Hi. I haven't been back to this forum in months, but you guys were so helpful and thanks to your suggestions my Angel Trumpets survived and bloomed this year (special thanks to the person who told me to shade them with an umbrella until they settled in...worked like a charm!)

This spring I laid a layer of chips down on all my beds in an attempt to control the weeds. The top inch or so of the chips is still there and the bottom couple of inches has started to break down enriching the soil. For fall, I'd like to lay down a layer of compost and top that off with more chips. My question is about my perennial borders. For instance, I have one border that's composed of yellow and orange flowers. It has stuff like cannas, coreopsis, shasta daisies, gallardia, lantana, yellow butterfly bush, etc. If I mulch over everything, will the plants manage to come back next spring or do I need to mark where stuff is planted and then go out there and rake back the chips so the plants can come up in spring? Would I be better off waiting until things emerge in spring to lay down another layer of chips?

If any of the plants have self-seeded during those periods when I didn't keep up with deadheading, will the seeds be able to germinate through the mulch?

Any thoughts you can give me on this or how you prepare your beds in fall would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Cathy