Any rudbeckia. Any shastas. Any hibiscus. Any coreopsis. The rest of what you have listed will be planted this year too, except for the Aster, primrose (which can be invasive here if it's Oenothera - the pink one is incredibly invasive), and spiderwort, another likely invasive plant.

Quite honestly, a lb of seed is a LOT of seeds. You'll be surprised how many seeds of things like the red coreopsis you can get from 4-5 plants.

You want plants that take the heat well, so what Token said. Also gaillardia, agastache, liatris, heliopsis, helenium.

Digitalis...

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Echinaceas...

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Astilbes...

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Rudbeckias/BES...

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There's a lot more, but I do enjoy all of these. :O)

Tiffy,do you know the name of your Astilby?Did you WSit,and when did it first bloom?
It is Beautiful.
cAROL

cAROL, the pictured astilbe looks just like my 'pumila chinensis'--same color and thick, puffy flowerheads rather than the usual spikey flowers you expect from astilbe.

My favorites

A. tuberosa
echinacea
rudbeckia
digitalis
larkspur
cosmos
lavender
salvia
lobelia cardinalis

Like token said, a pound is a LOT of seeds. Think in terms of acquiring small packets, for a dollar or 2. Try a few plants first to see if you even like them- you might not. Some might get too big, some might be invasive, some might have too much problem with disease or bugs. Try a few, if you like them, save seeds. You'll have plenty.

Karen

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I don't plan to buy seed by the pound, just that the company sells seed by the packet, ounce and pound.

It may help if I describe what I want to do. My house is set back from the main road. The driveway goes straight about 700 feet, then curves to the left for about 75-100 feet, then curves to the right to the entrance. I'd love to have a mixed shrub and flower bed along the driveway but I don't have time to do it, nor to care for it if it magically appeared.

Instead, I'll focus on the area closest to the house - a bed or border about 200 feet long, maybe 10 feet wide. I'd like to create a bright, cheerful welcoming area. The house is about 100 feet from the Chesapeake Bay. Challenges are wind, poor soil (I'll do lasagne beds), and occasional flooding during tropical storms and nor'easters.

Given this info, do you have other thoughts or suggestions?

I'd do the whole area in black eyed susans the first year. On prepared ground they'd keep the weeds from popping up and they produce so much seed that the plot can be self sustaining if you want it to be.

They are drought & heat tolerant and can handle winds.

I'd also start a smaller area as a seed farm. When the flowers in the seed farm mature, harvest the seed. Then rip out sections of blackeyed susans and direct sow big colonies of other species until you have the garden mix you like.

I had an area that we didn't even sow that had a bunch of wild black eyed susans. All I did was go in with the weed whacker twice and cut down the weeds. The link will show you what it looked like.

Black eyed susans might be a little common but they produce a ton of flowers, are easy to grow, flower the first year, self seed easily, and are great for seed harvesting. But there's nothing common looking about a huge expanse of them.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Weed whacker black eyed susan bed

Token, drippy, Karen, thanks for your ideas. I've grown some of the plants you listed but I've never attempted a big project. Until 2005, I lived and gardened on 1/3 acre in the same neighborhood.

I didn't think it was possible until I learned about WS. Since I have a history of biting off more than I can chew, I'm trying to make a simpler plan.

Tiffy: thanks for the suggestions and photos. That foxglove is incredible! You have a good eye for plants that look good together. I love seeing what other people are doing - for ideas and for inspiration.

Lynda: Good grief! You're right. I wouldn't think about doing a big bed with one flower, and yes, a huge expanse has a big WOW factor. I like the white marigolds too. Maybe I should reconsider, do the full driveway ...

A seed garden is a good idea too. I have nursery beds for trees and shrubs, but a seed garden is a new concept. New ideas, new projects - thank you!

Pam - If you did the bed with just one flower, and picked one like BES that's easy to pull, you could have one major wow look this year and something quite different next year.

