Robin2 - Be careful where you plant your bamboo. If it takes, it will spread and root itself for life. We had to cut it down and pour illegal poison (even Drano didn't kill it) when it established itself at one end of a formal garden. But it is spectacular in the right place.

I am looking at lilac trees across the road from my home. Huge purple lilac trees. In NY these would have come and gone by now. The iris are up but not blooming yet. And the dandelions have taken over the world...fortunate, since it is the preferred diet of Momma Groundhog and her three babies who have taken up residence under my porch. She is working on shaping up the cats who flee in terror at her chattering.