First of all, this WAS my house in Saratoga before I moved to Missouri.

One of the most relaxing things in the world for me was to work in the gardens. Eventually I'll get more pictures scanned in. I had 52 rose bushes, a pond complete with waterfall, a grape arbor, and WAY too many perennial beds (than you very much Roy!). Here in Missouri my yard is clay and gravel. The clay is as hard as rock when dry and knee deep when wet. The guy I bought the house from worked on cars in the yard and had gravel broutht in. It was almost 5 feet deep at the end of the yard. I had as much of it removed as possible but imagine gravel mixed in with the clay. Now imagine trying to dig in that mess when it's dry enough to walk on. It SUCKS!!! I'm in the process of having topsoil brought in so I can actually start gardening again. It's been four years in the making but maybe this year the yard can get finished off and it will actually be able to start showing some progress. I hope so. My yard #1, My yard #2, My yard #3 . Pretty sad!

I have friends, bless their pointy little heads, who live in CA who take great pride in rubbing in the fact that they did not get a winters like I did in the great northeast. They don't HAVE to cut back their roses to accommodate the winter protection that was necessary there. They have a MUCH longer season and therefore get HUNDREDS of flowers from their plants. You people KNOW who you are. You're are very cruel people!! Here are photos of what my poor roses looked like in the cold upstate New York winters. These particular photos are for the benefit of those cruel friends who have no idea what a rose cone is for. Each little hump is a cone covering a rose. Now you see why they had to be cut back every stinkin' year. This is what rose growers in the great Northeast have to deal with. Photo #1, Photo #2, Photo #3