I'm so jealous! That is very beautiful! What's that tall plant in the first picture? The one with white flower and purple flower. Can I have seeds please?

Also, the dark purple foliage plant in the second picture,I love it. What is it?

The two that you mentioned are:

First: Hydrangea "White Moth" - a shrub

Second: Is Purple Heart - a perennial, not grown from seed...

Thanks

Carrie

Great pics! Hopefully you'll get to collect some seed from the 'Purple Heart'.

Sandy

I actually didn't think you could collect seeds from them... they are perennials and even though they overwinter in the ground here - if it's unusually cold (and it could get down to the teens here), they don't come back.

I dig them up and pot them and leave them in my garage. I've never seen seeds - the flowers are so small, I never noticed.

Carrie

Beautiful gardens Carrie! And I've picked up a tip - - the mellys look great with the pink profusion zinnias! I grow both but not together anywhere and will aim for a patch next year. I also have white profusion this year that I could save seed from and mix in too.

I wish my mellies would self sow robustly. I had good luck collecting seeds last year and do have a bunch growing, but it would be easier if it would self seed! (Like the amaranth - lord - everywhere)
Anyway, thanks for the pics!

Nancy

Gorgeous!! You never disappoint with your photos. Just lovely.

If Neil wants, you could collect seeds from the Hydrangea and I'm sure they could be winter sown. Although Dave's Garden states that "plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed" I would try it because a few years ago I received seeds of Hydrangea Pee gee from a good trader and I now have several Pee gees around the property as do many friends who I gave seedlings to. Dave's Garden says the same thing about Pee Gee seeds. They don't take very long to grow.

:D Thanks tiffy! I really would love to have some seeds of that plant! It is gorgeous!

Neil - that plant you refer to has only cream flowers - the purple you see is probably the butterfly bush

Carrie

Yep, and I am so in love with it. It's because I saw it at Chicago. Here is a pic which I took 2 or 3 weeks ago. However, I am not sure if it's hydrangea. If not, can someone please identify it? I want to have them in my garden too. :D

{{gwi:432274}}

Hey Neil - I think that Hydrangea is Pee Gee "Limelight" - but you know if you post that picture on the Hydrangea forum they would know much more than me...

Carrie

I wish the melapodium self seeded for me. Got mine planted very late this spring and they have stayed small. The purple plant is an annual in our area and easy to start from cuttings. I got a piece last fall from a friend which I rooted in water and planted in one of my large pots this year. Will take cuttings soon to winter over.

Please tell me what the tall pink flower is in the center of the third photo.

I always enjoy seeing your flowers.

Thanks - Actually, the tall pink flower in the center is either tall pink zinnias (Walmart seeds) or a reseeded Amaranthus...

I did very little gardening this year, that is why my border is not as colorful as in the past years (with profusions, etc.) - Since the melas reseeded, I decided to just go with them - unfortunately, though - they will now reseed into the grass (or I should say weed.. cause our grass is terrible this year).

Those pictures weren't very good - I have tons of Angelonia, Vinca and Magellan Zinnias - but they are overpowered by the melas.

Cararie

Love those mellies!

Wow, Carrie. Everything still looks fresh. My garden is fading fast. I am starting to yank stuff, though I have only a very small start. My husband yanked/dug up all the tomatoes already, left only 2 or 3.

The mellies can get out of control. I can only leave a few volunteers each year, and often by mid-summer I have to chop those in half because they start swallowing up other plants. I do like them though- they're so drought tolerant, need no deadheading... what's not to love?

Karen

Karen - you are so right about the melas - my pictures are not showing any other flowers other than those melas...

I should have taken more pictures of my red/blues salvias, etc., but just had show pictures of how heavily those melas reseed.. unbelievable. I have actually cut some back and removed some - so you can imagine how they have taken over.

Carrie

I've already had two babies pop up from the first seeds that dropped. I think next year I'll be selling them on the curb. I got mine from Carrie. We just dug them up and I brought them home. Some have gotten huge.

Token: If they get to big for their spot, they can be hacked back and they do fine. They just look kind of dumb/mis-shaped for a couple of weeks.

Mellies are about my last volunteers to show up each year. You just have to watch for them and scratch out the excess to keep them in control because they can quickly take over an area to the detriment of their sun-loving neighbors. I have some doing that now but I am ready to yank them anyway.

Karen

This morning I yanked a few (after looking at those pictures - all yellow yuck!) and transplanted some pink magellan zinnias (already bloomed) from my holding bed - what a difference. Too much of a good thing isn't great!

But... with that said - - it was an easy fill on those borders without any work :0)

Carrie

Great pics of great gardens Carrie. I love the reds and purples tucked in here and there. It really makes the yellow pop.

Looking good, Carrie! The 'Purple Heart' does put out seed - they are like teeny black stones. I've got a pot of them growing inside, trying to take over my bedroom. When it gets totally out of hand, I just break off some pieces and stick 'em in water - they root really easily. I've been supplying everybody I know with cuttings for a few years now - and I got the original plant from two snips off a plant in the gardens outside my office building.

PV

Thanks flood/pv

Pv - I know what you mean about cuttings - that's why I have so many of them - but I actually just cut mine and stick them right into the dirt (like I cut about four or five and bunch them together). They are amazing.

Carrie

nice as usual.... my gardens are really dull. I have so many WS items that bloom year two. I hope next year to have more of an impact

love BB bushes. Mine are getting bigger but no blooms.
Karen