tour and maybe pop by for some tea!