If you seed farm, it doesn't take a lot of plants to make a huge amount of seed. In year 2 of your giant garden you could add in gorgeous expanses of other plant.

My seed farm gardens are my two big flower gardens, most of them dug in Fall '08.

You can see them here:

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If you click on the photo and go to Flickr you can read more detail on the beds.

Those beds are going to serve as seed farm for the rest of our 15 acres - and that 15 acres with 8 goats and a cow eating a lot of the seedlings! I think that with diligent seed harvesting I can get enough seed so that we eventually end up with patches of flowers here and there out in goatland.

And yes, do the full driveway!

I'll attach a link to a little video of shrubrow - a 2-3 x 70 ft row along the front of our land that I direct sowed with zinnias this year. The seed for it all came from about 20 - 30 zinnia plants grown in 2007. I don't have a video of it in full bloom but it will give you a bit of an idea of how it looked.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Shrubrow zinnias

Pam_chesbay . . . if you haven't done so already, you must read the several gardening books by Pamela J. Harper. The one I'm reading now is Time-Tested Plants: Thirty Years in a Four-Season Garden. Pamela lives in VA near Chesapeake Bay and is an excellent garden writer. Her books feature the plants that grow best for her in VA, and she has some great ideas on blending plants by color.

One other thing - make sure you have tending paths so you can reach every part of your garden. The last thing you want in a 10 ft x 100 ft garden is a big thistle popping up in the middle that you don't see until it's 5 feet tall and has a tap root to the center of the earth.

My "Direct Sow" thread has a bit about my garden layout (near the Buster the goat photo). The porch garden is 25 x 60 ft or so and the border garden is around 30 x 70 ft - maybe 35 now that I've added shrubrow.

It's laid out as 30 beds with tending paths and the perimeter is also a hoeable tending path. That means that if I zip around with my handy wheel hoe, no lawn can sneak in. If I end up with a real invasive problem in one of the 30 beds I can keep it from spreading everywhere. I'm really pleased with the design - this is a garden that I can maintain for the next 50 years without it being a hassle.

If you aren't standing right in the garden you don't even notice the grid pattern when plants are lush and blooming. It's also really nice to be able to wander though every little bit of it instead of just peeking in from the edges.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Think about getting a wheel hoe for that giant garden

For me it all depends on what look you are going for. There are formal semi formal and informal garden styles and each person has their own style. And then it also depends on what of area you have to cover. And sun exposure.

For me there are a very few flowers that I do not like but the rest are fair game as long as they grow for me. Plus I also like to feed the birds as well so that is a factor. And so far (knock on wood) the deer have not found my yard. And I live out in the boonies.But here is what is a "staple" in my garden in no certain order.

Coneflowers
petunias
hibiscus
verbena
salvia (I usually have to buy this one)
columbine
torenia
cannas
cosmos
snapdragons
gaillardias
zinnias
rudbeckias
roses
cardinal flower
foxglove
impatiens
balloon flowers
lantana
moss roses
osteospermum
hellwborus
astilbe

Paula

Great ideas above! Tiffy, your pics are beautiful.

Although I grow many many flowers, ornamental grasses are fast becoming one of the mainstays of the gardens. Personally I love meadows and have been experimenting with mixing wildflowers and grasses to achieve the look of a "stylized meadow" . I've purchased a number cultivars at the nurseries, but they are also very easy to grow from seed. 2 years ago I had great germination from the native prairie grasses that I ws'd HOS style, and then broke them up into plugs. The 2nd year they really put on size and bloomed a little.

Many grasses are deep rooted and very drought tolerant. In your conditions, you could grow some prairie and dune grasses and they would withstand the occasional flooding and hold your soil. They would also look beautiful blowing in the wind, they are ornamental in the winter, and provide habitat and seeds for the critters.

Being a birder and native plant enthusiast, I also tend to focus on plants that are native to eastern North America.

Ohhhh!! I have driveway envy!!

