Grace, there are threads at the top of the gallery page which will help you figure out how to post photos. We don't respond to those threads so they will stay at the top of the list.

For blooms throughout the growing season, snapdragons are terrific. Daisies bloom continually. I don't know what else you might be able to add for where you live, perhaps petunias. I live in the desert. Summer is not optimal bloom time here. I had calla lily flowers throughout most of the summer when I lived in Berkeley. I was called the cala lily queen. :-)

Lorna

Here's where I started from last year....

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My phlox is finished, I have a few iris, hosta, lotsa daisy, some Rose Campion that isn't blooming yet and ws babies (lupin, delphinium and many others).

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This is where I've got foxglove and mainly "green"...oregano, Chinese Lantern, Catnip, and ws babies of lupin.

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This bed is iris and hosta. It stays mostly shaded the entire day...after leaves come on the trees.
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~A bit off topic but.....I FINALLY POSTED PICS!!! IT'S TAKEN ME 2 DIGITAL CAMERAS AND 3 YRS OF TRYING!!! Yipppeee!!! Doing the happy dance!

Lilies and annuals.

Asiatic lilies will usually preceded daylilies, LA lilies will bloom with them (not zone specific).

Annuals and biennials will fill in lots of gaps; many can be sown in place.
Sweet William and nicotiana bloom early for me, Black eyed Susans (rudbeckia) bloom with daylilies.
Madagascar periwinkle likes really hot weather. Reseeders are just coming out of the ground here.

Nell

That is a cool awning, Grace. What is the purpose of the fabric covering the railings on the deck? Are you shading potted plants? The iris bed is stunning. The side flowerbed photo didn't open for me, but all of the rest were there. Congratulations on winning the photo posting battle!

Lorna

Thanks Lorna! We have a gazebo on our side deck...that's the grilling, eating and entertaining area. One the other side of the fabric covered deck is our hot tub (which isn't in use right now). I put all of my ws babies on that side of the deck and tied a tarp to the deck with bungee straps. Each time there was a frost warning or heavy rain/wind, all I'd have to do is pick up the side of the tarp and cover the "tenders". It worked out very well!

I have 3 asiatic lilies...these haven't produced buds yet this year - still green. I ws'd sweet william and nicotiana this year but they are very small still. My black eyed susans are still green, no buds yet.

I know that I've just got to have some patience for my annuals to catch up to what is for sale in the nurseries and garden centers.

I'll just be keeping my eyes open for what is showing color in my neighbor's yards....and studying the pics everyone is posting!

Thanks for the suggestions! Keep em coming! LC Grace

Hi Grace

I was goign to say the oriental and asiatic lillies !

and roses? do you have some? careful- it's addicting.
i'm not too far from your zone. the nepeta is blooming now and my asiatics are goign to burst followed by the day lillies.

Columbine is just getting goign too.

Alliums are just opening up now - well my huge ones.. the smaller ones came and went already. the bigger ones bloom now.

I also got some PINK evening primrose that is blooming now :) it's not too tall- maybe 9 inches and it's very cute. they look liek crapola right now cuz i jsut transfered them from my sister's garden so next year i'll show pics of that.

Oh- how about the peonies? that came after my irises and before my roses.
My lavendar is goign to bloom pretty soon too :) and my regualr garden sage is now in full bloom.

oh- and petunias, snapdragons are great annual choices for sure..

oh yeah and my favorite annual is the cosmos..i grew bright lites last year and they are a bright yellow and sooo easy! and got soo many seeds i'm giving them away since christmas.
congrats on the foxglove..i really must try harder on that.. gosh darn it.

I would have lots more annuals in my bed but I put a layer of bark mulch a few years ago to help with weeds....over top of hard clay soil. I've been raking the bark off as best I can but need dirt/compost brought in to actually plant the seeds in. I've almost given up on waiting because of how "late" it is. (I asked my mil to have her husband deliver another load but he's been "busy" with his own life).

I have gorgeous peonies in the back yard (but would love some more!) and a few roses that were newly planted this year that are quite happy. I planted a row of cosmos in my veggie garden this year and it's doing well. I've got a mess of zinnia seeds to plant...in my free time! lol I'm hoping that I can have them at least grow to bloom and save the seeds for an earlier planting next year.

My columbine is finished blooming....they were gorgeous this year! They were ws babies 2 yrs ago. I bought petunias, lantana, some more mature nicotiana & geranium for my window boxes this year....for some instant color (I could go "broke" spending money on annuals to keep up with what's happening in the garden centers!)

I love the nepeta!! I just googled it to see what it was....gotta have some! I realized that my lady's mantle didn't come back this year! I've been trying for coneflower from seed for a few years and it's never amounted to anything.

I still have containers that I ws'd this year to go out. So much to do! My list of what's missing has started! I'd better get busy!

Thanks for your suggestions!! LC Grace

My first thought was roses just from the title, because that is the part of the garden plan that got postponed until next year, lol. But, that might be the answer to your question, too...

Oh, and peonies...

I think the main ingredient that is missing is TIME!! You've got a great start especially once you add in the already mentioned roses, lilies and annuals. Unless you rely heavily on annuals for the first few years, you won't have that lush, overgrown (jungle as my hubby calls it) look. Also, I think some garden "accoutrements" would be a nice touch.... a bird bath, perhaps an antique wagon or wheelbarrow filled with flowers..that kind of stuff.

