Today I planted the Yellow Lady Banks Rose. I made a mistake back in early March 1995 when I put my first rose bed in on the far side of the driveway. I had built a bed out of 8" high and 5" wide 8' and 5.5' long railroad timbers to contain the bed with inside dimensions 64"x94" (I left 17" margins and planted six roses 30" apart). The roses did okay for a few years; in fact, I planted Great Scott in March 1998 and won a best-of-show award for a bloom in the Raleigh Rose Show a few months later! But the roses soon stopped doing so well, and it could be because the site was poorly selected with tall trees nearby which have thrown more shadow on that bed over the years, or because I really should not have used railroad ties, poisonous arsenic and all. I decided to let that bed go with little or no care, and have been wondering what to plant there - something that I wouldn't eat (i.e., not herbs) and something dealing well with light shade.

But Lady Banks may work in that bed! I planted her near the far edge of the bed. My thought is that early in the season, there is lots of sun. She grows fast, and I'm planning on training her onto the tall sweet gum tree nearby, where she should get more sun as she climbs.

I gently pruned my winter-blooming honeysuckle by just taking off a little bit of growth here and there, pruning for shape. Not much at all needed to come off. There are still a few fragrant white blooms on the bush.

The kerria japonica is nearing peak bloom! The burning bush (euonymus) is nicely leafing out.

I'm going to be focused on Full Frame, the country's largest documentary film festival, tomorrow through Sunday, and don't expect to be spending much time in the garden. Next week I hope to work on mulching, particularly the azaleas and hollies in front of the house. By the way, I heard that wisteria at Duke Gardens is blooming!