One of our grandmothers always told us: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Then the other one took us aside and said: "Actually, if you want to catch flies, the best way is to put a little dish soap in a jar with some vinegar, poke some holes in some plastic wrap, put it over the top of the jar with a rubber band, and set it out on the counter... clears fruit flies right up!"

A dear friend once told us that the time to prune is when the shears are in your hand. A time for everything and everything in its time. We have often used this piece of gentle advice as a salve for the times when we perhaps didn't deadhead as much as we should or we neglected to cut back the azaleas three years in a row. The time to do it? When the shears are in your hand? That's the right time

This time of year is always asking for a picnic. But this time of year THIS year it's practically insisting on it.