Have you heard that the Chelsea Flower Show is sold out? How nice a trip it would
be to go to the flower shows and the great country gardens. I pray that I may
one day see Sissinghurst and Hidcote Manor plus many more of the grand English
gardens.
If you don't feel like driving to the local nursery or investing in 
Contemporary Home Gardens
or art objects, then perhaps just stay at home and order antique
roses from www.antiqueroseemporium.com. The Home Garden will look the better for it.
Three roses I recommend are Souvenir dela Malmaison, Sombreuil, and Mme Isaac
Pereire.
Guess we are through with winter like weather, or at least it is about time. past time.
This week I went to Petals From the Past in Jemison, Alabama. It's the best garden center in
Alabama by far. They also had antique vendors on location for the day only. People were
there from everywhere. There were lines to wait on a wagon to haul your plants. There were
lines to check out.
It was worth the hassle of crowds, though. I have been looking for a Laceleaf Japanes Maple (Acer palmatus 'Dissectum
Veridis') for four years. Now at last, I have one. Yesterday I planted it in my shade garden opposite to Pieris 'Temple Bells" and Yellow Berries Nandina.
I've still got to plant my vegetables in 
the home garden
, and to add an Italian
Cypress as part of the 
Contemporary Garden Design
I would truly like to know how the San Francisco Flower Show, since the bay area has been such a great
area for landscape architecture.
Get yourself a beauty bush now. My Kolkwitzia has never been so lovely as it is this week.
The American Legion poppies are to kill for. After such a sad week, it's nice to have pretty
blossoms to cheer yourself up.
It's been a gorgeous week in the Blackbelt with daytime temperatures in the low to mid 70s.
Almost everywhere you go, people are talking about the tragedy in Blacksburg. The students are at an age to celebrate life, and not at the age of dealing with death among their contemporaries. When I was that age, we all thought we would live forever.
Do you think Winter will ever be over this year? Every week in April,we
have temperatures to dip down in their 30s. And Snow is blanketing
Midwest and Northeast and thousands of passengers are stranded. I wonder how the Boston Marathon will play out today.
Two of my favorite practioners in Contemporary Garden Design do a lot of work in the D.C. area.
They are James vanSweden and Wolfgang Oehme. I would like to know if they create a
garden at the D.C. Flower Show.
How are things going on in the home garden? Are you under snow or 80 degrees. Saw on T.V.
where a lot of the midwest is blanketed with snow. Well I think I was wrong about the peach
crop. Also the strawberries suffered .
How are things coming along this spring in the home garden ? Since about any style is o.k. to use in 
Contemporary Garden Decor , here is a good website to order from - www.jacksonpottery.com . If you are into mexican pottery, and need small pots or vases, you my want to give www.clayzee.com/business/import_export/ . They even have things to decorate your on
your own secret garden. .`Do make sure the style of decorative objects is appropriate to your home and garden style. Mexican pottery is so colorful. I had a nice lovely
piece in Mobile, that I forgot to take when I moved, I have missed it a great deal. It looked so
nice being nailed to a brick wall.
The t.v. stations had us all in a tizzy. With tales of no peach crops etc. But in Central Alabama
even though the temperatures were low, it was not enoough to cause much harm. It's very cool
today, but in two days , unfortunatelyl the temperatures will be in the eighies ago. Not only
are plants confused, so are the animals. The snakes were sunny on rocks last week. while this
week , they were no were to be founds, thank God. Blanche, my little lap dog was shivering this
morning. Guess everyone heard of the bad news coming out of the world conference on global warming. Did you hear about the Supreme Court telling the EPA to get tougher.
The other day I read in some blog someone's opinions on the mega flower shows versus the small ones. He ended his posts asking people if the Philadelphia Flower Show was still No. 1.
and was it as good as it use to be. I only saw it in 1981 and it was great.
Here in zone 8 most high spring plants have finished blooming , except for George Tabor Azaleas , Lady Banks Roses, and Kwanzan Cherries. Last year my Chinese snowball and Palibin
Lilac failed to bloom because of late frost. This year they are in their prime and it's suppose
to freeze. Some many roses have started blooming, American Legion poppies, bachelor's
buttons, and much more. Tonight it looks like they are doomed because of freezing weather.
This is bad, but much worse is the peach crop for 07 in Alabama. Chilton County is famous
for its peaches, the farmers are on pins and needles.
I guess the Yoshino cherries in Washington will get it to. They were so pretty this year in
central Alabama. Dang crazy weather. It seems to get stranger each year.
Scientists give dire predictions at global warming seminar in Brussels. The poor it seems
will be the most vulnerable.
Well the Yoshino Cherries in D.C. are at their peak. Pollen counts have been out the roof.
In Atlanta last week I think the count was 5,928 , where 120 is suppose to be a bad day.
I am really impressed with Woodlanders Nursery in Aiken, S.C. They have so many hard to
find plants at very good prices. Among 15 plants I ordered some Black Bamboo for just $18.00.
I had seen it advertised in other catalogues for over $100. You can order plants from them
online at www.woodlanders.net. Can't wait to see what Alexandrian Laurel and my Yellow
Berries Nandinas will look like in a few years, along with the paper bush, Edgeworthia.
Now with such small Contemporary Home Gardens , you must be extremely selective in choosing plants. It's sad there is such little room for experimentation.
