FB beautiful! And I couldn’t agree more about the phlox, I have more phlox than any other plant.

I just received globe thistle seed from a new gardening friend. Her plants came from her grandmothers gardens and she states they are the large ones. I’m so excited to grow these. i’ve already direct sowed some and also plan to get some jugs filled soon!

Your color combos are exceptional and always enjoyable...thank you for sharing!

Deanna those are gorgeous...such unique colors! Rhodies don’t do well around here so I’ve never even attempted any. I have a hard enough time with azaleas LOL.

Pennlake you‘ll have to get better lol jk...I’ll be googling your favorites thanks.

I bought a lot of new-to-me plants this year, mostly taller natives, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do next year, hopefully some of them will become favorites over the years.

One of the few gardening-related things that gave me joy in this stressful year was looking out the window at the butterflies and bees -- I've planted in such a way that I'm able to take advantage of the view from the inside. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) was a standout -- they threw flowers heads for months, one clump was absolutely huge and just kept on flowering. I was oddly fascinated with the great black wasp that would routinely visit it.

Enjoying the pics upthread! I love woodland phlox -- such a lovely, tranquil shade of lavender and a pleasing soft scent. And oooh those fringed daisies are fabulous, hard to believe they're just random volunteers!

Pennlake, I think I must give 'Berry White' a try and also the new release 'Quick Fire Fab' would be great for it's early flower capabilities!

GardenHo, globe thistles are fun filler and back of the border plants.

Love the silver foliage of some of them!

Okay, more color !!

Can never go wrong with rudbeckia!

Really loved this new Shasta 'Real Deal' and it sure was !!

FB they are a fun plant. Do they reseed heavily for you? Seeing all of your different shades of yellow makes me want more...(I have very little). That ‘real deal’ looks huge!

The globe thistles have not much sown themselves around, mind you, autumn frosts generally arrive here early and plants soon being cut down and composted ... so, it's likely they haven't had much chance to drop their seeds, though those few seedlings have been welcome, some being superior hybrids between the two types I grow.

The closer something is to the camera, the bigger it appears, the 'Real Deal' blooms are beauties, though are on the smaller side of things. Now, here's something large, 'Chim Chiminee' rubeckia !!

Love them!

I didn't have a chance to comment earlier, but I want to say Ho's phlox are BEAUTIFUL! What a fantastic color, really glows. Frozebudd, the thing I love about all your photos is how "drenched" your flowers look, meaning they don't have any kind of sun-scorched-drought-stressed tired look. They almost look energetic, they are so healthy. I don't know how long your blooming season is, but there is no doubt that it is truly beautiful!

Deanna, I'm in the central region of Alberta, with often bitter long drawn out winters and gentle moderate summers that can at times be all too very short, this past growing season having been exceptionally long though. Unless we experience an El Nino, we just don't receive the nasty high heat and generally the humidity is on the low side, thank heavens! ... I always say, one can often be outside for the entire day without melting! I only have to give the gardens a good soaking twice during mid to late summer and that's it!

FrozeBudd I have to echo GardenHo and say what lovely color combinations you have! That Azure geranium with the pink rose and that touch of orange was a real eye-catcher. I meant to comment on it, didn't have time, came back, and then saw your other photos, which are equally as color-coordinated and beautiful. I often try for that, and do succeed to some extent, but often my timing is off by a week lol. Also, as Deanna says, your garden - or at least your photos, lol - look so lush and rich. My photos look like my gardens - often either a bit sun/heat-scorched or a bit weak and straggly in the shade.

Thanks to everyone here posting your beautiful photos. I don't take many pictures so don't have much to post, but I do enjoy reading about what worked and even more, seeing it! Especially on a dreary, rainy day like today.

:)

Dee

I think my favourites this year were my Bright Star echinaceas:

Same echinaceas, with liatris and unknown daylily:

Vanilla strawberry hydrangea:

Diggerdee, thank you for also your kind words, painting with plants and attempting to have their colors and textures harmonize isn't always easy. It can be frustrating attempting to get those complementary combinations to work, though get it correct and it sure can draw in and hold the eye! It's all about personal taste, here's a photo where some of the colors don't necessary go together 100 percent, but it works well enough for me without me wanting to go right in and rip something out, lol. Oh, btw, everyone should grow 'Red Velvet' lilies!

Mazerolm, I love what you're doing with your gardens and especially so because of our similar cold winters. The 'Bright Star' echinacea is something I must look for !!

FB that photo is magazine worthy... just lovely!!

I just thought of a couple more....

New Delphiniums... praying they come back next year.

And also new...Limelight hydrangea tree (inspired by djacobs lovely specimen)....looking forward to watching this mature.

Wow! Such GREAT photos. Maybe I should move to zone 3. :-)

GardenHo, your gardens looks darn fine to me, the first photo is especially nice with the wonderful watercolor skies, love all the shrubs you have as well! Delphiniums are very reliable here, they certainly are bone hardy and seem to thrive on being frozen solid for many long winter months. At one time I had a vast number of New Zealand hybrids of stunning colors and many with very full double blooms.