It may sound a little goofy, but I have always wanted a long, curving driveway. In fact, when my hubby and I first started thinking about moving from our previous home, it was because he had seen a house for sale that had this phenomenal driveway. The house was pretty much a dump, but the driveway was to die for! LOL!

My dream for this driveway that is hopefully in my future someday is to plant it with opposite rows of ornamental trees, so at maturity it ends up looking like a tunnel. I don't know what kind of trees...sort of depends on the driveway and space available. But if I had your driveway, that's definitely what I would do! :D

Sorry that got a little long - just got very excited about your driveway!

It's a lovely project. I agree with lgslgs about seed farming if you want to work up to a larger expanse. I have been secretly chanting calendulas, calendulas from my desk as I read this thread. I think some reseeding annuals would be lovely and highly recommend calendulas, marigolds and zinnias for bright wow factor. I started putting calendulas in my garden this year, my tiny garden in our quarter of an acre plot and literally have given away hundreds and hundreds of seeds from this year already.
I have also planted black eyed susans that came up for me under water in the spring and bloomed anyway. That in my partial shade swamp corner garden.
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You guys are great! It's late and another nor'easter is coming tomorrow night and Saturday. I need sleep so I can tie stuff down and minimize damage.

As always, I have more questions. And you all have such good answers.

Lets see right now the mainstay of my garden flower beds are
Shasta daisy,
lilies,
rosa rugusa,
climbing rose,
clemtis,
morning glory,
calendula,
yarrow,
wood sunflower,
wormwood,
tansy, ( both are great insect control )
Amaranth Love lies bleeding
irises
Lambs ears,
ribbon grass,
pampas grass
cosmos
orange cosmos
ornamental onions, chives
columbine
there is more but I can remember it all
if you want alot of colour right away, I would go with bachelor buttons, cosmos and morning glory
Good luck!
Nes who wants buchelor button seeds

Pam I envy you! I would go for the wow. Maybe this year do one side of the driveway then next year do both...

My favorites I have eveywhere are
Catmint
Yarrow
thyme

New favorties
Gardilla (sp?) They bloomed for a long time for me
cleome
larkspur also grew well for me WS'ed in 2009
MY new Favorite is Black Eyed Susans -ALL kinds

Karen

Sorry for the delay - so much going on. ;-) I made a list of all your favorites. I'll get back to that in a minute.

terrene - you are very right about ornamental grasses. I'm looking for good grasses that won't misbehave. Some grasses (i.e., miscanthus) are getting a bad rep for being invasive. I need to learn more about the good guys v. the thugs.

I am leaning toward Linda's suggestion: to plant [part of] the driveway bed with BES this year, and to begin a seed farm to grow stock for other gardens in the future. The driveway (distance from the hard surface road to the house) is at least 900'. I need to be realistic about what I can accomplish in one season. DH and I have a business that consumes huge amounts of time and energy, especially in spring and fall. Some years, I've been planting out at 2 am, using a headlamp, because we were leaving for a week or so, and stuff had to be planted out NOW or it would die.

Token, Drippy, Karen, Paula. Flood, Lucky, Karendee: The plants on your lists are top candidates for the seed farm.

I have questions about rudbeckias but I'll put them in another post.

Thank you!!

PS: ontnative - I've read a couple of Pamela Harper's books but not the one you mentioned. I'll hunt for it.

just wanted to mention something about tradescantia ohiensis you were looking at. It is different tradescantia that usual ones- those you could plant in moist part shade. This one has to go into sunniest and driest spot to look best.

Hi Pam, grasses are great, but unfortunately some of the grasses that are not native to the US have become quite weedy particularly in warmer and drier parts of the country. Miscanthus sinensis which is native to Japan, has spawned many wonderful cultivars but has become invasive in some states. In my zone, it does not spread, probably because our season is short and cold, and the Miscanthus generally doesn't have enough time to go to seed.

There are many lovely native prarie and dune grasses that you could explore. Here are a few examples and all 3 are native to your state -

Panicum virgatum - Switchgrass, native to the tall grass prairies, many nice cultivars in the nurseries

Panicum amarum - Panicgrass, a dune grass native to eastern seaboard Dune grasses are amazing, they grow in sand!

