They can be cool and clever, but just as often, the floral expression of patriotism tends toward the cheesy. Have you seen displays done well? What flowers work particularly well? Or should gardeners leave the flag-waving to actual flags?

What’s your vote — yes or no to red, white and blue flowers?

Flowers are like fireworks. Peonies, iris, lily — big bangs are often big crowd pleasers. After our cold grey winters these bright blooms are a jolt of color therapy.

When our friends, Gene and Kelly (yes, Gene Kelly) gave me some forget-me-nots, I was expecting some small to medium-sized flowers. Instead, I fell in love with teeny-tiny blue blooms. (Seriously, if Hello Kitty made a Lego set, these would snap in place just outside her doorstep.)

Where big blooms can’t help but draw attention to themselves, there is something incredibly sweet about stumbling upon such a small surprise. Ah, the joy of discovery!

Do you have a big love for tiny flowers? What are you favorites? Where do your plant them to maximize their sweetness?

Have you ever noticed when something (or someone) gets stuck in your craw you suddenly see it everywhere?

My ex-boyfriend, for example, drove a gold Vovlo grocery-getter, a boxy station wagon popular with suburban families in the early 90’s — and even more popular with urban hipsters in the late 90’s. While we were dating, it was the only one on the road. After we broke up, everyone was vrooming around in a Volvo. Did Denny Hecker have another hail super sale?

I know this sounds a little neurotic, but five years later, I’m having the same experience with hostas. Yes, HOSTAS.

Once I started to notice these prolific perennials I could not “un-notice” them. Ringed around tree trunks, mailboxes and birdbaths, Minnesotans are hot and heavy for hostas. Isn’t there any else you can plant under your pines? Perhaps some Snow-on-the-Mountain? (Oh, wait… that’s almost as prolific as hostas.)

When I moved into my first house, I swore I’d dig up every hosta and dump them on the curb with a big FREE FOR YOUR BIRDBATH sign. But soon, I began to wise up. Rain, hail, drought — many plants ended their lives in my compost bin, but these green machines could take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.

This year, as I watch my neighbors plant their hostas in full-sun, I feel a need to intervene. “Step away from your shovel. All this plant needs is a little shade. Exposure to full-sun all day will stress your hosta to death!”

I guess you could say I’ve officially changed from a hosta hater to a hosta sympathizer. They aren’t the one size-fits-all gardening solution in my yard, but they are very hardy place-holders that have earned my respect.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you learned to appreciate a plant you once disliked?

Our fiddle head ferns are in in full swing. One day, they’re tiny green question marks. The next day, the backyard is full of four-foot fronds of luscious green feathers. They grow so thick in the spring that we’ve renamed the north side of our house “Jurassic Park”.

By July, the angle of the sun changes and my green ferns fry to a crisp brown. Not very attractive to say the least. I’ve transplanted a few ferns to other parts of my yard to spare them from the summer BBQ season. So far, I haven’t had any luck. They don’t appreciate my relocation efforts and are quite happy to do their own thing.

Maybe the answer isn’t to move the ferns, but plant different kinds of ferns in the same location to offset the July die-back. Hmmm… Perhaps I’m just looking for an excuse to buy more plants?

How are your ferns doing this spring? What are your favorites? What have given you the most trouble? Do you have any tips for successful transplanting?

Another uber-busy weekend came and went at the SLP Cat Ranch. Saturday afternoon, the BF and I hosted my grandfather’s birthday party. There’s something exhilarating about preparing and cooking kabobs for 20 people, lighting candles on your mother’s homemake chocolate cake and singing happy birthday to an 85 year-old man who’s still sharp as a tack.

There’s also something equally exhilarating about helping your last guests to their car, changing out of your best-dressed duds and pulling on your dirty work jeans and garden gloves.

I had no energy left for dirty dishes, but there was plenty for prairie plants. No sod is safe when you have a shovel in one and a microbrew in the other.

Here’s the side yard before I got down to business. I really like our neighbors, but I don’t like the view. There is nothing aesthetically pleasing about chain-link fence or dead grass.

This side of the yard is right next to the driveway and is too narrow for shrubs. It also gets full sun all day long, so I decided to plant the new bed with some tall native grasses and flowering prairie plants. The bed looks rather bare now, but I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Are you nutty for natives? What flowering prairie plants or grasses have you planted? Any surprises?