Gardening is hard work

(Oriental Poppies)

I've been gardening, from 3 to 6 hours a day, every day for the last week or so. I ache all over, and have little to show for it. Like the child moving 7 cars down the toy race track, I have been pushing every car a little way forward every day, and some day (soon, I hope) they'll all achieve the finish line about the same time.

In lieu of a long-winded description of what I'm doing (which I'll get back to later -- it involves digging, transplanting, moving mountains of dirt, fencing, pruning, staking, training and even a little weeding and planting here and there), I'll just append some photos of the highlights of the garden this year -- it's been a cold spring, but it's been great for the roses, in particular.