Muhlenbergia capillaris - Muhly grass - produces a cloud of pink flower panicles. This grass is just gorgeous, but probably not hardy in my zone so I don't even try to grow it :(

Some of mine from the last 6 years that where wintersown. I either continue to WS them every year or make divisions from the, now well established, perennial plants.

Dianthus firewitch
candy lily
foxglove, 3 different colors of perennial ones
greek oregano
italian oregano
sage
marjoram
french tarragon
chives
garlic chives
columbine, several different varieties
dwarf balloon flower
balloon flower
lupin, if the groundhog leaves it alone
daylilies, some purchased,some divisions from others, some from ws seed.
iris, from divisions and some that pop up in various sports fields in town. they always did them out for me and bring them over
hibiscus
disco belle

cosmos, any kind
scabiosa ebony and ivory. these where still blooming till we had this past snow storm. bloomed through tempts that where well below freezing
gazania, any colors
parsley
all kinds of basil
rosemary
salpiglosis
marigold disco flame
marigold bolero
marigold scarlet starlet
marigold queen sophia
japanese morning glory, wouldn't ever be without them
easter egg plant
dahlia stargazer
dahlia fireworks
dahlia collorette dandy
dahlia diablo
4 o'clocks got to have those to keep that JP away
white alyssum
dwarf cleome
dwarf cosmos
money plant
coreopsis lanceleaf
chinese forget me nots, got to have those beautiful blue flowers
schizanthus
aster purple burst. new to me this year. blooms exactly as the pic on the burpee packet shows, is a real work horse either in the ground or in pots and produces tons and tons of seeds for the next year.

viola yesterday, today and tomorrow. a delightful blooming viola, only about 6 inches tall. flower starts out white, and slowly turns to lavender. What you see is many different stages of flower color all in one pot. It appears to be a plant with many different plants in the clump but is really just one plant,

tomatoes, can't be without them all started from WS.
burpee bush cucumber grown in a pot.

My true blue niko blue hydrangeas. 28 years old, purchase from the local market and where hardy to NE. They are a deep, deep real blue. right at the foundation of my house. I've made many, many cuttings from rooted stems to give away. It just blooms and blooms every year.

Fran

I have a lot of favorites, but these are the latest additions that I am planning to increase the stock. All except Epimedium were WSown:

Carex grayii:
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Briza media:
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Prairie Smoke. They have grown bigger this year and received much praise from passersby:
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Epimedium rubrum:
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BES do make a statement.

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terrene - I love grasses. Panicum virgatum grows naturally along the shore and on sand beaches. IMO, it is flawless. Storms often bring 2-3 feet of water driven by high winds over the land near the house. After the water recedes, all the grasses and wax myrtle are flat. I used to think "Oh, no!" When spring arrives, they pop up like nothing happened. They are perfect plants for this location.

I'm always looking for grasses and shrubs that can tolerate conditions near the house and shore. I have 3 little P. 'Shenandoah' plants - great colors, slow growing so far. Do you find grasses come true from seed or is it better to divide them?

You're right about Muhly grass - it looks ordinary until late summer, then those pink clouds explode. You could use it to makeinteresting combinations .

Fran: That's quite a list! I added it to the master list of favorites/mainstays. Thank you. I love hydrangeas - the old varieties and the new ones. They handle wind and cold here with no problems and they are so easy to propagate!

pitimpinai - WOW! The plants are great and your photos are fantastic!

Carex grayii: looks like a Christmas ornament (maybe it's the season).

Briza media: Not familiar with it. Hit Google, AKA Quaking grass. The little balls on the ends of the stems are neat. How do you use it?

Prairie Smoke - The plants look dramatic, the backlit 2nd photo looks surreal. I need to learn more about it. How and with what do you use it? I've not seen it here so wonder if we are too hot and/or humid for it to thrive and/or survive. (I do hope you enter your photos in contests.)

dem pa: Great photos - thank you. I didn't know until now that BES make a statement. I love them against the silvery fence.

