Beautiful plants!

Yes, I’m wondering about the weather, too ... after such a cool spring, are we going to be blasted later? I hope not. The older I get, the more the heat gets to me.

Nice sweet peas And coreopsis.. I had some SP volunteer on me and my coreiosis lanceolata is doing well after some years at being very ho hum. I have always staid away from clarkia , considering them a PNW plant for cooler places. This long spring has been a god send. We could use some more rain though (huge understatement). I think our dry soils will give us the hot dry and long summer. NONE of my Blanket flowers in my field have made an appearance this year.

Brian,I've been wondering what's been going on with your garden. Lots of good looking plants you have there. I recently planted a pot of mixed calibrachoa. I didn't know they would survive the winter.

I've got tithonia and cone flowers coming along nicely from seed you gave me. I noticed on a visit to SABG that butterflies are especially fond of tithonia. How long is their blooming season? I seem to remember mention of planting in succession or cutting back for rebloom.

Lovely bright blooms!

Oh, wow! I bet it was amazing to see all of those poppies in bloom. Your yard looks so magical and lush. It looks like a very happy and peaceful place to be. :)

I'd take one of those tomatoes if I had a place to put it. My 16 year old son seems to have inherited the gardening bug so I've promised to put in a raised bed this year. He works at a local garden center so I'm making him do the research before we "dig in".

Thanks for sharing. I'm more of a lurker as well and love coming here to find inspiration and great information.

Thanks!

Yes, the clarkia was an experiment and I've already noticed them wilt slightly in the hot midday sun. The flowers are interesting--some single, some double, and different colors. I prefer larkspur over them so I'm unlikely to grow them again.

I'm hoping for more rain soon, too. I'm concerned it's going to be another nasty dry summer.

The tithonias were very popular with the butterflies here. They will bloom for 6-8 weeks if left to their own devices before starting to dieback. They did self seed for me so I didn't have to do any manual successive planting. Apparently you can deadhead them to extend their bloom time.

For me they grew to 6-8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. You can cut them back to keep them shorter, though. I planted a bunch close together so they could support each other. With stronger winds, they tend to want to lean once they get some height. Doesn't affect their growth, though.

Took awhile for the lesser goldfinches to discover them, but once they did, they enjoyed the seed heads.

Ragna, all the calibrachoa I've grown over the years have survived the winter. They've been incredibly tough plants for me here in Austin. They do require well draining soil/potting mix. I've not had much luck growing them in the ground.

I had a purple one that lasted 4-5 years in a large pot. They do tend to get woody, but respond well to light trimming. Once the spring arrives, they resume their flush of flowering.

They are also pretty easy to root cuttings.

The tithonia get six to eight ft tall!!!! I'm looking at my eight foot high ceilings ... OMG ... lol !! This is going to be interesting to say the least!

Mine are bunched together so we'll see. I'll be prepared to put something around them for support, or maybe tie them to a near by plant stand that's nailed to the deck.

Thanks for the additional calibrachoa information. The first ones I tried to grow were destroyed by the hail and I hadn't planted them again until this year.

Their height will depend on how rich your soil is and how much water they get. Some that were growing in unamended soil were only 5-6' tall. Seeing how well most plants do in your yard, I'd expect them to grow tall for you. :-)

Joanna (or anyone else), don't be shy about the tomatoes. Happy to give some to you if you want them.

And yes, the poppies were very nice and made a sea of red blooms. Being one of the first things to bloom in my yard, they draw in honey bees in large numbers. I've seen as many as 7 bees at once on one poppy flower hastily gathering pollen.

All beautiful. I've tried sweet peas but mine didn't look as good as yours. I've never grown the Mountain Garland/Clarkia, but I really like it.

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Did not see this b4. with the vinyl support you use for the sweet peas, how often do you replace? I love that idea.