I am a stopwatch gardener. I have to gauge the mood of the house just right to detect when I can even step out the back door — even then, it is always gardening against the clock, with 15 or maybe 30 minutes before somebody says, “Muuuuummmmmmmmmyyyyyy?”

I knew I couldn’t be the only time poor gardening addict, so this blog is for any gardener with more interest than time. I hope I can give some useful advice on what’s doable in brief spurts before the world presses in again. My singular passion is roses, but this garden also gives me all the following throughout the year:

• crocus
• snowdrops
• anemone blanda
• hellebores
• osmanthus
• early tulips
• aquilegia
• heuchera
• peonies
• parrot tulips
• viridiflora tulips
• double late tulips
• muscari
• wallflowers
• lilacs
• anemone de Caen
• apple blossom
• alchemila mollis
• clematis
• wisteria floribunda
• roses
• delphiniums
• sweet peas
• nectaroscordum
• Allium sphaerocephalon
• nepeta
• geum
• eringyium
• monarda
• lilies
• asters
• schizostylis
• liatris
• morning glory