To all: What are your favorite BES varieties? I'm trying to narrow down choices for this year and it's very difficult. I need to keep the BES project manageable. It's one of several projects in 2010; my work takes me away from home or makes me unavailable for weeks, especially in spring and fall. Bummer, but it pays the rent.

Hi Pam, I love Switchgrass too - generally grows in a tidy clump with delicate flower panicles. Mixes well with perennials in the border. I have 4 cultivars of Panicum virgatum, including Shenandoah, which develops that pretty maroon tint in the fall. Mine don't develop a lot of color, but perhaps the color is more pronounced in full sun, and there is not much full sun in my yard. There is a really pretty cultivar called 'Blood Brothers' developed by a GWer on the Ornamental grasses forum, take a look here. If I ever run into this in a nursery I'm buying it!

Unfortunately, I don't think that grass cultivars come true to seed. The seed I used to WS the native prairie grasses was purchased from a nursery in the midwest and no doubt collected from the species.

Oh another dune grass I am enamored with is Uniola paniculata, Seaoats. The seedheads look regal blowing in the wind.

Pam -

For BES favorites, Swallowtail's Rustic Dwarf (which is not really dwarf) mix gave me a huge range of colors and patterns at an amazingly low cost. I didn't feel like I was missing out on any colors by sowing them - and it also has colors in it that you can't get in single variety packs.

I also like buying seed packs where you get thousands of seeds instead of just 25-100. :)

I'll be using the Rustic not-dwarf mix as the foundation of my rudbeckia seed farming, just marking favorite flowers with a colored pipe cleaner if I want to save seeds from any individuals separately. Particular favorites will get their seed saved and I'll grow out their offspring in a corner of the seed farm bed to see what the next generation looks like. (At least that's the plan for once the garden stops expanding and I switch to refining it.)

But even with all of the rustic colors, I'm still buying another pack or two of Cherokee Sunset this year. It was so gorgeous last year but I cut it back at the wrong time of the year and didn't get seed saved. I'll certainly have some of the plants and some re-seeds pop up this year but that mix is so nice that I'll still buy some extra seed to ensure I have a good seed farm colony.

As you can tell I'm partial to having a wide range of colors and patterns in my ruds. After this year's sowing a lot of my garden playtime will be selectively seed saving so I create my own personal varieties and mixes of certain flowers. Starting with a really broad color mixes gives me the best way to do that.

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Swallowtail ruds

Cheapseeds.com is a good place to order ruds and coneflower. Lots of seeds, real cheap! They are mostly common but great place to get seeds.

Karen

Before you do anything else, I would do some research about what plants are salt tolerant. I'm assuming that you are at least dealing with brackish water and spray from the bay, and if you are flooded regularly with nor'easters/big storms, you're likely depositing a far bit of salt onto your property. There are plenty of links online for these sorts of things, but google "salt-tolerant" or maritime plants and you will learn more. You may very well have a much more limited selection of things that will grow well for you than someone who doesn't have ocean nearby.

Rugosa roses do extraordinarily well in salt spray conditions, and are classically found on beaches.

terrene: 'Blood Brothers' looks great, but it may be years before it is available to the public. Another red switchgrass, P. virgatum 'Rotstrahlbusch,' is available at Dove Creek Gardens.
http://www.dovecreekgardens.com/rotstrahlbusch_red_switchgrass.asp

I don't have it yet so have no personal experience. Since it wants sun, that may rule it out for you. Before we moved from the cottage, we had mostly shade, so the sun-lovers failed to thrive or just failed. After we moved 1/4 mile away, I have the opposite problem - after we lost all the trees, we don't have shade. As the tree seedlings grow, they are bringing shade.

