imholmes The spare gardens with long open spaces, a few carefully selected and placed objects, and strong architectural definitions are the ones I like best. Gardens stuffed with plants seem disorganized and chaotic to me. I like to appreciate each object in it's own time, like the crepe myrtle, draped heavily over the pathway, each branch wrapped in an icy coat, glistening in the sun on the day after an ice storm. A well organized garden is beautiful every season of the year, and in lots of different weather conditions. I care about having a variety of healthy trees ( I counted 55 tonight on my property and still want more) and my interest in flowers is minimal.

Jay Sifford Garden Design imholmes, I can identify with your point of view. The older I get, the more interested in ornamental trees, especially weeping, contorted and prostrate ones, I am becoming. (Anyone can grow and appreciate a tree that grows straight up!) I half jokingly tell people that I could design an entire garden without one flower and one day will do that just to prove my point. With such great year-round structure and variations in foliage color, texture and shape, who needs flowers? I'll have to admit, however, that I do have a certain weak spot for quality daylilies (no Stellas please!), bonariensis verbena, salvias, rudbeckia species, maybe a few others.