Wide circle driveways dont happen much anymore, but when they do, what do you do with them? Clear out the grass, mound up some soil, and park a few boulders in strategic positions and youve got the perfect spot for an artistic rose garden. Plant some dark green Juniper and a few golden-tipped junipers for background color before adding your roses.

Invite people into your garden with planned paths, safe benches (protective distance from pokey thorns), and a shade providing arbor. A garden structure can be as formal or rustic as you please, make your choice, and design what suits your style. Personally, I prefer rustic structures, so mine sports rough hewn pine lodge poles and leather lashings.

Cedar chips and lava rock provides moisture retaining mulch for the area. Low growing juniper and an occasional spot of Shasta daisies around the edge of the drive provide additional color and flora. A gazing ball nestled near the path, and bird feeders, add life to the garden without intruding. A birdbath near the center offers a restful trickle of water for those quiet afternoon siestas on a bench nestled into a cove of tall growing juniper.

No circle driveway available for this garden design? Find a corner of your yard, or create an island oasis for roses in the middle of a broad expanse of lawn. For more definition, rough-cut logs, cut to different lengths can be buried around the edges, except for the footpaths.

I prefer the rough look of open edges blending out to black top. Specific design details would be best left to the planter of this garden. Each person has their own preferences. I like blending short and tall growing versions of various plants, however, some folks want a more formal appearance.

Jan Verhoeff

Somewhere between college and life, Jan began to focus on other people. Her intense need to feel accomplishment in her life drove her to finding a deeper contentment than just existing in the hoot 'n holler of southeastern Colorado. While the beauty of the prairie never escaped her eye for color and beauty, the intensity of her desire kept her moving ever onward.

Summers in Michigan and Tennessee brought her closer to something, but it wasn't until much later, as an adult, mother of four that she began to understand that her need for accomplishment included sharing what she had learned along the way. It also meant that her talent for painting the dream and writing her thoughts had a lot to do with her accomplishments.

She began to focus on actually writing down her thoughts and ideas in journals, revealing her prayer thoughts and life events. Bits of paper became treasures of memory, and a notebook became an outlet of hope and a step of faith. Jan put her thoughts on paper, and began to publish them, where she found opportunity, including various magazines, trade journals, and local publications. Her interests in business and new enterprise became a resounding outlet for her talent, and wisdom for those who sought it. Jan's interest in business development became her trademark, resulting in her first book publication in !992, "Building a Business: From Scratch". This 22 page booklet was published by a local printer in a vertical brochure format, selling more than a thousand copies nation wide. It has resurfaced in college classes as the basis for college term papers, graduate thesis, and research documents for small business courses over the past 13 years.

Seeking more diverse outlets for her talents, Jan most recently has written several short stories published in various books, including: "Stories for the Trail" with the Lamar Writer's Group, "Prickly Points of Life" a combination poetry/short story collection of Jan's work, and "Coffee Clatter" a bound collection of written works originally published in a newsletter published by her daughter, Brenna, as a Sophomore Year Project when she was homeschooling at Buchanan Academy.

More recently her work is available in a newsletter she publishes weekly via email, and various blogs listed on the right side of this page.

You may contact Jan at: janverhoeff@yahoo.com