Lynda: I have a question or three. ;-)

You recommend R. Rustic Dwarf and prefer to buy where you get thousands of seeds, not 25-100. I agree. I checked Rustic Dwarf in the Annuals section of Swallowtail - a packet is 1/8 ounce (??# ). In the bulk seed section (link below), Swallowtail offers more than a dozen BES varieties with between 500-25,000 seeds (average 1,000+). I thought they were terrific deals.
Ex: one of the most expensive is Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun' (Gold Medal winner), 500 seeds @ $18.49. At Bluestone, 3 little plants go for $15.95!

Rudbeckia Goldilocks (Fleuroselect Bronze Medal: 2,000 seeds @$5.99. "Large mum-like doubles and semi-doubles in bright yellow, flowering from June or July into Oct or first frost, long-lasting on long stems." Text and photos of R. Goldlilocks are on Paghat's Garden site: http://www.paghat.com/rudbeckiadouble.html

You do your research so I'm assuming that you ruled the bulk seeds out. I'm curious. Why?

karendee: Yes, I am ordering from cheapseeds. As you say, good deals!

Spartangardener: Yes, I've done a great deal of research on salt-tolerant plants. Our habitat is maritime forest. When we have flooding, the water is brackish. Rain dilutes the salt further.

The land is divided into sections (in reality, and in my plans), depending on issues like exposure, flooding history, wind, soil type, etc. Roughly half is higher, has good soil, does not flood. The other half closer to the Bay is challenging. I pay attention to what grows naturally here - P. virgatum, Myrica cerifera, Magnolia grandiflora, live oak (Q.virginiana), bald cypresses, etc. If I stick to maritime forest plants for this part, I think we'll be okay. I can be more adventurous in the other sections.

Thanks for your patience with my endless questions!

Here is a link that might be useful: Swallowtail Bulk Seeds (R)

Pam -

I see you saw my comments on the rudbecka Rustic not-really-dwarf mix on the other thread. For folks who missed that, the 1/8 oz pack at Swallowtail (in their annual seeds section) contains about 3000-4000 seeds so that actually beats the prices on most of what they offer in their bulk section.

The Swallowtail bulk section is always worth checking, but sometimes they also have wickedly huge seed packets at low prices in their regular section. Some of my faves there include:

California poppies at 4500 seeds for $2.49 - $2.95 depending on type.

Strawflowers, 5000 seeds for $2.49

Cosmos, 1300 seeds for $1.95

Foxgloves Excelsior hybrids at 20,000 seeds (yes, no typo) for $2.95 but currently out of stock. (But you could get 2500 seeds from ValueSeed.com for $0.99 if you need a bunch right now.)

They've got some other bargains in there too but those are my favorites.

Their xeranthemum and paper daisies have bargain packs but I wasn't impressed with the flowers or plants - especially when compared to their tall strawflower mix. That tall strawflower mix is a real winner. I didn't know they were as hardy as they were - my plants were green and flowering into the beginning of December here. In your area you might still have them blooming at Christmas.

Another of my favorites is Helenium Autumanale - especially after seeing it as Bluestone's Perennial's cover flower in last year's catalog.

I bought a pack from the bulk section at Swallowtail - 1000 seeds for just under $10. I got those in late May last year. The germinated fast (and with a very high germination rate), transplanted well, many bloomed the first year and I got a nice seed farm level of seed out of those.

Helenium flowers are gorgeous with a lot of variety. They blow in the breeze in a super pretty way. I don't think it's possible to take a bad photo of them. I ended up hositing a photo group on Flickr just for helenium flowers because they are so beautiful. They are even super easy and fun to seed save from - seeds pop right off without fuss. AND they are long lived and perennial to zone 3. Oh, and they propagate easily by division so that once you have a favorite color you can divide it and make a garden full of clones if you like.

I also think that they are likely to be a hot item for gardenweb seed and plant trading. Unless everyone who reads this ends up growing their own. :)

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Slideshow from Flickr Helenium group

My garden favorites are:

Hydrangeas
Peonies
Daylilys
Asiatic lilys
Lady's Mantle
Columbine
Asters
Snapdragons
Zinnias
Heuchera
Hosta
Phlox

I am brand new to winter sowing this year, so it will be interesting to see interesting to see if I have some new favorites next year.

