Bought one Monarda Purple Rooster and three Blue Stocking last fall. Was so impressed by those! So this year I've gone Bee Balm crazy. Added 2 Jacob Cline, 3 Raspberry Wine and 2 Beauty of Colbham. Oh My!

Also planted hundreds of Crocosmia corms last fall and this spring. Lucifer red and yellow, Babylon, Carmillita, and Severn something (?). Several lots of un-named cultivars from Ebay. All are coming up!

Tina, you lucky thing! I planted crocosmia last year, 20-30 corms, and only a few came up at all. I wanted it so much. I am planting 10 more this year. Any hints about how/where to put these? How deep did you plant them?

Also, your Monarda, I have some pink and Jacob Cline, but in a lot of shade. The blooms are for only a short period and I haven't seen hummers on them. Did you get lots of hummer activity? How long did the bloom period last? Several posters here wear by the Raspberry Wine. Maybe I should try again, put them in sun?

My Monarda are all in full sun. My first plants were fall purchases, so no blooms. But I was so impressed with their vigor! 3 ft high in no time at all. Hope to see some blooms this year. Will share pictures. I planted all the Crocosmia 5 inches deep, in zone 6b, so wanted to ensure they survived the winter. Apparently they did! My garden on a hill, is a mix of dry sandy rock, clay and the best soil is at the bottom. The Monarda seem to grow fine everywhere, the precious Crocosmia I put down in front. Early yet, but I'm excited. Hope the Hummers love them.

My Garden on the hill · More Info

We put feeders up for the first time this year, so the Hummers are all over the place, already. I also have several Major Wheeler on the fence and lotsa Japanese Honeysuckle that just planted itself, I guess. I envy your climate! So many choices you have. Picture of last year, they are drawn to the Coneflowers.

Echinacea · More Info

Tina, your garden is simply beautiful! The layout is perfect. I think gardens look best when there's a lot of depth, and you certainly have that.

I have Major Wheeler, and it's a major attraction. They feed on it, hide in it, chase and buzz each other in it. I'm very glad I planted it.

The red monarda-- is that Jacob Cline? Beautiful! It is perfect next to the variegated grass.

Can't think what you mean you envy my climate! I'm zone 6, same as you. St Louis? Spring is lovely, but very short. Get's hot fast here, not a prayer of sweet peas or any kind of cool-lover. Than hottttt, humiddddd. Then a glorious fall and a winter that lasts way too long. Do you mind saying whereabouts you are?

Sorry, I thought you were further south. I've never been able to grow Agastache, it never survives our winters. You must tell me your secret. I'm in Greenup Ky, right where OH, WV and KY meet. The red flowers are Echinacea Hot Papaya, hoping to see some Jacob Cline blooms this year.

Tina, the agastache is planted under the eaves right against the house on the south side of the house. Much drier in winter. Rosemary survives there, too. There is some attrition, but some have survived three or four winters.

I bought a nice Salvia from Ave hardware that is it a very dark shade of blue. My hummers love it!

zzackey, I love salvia. You will love it, too. Deer and rabbits don't bother it, and the smell is wonderful.

Here in NY (Hudson Valley Zone 5) we have one hummingbird - the ruby throated hummingbird. I've seen them visit lavender, petunias, salvia, kolkwitzia shrub & purple cone flowers.

My new (to me) Monarda Purple Rooster is starting to bloom! Also have buds on my spring planted Raspberry Wine and Beauty of Cobham. These things don't mess around. Still waiting for buds on the Blue Stocking and the Jacob Clines are growing like weeds!! I like em, hope the Hummers do as well.

Pic of the Purple Rooster just starting to bloom. Feels like Christmas morning!

Monarda · More Info

I planted some penstemon Dark Towers in amongst my Raspberry Wine monarda(my number one hummingbird plant!!!!) but so far it is just sitting there. This photo is from last year - the monarda will not be blooming for a while yet. Incidentally, most of my monarda are planted in part shade and seem to like that just fine.

Wow, I bet your yard is gorgeous macranthos. The hummers must be thrilled! I planted a Zauchneria 'Bowman's #1' earlier this year, and I am surprised it is beginning to bloom already. I really wasn't expecting any flowers until the end of summer. I'm curious, are yours looking like they are going to flower or are in bud yet?

Wow II. Is your whole front yard one big garden? Sounds like heaven to me.

It will be amazing in 4 years. Now it's just a hundred little tiny plants sticking up out of the mulch. Very few are blooming yet: many of the salvias, some of the penstemon, two of the grevilleas and that's about it. Still, the hummingbirds are thrilled about the salvias and fight over our yard. There are a few big salvias, a Kniphofia, and some callistemon on the other side of the front yard to attract them also, not to mention the back (where their favorite is a Mimulus cardinalis).

Here, the zauschnerias are late season bloomers. I won't expect any flowers until July and then they bloom through August and maybe September.

They also really like the monardella macrantha. It's very low to the ground which makes them feel uncomfortable, but I have it in a raised bed and they visit with regularity.

Love your Monardella! I tried to get one going, but as Las Pilitas Nursery says on their site, "Expect to lose 1 out of 3 when you plant this as it doesn't always like people." So far I am 0-for-1. So sad; they are spectacular. I didn't have the spare funds to give more a try when they were at the nursery.

High country gardens had them when I ordered mine. I bought 4 and lost 2. This past winter, I lost my biggest one for reasons still unknown. Very upsetting when you can't learn from mistakes...

You lost some, too? I don't feel quite so bad about it now. To have one growing, and lose it, would really hurt.

I have enough formerly-thriving plants that suddenly weaken and die in our soil. I don't know what the former owner put under the concrete, or the exact nasty fungus diseases that thrived when it was removed, but I've taken to calling it the 3 year curse.