A clump of lilies that had shown themselves very well, though now the darn red lily beetles making growing lilies a lot more challenging!

FB thank you. I do have delphiniums in one of my beds that have survived for three years now. Yet in a different bed they unfortunately never returned :( These new ones are in a different bed so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they return.

I spread a lot of the new seeds with my surviving ones as they seem to be getting sparse now. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for those too!

Survivors...

And a pretty little surprise one that popped up mid October : )

Love your delphiniums GardenHo!! I also spread seeds for the first time this year, I hope it will work out, I think they’re wonderful plants!

FrozeBudd: do you know the variety of your pink lilies? I love the pink-peach color!

edit: I just noticed the weeping blue spruce in the background...be still my heart! :)

Maz thank you, and good luck with your seeds!

I thought you were talking about my weeping Blue spruce at first, and thought you must have bionic eyes Lol! It’s just a baby and barely visible. Then I spied Fb’s Beautiful specimen!

You had me searching for yours, GardenHo! :)

I couldn’t find it in this thread...guess my eyes are of the normal kind!

Mazerolm, unfortunately, the lilies had been mislabeled, though possibly someone might be able to identify the beauties?

The weeping blue spruce is "The Blues', had gotten this one years ago as a 1 ft tall graft.

Speaking of delphiniums, I could not resist ordering up a package of grandiflorum 'Cheer Blue'. photo from the web.

Garden_Ho, having seen your photos now for a couple of years, I am quite jealous of how your garden looks amazing from just about every angle and every distance. I have to carefully frame my up-close shots to keep out the crappy woodpile, or the (unused) lobster traps, or the tarps, or the cars, or the yard equipment, or the garden tools littering everywhere because I don't have a gardening prep area except for right in front of the garage/front door...

I look forward to the day I can just stand there and snap a great photo! You just have a fantastic garden.

Deanna thank you so much for such nice compliments. Just know that I only post the good angles as I have to do the same, and crop out the bad parts too.

I have a pallet full of left over bagged mulch that’s been sitting there for three years...because I just can’t seem to get it put down, right next to my delphiniums...Yuck! It used to be a sitting area and I want it back. I am determined to get it spread this spring.

I always have piles here and there from cutting back/deadheading. Also have the yard waste and big blue garbage cans sitting nearby... talk about an eyesore lol. The front of my garage is my garden prep area too, and off to the side is all where all the pots and what not seem to collect....which is right in the middle of some beds :/ Also many areas that are barely surviving etc.

Just know it’s not as amazing as you say lol! Forgot to mention the fried grass which really takes away from the gardens.... which has become the norm with our drought summers :( I am on an old well and don’t dare try to water It all.

Your gardens are beautiful and I‘ve enjoyed watching them progress. I look forward to seeing even more.

So thank you, and from what you‘ve said....I think we’re equally good at cropping good angles ; )

deanna and gardenho, it's nice to hear those confessions of less than perfect gardens at all times. A lot of us must have the same things going on, but sometimes I get discouraged when I compare mine to others. There's that saying, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

I am enjoying seeing everyone's flowers as the snow rolls in.

Good saying Sandy. I love seeing all the different garden ‘creations’ here...so many different styles of gardening. It’s just unfortunate that many no longer post here....

Its raining here today and expected to be in the mid 50’s...crazy! It looks to be a good ‘all day’ soaking, which I’m thankful for as we didn’t get the good Fall rains that we’ve had in the past. The new trees and shrubs will be happy!

Yes, the maintenance and upkeep easily overwhelms a person in attempt to have it all neat and tidy, especially when the property is on the larger side! Things get piled up here and there and often we simply run out of energy to tend everything. There's the woodpiles, rocks, pots, pails and debris tossed to the side, never mind of that dead tiller and mower, sigh! A yard and plantings really requires a lot of stuff to keep organized and stored, I only wish I had twice as much energy and four hands! This autumn, I said enough is enough and I made the entire rounds cleaning, sorting and removing all eye sores I could, I was pooped! Although I hate chemicals, I made the decision to have the lawn sprayed of weeds, that in itself will save me vast hours of digging the resulting zillions of dandelions from within my plantings, I kid you not, they'll seed out thick as hair on a dogs back if allowed!

Frozebudd, your lilies reminded me of my Orania lilies, but I'm awful at identifying things lol. Add to that that there are probably dozens of lilies that look similar. Plus, I did a quick google search for Orania and most of the photos look much more yellowish than mine - makes me wonder if my Orania aren't really Orania lol!

I used to grow hundreds of lilies when i was selling at market. Most of mine are gone now thanks to that darn red lily leaf beetle. I only have my Oranias (which due to the beetle and neglect have been greatly reduced in size - only about 2.5 feet tall this year instead of their usual four feet), tiger lilies, and a reddish-pink and white one whose name escapes me (similar to stargazer).

I do have a stray asiatic here and there, and they seem to do a bit better. I don't know if their earlier bloom beats the beetles emergence, or maybe by coincidence they are closer to the house and the beetles don't find them as quickly? Whatever the reason, the beetles seem to get them later in the growing stage, so they do a bit better than the orientals.

