Hi WestEnder,

"I really enjoyed looking at the photos of your garden. All those beautiful roses! And I also especially liked your use of decorative items; not too few, not too many, and always well-placed. Now for the big question: How many years have you been working on getting your garden to this point? Please, please say 20 or 30. If you got it looking that good in just a few years I'll feel so inadequate!"

This garden took about 9 yrs. to do. Many of the plants aren't nearly that old. The cobblestone path is about 5 yrs. old, and it was after that was put in that I really got "inspired". I do have one rosebush ,"Heritage", that is about 9 yrs. old. This all came about because of a woman that let her 3 dogs run wild and I got tired of them pooping and messing up my poor little annuals in my yard. So up went the picket fence, the arbor came a few yrs. later, the more arbors, blah, blah, blah. We get new ideas every year and just add on. Before the cobblestone I had a few rose bushes, and some other plantings, but much of that has been removed and replaced. I don't work (outside of the home) so I have a lot of time to work in the garden. And even if something is going on and I DON'T have time that year, I do get out there and work in spurts, sometimes just doing what has to be done. But the best thing we ever did was to amend this red clay! And that is still a constant chore....a lot of my deadheading, cutting back, and pruning goes under things so as to enrich the soil. I try not to make it too obvious tho,ha! I just pitch it as far back under a planting as I can. I'm also anal about watering and feeding.

All in all I have to say that sometimes I'm amazed at the speed at which this has come together. But when you love something and it knows it, I think it shows. And BTW, I think the pix look better than my actual garden! Lol!

Donna