:)

OOOH! Great ideas....maybe a few decorative items to help fill in the empty spaces.

I always chuckle when I drive home from town "thru the county" as my boys call it....it's just a more country way than normal. There's a goat farm that we always slow down to count how many goats are inside the fence. (There is always way too many to count). Outside of their fence, by the side of the road, the owners have an old farmhouse bathroom sink sitting on top of a stump used as a birdbath. There are old bathtubs in the goat pen for watering. I'm just waiting to drive past & see a toilet in their yard! lol

I think I'm going to move some of my iris and lilies this fall. I can divide them and spread things out from my other beds and fill in the front as well.

Thanks for more ideas! LC Grace

Money!

Here are things that are blooming for me right now in mid-June: Dianthus, Achillea "Coronation Gold" (my galaxy hybrid tends to start blooming later), Salvia "May Night", Salvia greggi (I buy them as annuals), Nepeta, Geranium "Johnson's Blue", Gaura "Passionate Rainbow" (newly planted in May so the bloom time might be off), Centurea montana (what's left of them anyway. They got hit heavily by deer this year), Veronica spicata "Royal Candles". Plus lot of annuals.

I am with the others....time...money....time..money...time...time time...$$$$$.

I agree with all of you...if I had the $, I would just buy the more mature plants....and lots of them. I would also have bought an entire tri-axle load of the "good" dirt.

Having patience is tough but I've got plenty of time. :)

I disagree about the money. I just spent some money on shrubs but I almost never spend money on perennials. I attend swaps and trade plants with local garden club members. Of course the trade offs are time and flexibility but I have gotten and given a lot of great free plants.

Here are my Key ingredients for color during this transition period:

Stela D'ora daylilies - they are really giving a lot of color now, earlier than some of the other varieties.
Coreopsis Grandiflora - I love the threadleaf kind too but it starts a little later. This is my first year with the grandiflora kind and it is really adding some nice color.
Roses - my Golden Showers climber and Mary Rose shrub are blooming their hearts out and will continue through the summer. Both varieties are high maintenance but fragrant and long blooming.
I am in zone 6 but I sit in a colder micro-climate and the flowers mentioned above have been blooming for about a week.
In my shady bed my Chequers Lamium are still growing strong. They are re-blooming after a shearing a couple of weeks ago and make a nice blanket of color under my Kousa dogwood tree.
Next I am on the lookout for Salvia - I've see it blooming all around my neighborhood and it looks great!

i think the key ingredient missing for me is

RESTRAINT!!

Hosta are beautiful any time of the gardening year here. Spiderwort has been going for a couple weeks now. Aquilegia is a nice pop of color for after the iris & other spring bloomers are gone. My Asiatics are starting to pop now, which is nice. Roses are up and blooming for almost two weeks now.

There are lots of choices! Just a matter of choosing the ones right for you.

Tracy

I certainly agree about the lack of time. My job keeps me away for 10 hours each weekday. There HAS to be some time spent doing household chores and one should and must spend some time with friends and family. That leaves precious little time for keeping up with my massive flowerbeds. Which brings me to the other missing ingredient - I, like Altorama, lack restraint. I have enthusiastically stuffed my garden with all kinds of plants that really require more attention than I can give them.

Now, I'm strongly considering editing my beds to eliminate some of the wonderful but demanding plants in favor of those that require less day to day care. Have any of you done this and do you have advice about the best way to proceed?

My missing ingredient:
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: )
Diana

angelcub. YUMMY!!!!

Yup, that's what's missing alright! lol My hubby and I are going thru "Lost" withdrawal!! I guess we're going to have to start watching it again from the beginning to get our "fix". :)

I've got a few roses showing now. Stella's have started. Yes, my salvia looks gorgeous! Can this be divided like a hosta?

Iris division in the fall, right?

I've got Rose Campion starting to bloom also...and 2 colors!!

I think everything that I have in the bed so far is more "light", airy, wispy textured. I need to spread out some hunks of things to have more "bones".

Lol! Grace, I know exactly how you feel. I tivo and watch every epi at least 3 times. I have the first 3 seasons on dvd - have watched and dissected them all several times. DH is almost as bad and I got my son hooked a year ago. I'm thinking of printing out that pic of Sawyer and hanging it on my fridge. Feb. is a long way off. lol! Check out the Fuselage.com if you haven't already. Great forum for all us LOST junkies. : )

Do petunias do well for you in PA? I really love them and their long season of color.

Diana

Diane....Fuselage.com sent me a e-birthday card! lol We've been members for quite a long time. We are definitely LOST junkies!!

We had a party for the season opener this year. We shopped for the fruits of the island! Papaya was gross, mango was mushy. We tried Ugli fruit...very good! Fresh pineapple, coconut...very good.

We had to move our LOST night and watch it from tivo ourselves when they moved the time later mid season.

Petunias do very well for me. I usually do them in baskets. They didn't do well in the front flower bed in the past. I'm thinking that it was soil quality combined with too many wood chips. I'm working on both problems and will hopefully be able to make a fresh start next year and direct sow more annuals....and add in some petunias for color.

We'll prob start re-watching LOST from the beginning in the fall. The season finale has me wondering what I may have missed in the past!

Until February, thank goodness, we've got our gardens!!

Diane, I just sent you an email with info on another LOST site!! My husband keeps coming up with all these thought provoking theories on "things that happen on the island".

I didn't want to post here and get into trouble for "promoting" another website! lol

enjoy!! LC Grace