As a newbie gardener who is just studying the basic strategies to start a garden from scratch, you will find out that gardening is not a simple undertaking. Maintaining your lawn or upgrading your veggie garden could be challenging, but chances are you face the greatest difficulties when planting your flower beds. The sizes and shapes of flower beds you can go for are so varied that choosing what's best for your garden is a tough job. Obviously, you will need smart tips to lean on when planting flower beds is ahead of you:

• Know how to layer your flower beds - to create a flower border that pleases the eye, you need to adopt the best layering strategy for your newly added flower beds. Basically, layering involves three stages of arranging - starting with the lowest ground cover, going through mid-height and finishing the border with the tallest plants. Stick to that layering technique and you will manage to organise your garden symmetrically. Alpines, Erigeron and Pachysandra are some of the most outstanding species that can form your ground cover. Taller plants like Geraniums and Heleniums are great solutions when you want to create the mid-layer of your flower border. As far as the third layer is concerned, plants with a height between 1-2 meters are what will make the flower bed look complete. You have many wonderful options here -from tall grasses to well-kept shrubs or even Shrub Roses, tall species will bring the eye up, adding a sense of harmony to your garden.

• Pay special attention to the colour palette - while all strategies for planting flower beds are equally important, choosing the right colours is where most homeowners make a mistake. Expert gardeners believe that mixing various colours is only reasonable when the design of your garden space is well thought out. If you are not careful with the combination you intend to make, your flower beds might look far from tranquil. Typically you will have to choose between monochromatic shades and contrasting ones. Ask yourself what effect you wish to achieve after your flower beds have been planted. Do you want your garden to look calm or you prefer drama to set the tone? If calmness is what you desire, choose monochromatic shades. In the opposite case, you can take some risks and opt for contrasting colours. Still, unless you are absolutely certain about the future vision of your garden, you should better go for monochromatic flower beds. With this option, you don't run the risk of turning your garden space into an ill-conceived area.

• Try with repetitive species in the flower bed - before you head out to the market and purchase your brand-new flowers, you should think about repetition in your flower beds. In a word, repetition means planting more than a single bulb of one species in the flower bed. Whether you would prefer to repeat the colour of your flowers or you intend to create a curious shape in the flower bed, repetition is your best bet for a picture-perfect garden. Figure out a repetitive pattern to boost the effect you want to achieve with your plants. If creating a formal garden is what you have passion for, you can plant your flowers in straight lines. In any other case, however, you can lay plants in 3’s or 5’s to avoid a garden that looks too simple and boring. Great examples of provocative patterns are triangles and drifts of 3 or 5 plants.

Planting flower beds is one of those gardening jobs that provide the possibility for making a mistake. Now that you have improved your knowledge on the subject, you will get the opportunity to design your garden space just like a real expert.

©Local Gardeners

A tour bus from Mississippi goes to the Troyer's farm so see how the Amish live. As Simon Troyer is showing how to milk a cow, two of the tourists drop dead. Now the police and the Ohio Department of Health are all over the Troyer farm. Chloe is called in by Chief Rose to take the place of the deceased tour guide so she can keep the tourists in Knox County to complete her investigation. With the chief's blessings, Chloe investigates and lets the chief know the results of her investigation.

I loved this book. I liked that the Chief could work with Chloe. I also liked how things are changing within the Troyer family. I love Grandfather Zook. He is not the staid buttoned-down Amish grandfather. He has a sense of humor that comes out and gets the family through some of the traumas that have befallen them and their community. He and Chloe are great together. I love Timothy and how he has to walk a fine line between his Amish upbringing and what Chloe wants, needs, and expects. He does not always succeed but he and she work it out. Some of the secondary tourists were a riot, especially Gertie and her fish jerky.

The story was good and I had a hard time putting it down. I did not figure out the murderer until the end. Sad!

I hope this is not the last book of the series. I love these characters.

Charming Books is handling a book signing at Morton Vineyards with a famous wine reviewer and author. A murder happens and Violet stumbles upon the body. Mrs. Morton, of course, blames Violet for the bad publicity at the winery. So Vi does as she always does. She investigates especially when one of the suspects is her best friend, Lacey.

This book was really good. The story was realistic. I had a hard time putting it down. Things happen in the bookstore when David is there and Violet needs to decide to trust him or not. She also learns much about Nathan that she can use to help her close her past. I did not figure out who the murderer was until the murderer comes out at the end of the book. This is the best book of the series so far. I cannot wait to read the next book and I hope more are coming.

 Bailey goes to visit her grandparents when she learns that her grandfather's health is failing. While there she learns of much she did not know about them. She also discovers the body of a man who wants to buy her grandparent's candy shop. With the whole family under suspicion of murder, she needs to find out who did it before one of them ends in prison.

I enjoyed this book. It sets up the series well. I liked Bailey. She puts her life on hold while helping out her grandparents. I liked that being with them in the Amish community brings her to question her choices in her English life. The story was good. I did not figure out the murderer until it was explained in the end.

I look forward to the rest of the series.

Jennifer, recovering from pneumonia, is offered a job on Everett Culhane's ranch. She takes it as she is in a dead-end job and is enamored with Texas. When Everett discovers Jennifer's past, he cruelly drives her away. But neither is able to get past their relationship.

I enjoyed this story. It is an alpha/ingenue story but well done. Everett knows he has to make amends while controlling his alpha tendencies. Both need to learn how to forgive and push pass their pride. When they are together they are dynamite. I also liked how Everett's employees let Jennifer know what Everett has done when she was gone. Jennifer was able to put him in his place and hold her own against him.

This is a sweet read. I love reading Diana Palmer.