I keep hoping that there will be greater progress with that parasitic insect they are experimenting with to combat the beetle, but it seems to be slow going.

:)
Dee

Wow, bernbecca! That's a FANTASTIC friend! What beautiful photos. I can't imagine how small he is.

Those are fabulous photos, bernbecca! I especially love the first one -- he's just DARING anyone to come near him LOL!

Diggerdee, I've never grown 'Orania', though a similar one 'Corda d'Oro' I was smitten with, though planted where it would always get trampled on as it emerged in the spring and ended up croaking, It's one I'll definitely obtain again, the fragrance was amazing !!

'Red Dutch' is very good as well, not such an intense fragrance, though very sweet and it sure does waft in the air! Supposedly, it's somewhat more resistant to the lily beetle, don't know how true this is, though mine wasn't much bothered as compared to other lilies having been totally stripped of foliage and even blooms, ouch! There's some damage on these and possibly the surrounding foliage had helped them out a bit, I don't know! But, whatever, I'll need to be much more diligent with those beetles, but darn, the things just don't give up!

'Red Dutch'

This red Oriental lily is a real looker, variety name is 'Metropolitan'

Bernbecca, I also grow 'Cats Pajamas' and had made numerous cuttings to spread around the garden, your planting looks fantastic, what variety of the rose do you have there?

froze budd

peach drift roses

Love your pics Becca!

My daughter has always LOVED frogs...she will get a kick out of these! Thanks for sharing : )

I love frogs too! FrozeBudd, you're right - those beetles just don't give up! I'm also trying to not give up (on growing lilies) but I certainly haven't purchased any new ones, sadly. Just not worth it to spend the money on them when they won't thrive and look their best. Good luck to all of us in this beetle battle!

:)
Dee

Simply gorgeous! Gosh Houzz is dreadful, my post disappeared so I will try again. I knew I should have copied it.

Achillea 'Coronation Gold' made me happy.

Amsonia hubrichtii will always be a favorite for the texture, flowers and the fall colour. So hard to pick just a couple! I am a frog fan too!

Your Achillea is very cheerful!

I love Amsonia too. I just moved them all and need to divide a couple. I should have done it when I moved them but I just didn’t have the strength. They are a bear and require a saw!

Wow, those lilies are nice. Mine got a freeze last spring and were all stunted this year. If it's not one thing it's another!

I limited myself to just four favorites :)

primula sieboldii did well with all the rain in April

red hot pokers are completely too much orange so I'm not sure why I added two more this year

I love the color on agapanthus 'blue yonder'

After years of neglect I finally made the effort to transplant and stake the chrysanthemums, including 'Cheerleader' which payed me back with weeks of perfect flowers. So much nicer than when it's surrounded by weeds and then finally flops over into the lawn.

I love everyone’s pictures! It’s so nice to see pretty flower pictures when everything is brown outside.

I have lots of favorites. Some of them are dahlias, roses, stokes aster and clematis.

Bishop of Canterbury dahlia. The hummingbird we had all

summer liked this one.

A mess of Jackmanii, Betty Corning and Princess Kate clematis.

Stokes aster honeysong Purple, I believe

Filigree clematis- cute smaller clematis that bloomed for a pretty long time

Polka rose- loved the blooms on this one. It’s a younger plant so looking forward to hopefully more blooms next year. Just have to keep the deer away from it.

Sorry the photos are sideways. I had to adjust the size for them to post and the images ended up sideways.

Katob, |'d love to have all the beauties I see there in your photos!

Cab84, | love everything about the 'Bishop of Canterbury' dahlia and the clematis 'Princess Kate' is on my wish list, had ordered it up for last spring, though was not included with my order when plants arrived :(

A few more.

Dictamnus

Cypripedium reginae

Not at it's best this year because of the drought & extreme heat but Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is a hit with me and the hummingbirds.

Vernonia crinita 'Mammuth' is a butterfly magnet.

Be still my heart ...you lovely ladies slippers❤️

FrozeBudd- I love Bishop of Canterbury as well. It was near my kitchen window and I loved looking out at them everyday. I saved the tubers. Fingers crossed they‘ll survive and I can plant them in the spring. That’s a bummer Princess Kate was missing from your order. It is a beautiful and unique clematis. This was it’s second year. It’s first year I didn’t see any flowers because the deer ate all the buds :( Hopefully, you‘ll be able to pick one up this spring :)

Peren.all, I haven't grown Dictamnus in years, your photo is exceptional! I have a thing for hardy orchids and really must also obtain a few more Crocosmia varieties.

Cab84, I'm just getting back into growing dahlia after decades of neglecting to do so because of issues with wintering them and disease problems.

FB those are all so unique... you have quite the collection!!

‘Blue chiffon’ ROS is another favorite. Love the color.

Aralia Sun king on the left will always be a favorite too. It’s been a very slow grower for me, and finally starting to fill out...it’s worth the wait!

Crystal Blue salvia is a great rebloomer! Here with Arabella clematis.