Lynda: I want to thank you for the advice you offer about every aspect of WS, and for the detailed instructions you gave about your WS system. This is so helpful for those of us who are new - you make the learning curve do-able and less daunting.

Pam

PS: You must be a fast typist!

Rudbeckia Goldstrum BES grow in front of my mobile home in a narrow bed of soil we dumped on top of driveway gravel. They have bloomed like crazy every year, they thrive on neglect, the seedheads feed Goldfinches in the winter, and they self-sow everywhere. Can't kill 'em! They also have a long bloom period and everyone admires them.

I started daylilies from seed years ago and they are long over-due for thinning but getting cancer got in the way; still they bloom every year for me. In the same bed I grow Lupin and Hydrangea Limelight. The BES and some red Monarda also grow there although they are volunteers.

Along the walk to the entry porch I planted Astilbe in a narrow bed that is shady and always too moist for most plants. I added Ajuga as a ground cover 2 years ago. The combination works well. I will be removing the white astilbe because it attracts flies when it blooms and it looks brown. The Rheinland does not attract flies and it is a very pretty color. Another unknown pink seems to be getting darker each year and now it almost matches Rheinland. Next to those I have a Phlox paniculata Starfire? that blooms every year too and it amazes me because of the soil conditions in that bed.

Another Phlox paniculata which I believe to be Bright Eyes grows to over 5ft. tall every year, the fragrance is very enjoyable and the polinators and hummingbirds love it. Large bees lose themselves in its blossoms. It's located behind my porch just past the crabapple tree we planted.

Two years ago we planted a variegated Sambucus so that the birds could enjoy the (elder)berries. That plant and a crabapple tree I grew from seed anchor the back border of our lot.

We have moved some other perennials, removed the old overgrown arborvitae, added some new evergreens, and moved American Bittersweet to the dead willow tree which holds the bird feeders.

We did a lot this year for 2 old dudes recovering from cancer! We also planted 2 Curly Willow trees on this mobile home lot, one of them is now about 15ft. tall and next year the birds will probably nest in it. The Cardinals seem to like the neighbors' curly willows.

These are the mainstays, to which I add annuals, and then I must mention the annual? (not) Corona Cherry Magic which grows in a half-barrel and has bloomed for me for 3 years and still is green as I write this.

Mary

My red phlox is not starfire, it's Frostfire.

Mary

Hi Pam, Blood Brothers is actually already for sale in Canada, don't know when it would be for sale here in the US. I bought Rostahlbusch from Bluestone several years ago, which has even less color than Shenandoah, but again it could be the lack of sun because it's growing in partial shade. It still grows okay, it just doesn't get much color. I am envious of the abundant sun on your property now. I would love to have some full blazing sun somewhere but there are too many canopy trees! Even after having tree work done twice. Oh well.

Some of my flower mainstays, where I'm growing multiple cultivars/species of each - Monarda, Asclepias (milkweed), Rudbeckia, Helianthus (both perennial and annual sunflowers), Phlox, Sedum, Hosta, Daylilies, Echinacea.

OMG, I was wrong, the phlox is Starfire after all. Duh..

I am considering another ambitious project and need advice. I'll start a new thread tomorrow.

I put your favorites into a document. It's coming in handy as I decide what to order. Thank you!!

Pam,
"Briza media: How do you use it?"
I planted it by the sidewalk among other native grass. I planted something very short around them to make them stand out.

"Prairie Smoke - The plants look dramatic"
Absolutely. It is a native of the prairie, very hardy and takes no care whatsoever. I do not know whether it would grow in your area. Thanks for the compliment.

Tiffy - now THOSE are foxgloves!!!!! I bought some that were probably past their prime at Walmart last year...I'm all about nursing those bargain blooms back to life. I hope they come back like THOSE! Heavens!