Im not able to post photos currently.

Gaura whirling butterflies, and pollinator

Butterfly doing a backflip off Phlox Fashionably Early Flamingo on a windy day

Bliss Parfuma rose

Claudia, I like that your Phlox is rhyzomatous. I believe it's a hybrid of Phloc maculata x Phlox carolina, but in roundabout way it's also a hybrid of Alpha, Amythest Pearl and Minnie Pearl. Your rose sounds very fragrant.

Artinnature, I love pomegranates and Concord grapes. I had to look up Durban to see if it was really that dazzling orange. It is. Still not able to post photos.

@Jay 6a Chicago The Bliss rose is moderately fragrant, and super easy to care for (requiring basically nothing of me to look good)

That's very interesting about the Phlox. You've inspired me to do some more research. After growing a few subulata cultivars for a few years, I'm new to tall phlox this season and didn't really know much about them or how they'd do in my yard, so I bought a couple of the Flamingo, which are both establishing well and blooming, and two that were supposedly Flame Light Pink but didn't resemble the photos I saw. Whatever they were, in my yard they were not a shade of pink I cared for and at any rate they gave up after a month. I admit I was not sad to see them go. I then discovered John Fanick which are supposed to be very well adapted for my part of the country. I planted a few of them 2-3 weeks ago and hope I can keep them alive through this heat.

I still can't post photos. Im wondering if it's a ploy to get me to download the Houzz app?

claudia_dm_8a7b, I need some perennial Plox species badly. Haven't had success growing Plox glaberrima and Phlox pilosa from seed. I haven't grown Phlox paniculata in years. The last Phlox paniculata that I grew was a cultivar that was supposed to have orange flowers and excellent disease resistance. It had purple flowers and it died from terminal powdery mildew. I'm leaning heavily towards adding Jeanna and another paniculata with darker purple flowers would be nice. John Fanick has an interesting story. It was discovered growing with St. Augustine grass in San Antonio Texas. What's interesting is that Phlox paniculata is not native to Texas. John Fanick is a triploid that was introduced to Texas. It's Anybody's guess, when it became a triploid? It's triploidism? is what gives it better resistance to heat and drought. John Fanick was a nurseryman. It was another botanist who discovered it.

@Jay 6a Chicago I'm using a laptop with Firefox, but I have seen a lot of complaints about photos not posting randomly. I have a serious aversion to downloading apps onto my phone so I won't be taking that step if photos stop working for me.

Phlox Jeana is definitely on my list for next year, I have read many good things about it, and I'm probably going to get "Texas Pink" which is another that is popular in the south. I think it's another kind of mysterious selection from what I gather. DFW has a popular gardening writer/radio host, Neil Sperry, who I think a few years back was trying to figure out the origin or alternate names of Texas Pink. I bought 4 of the John Fanick and 3 are doing well, I fear I have lost the fourth one. I don't blame the plant though, I bought and planted it in the absolute worst heat of the summer because I was impatient and didn't want to wait and possibly miss out on getting my hands on some this year. I also want some solid white ones but haven't made any decisions yet. I also preordered some Blue Paradise, which may not do well here but I like the promise of blueish purple flowers, and I saw a description of it being "mood ring" like in the way it changes apparent color in different lighting conditions. That is probably just marketing talk but it worked on me. There's another variety called Katherine that I am looking at as well.

That orange phlox sounds amazing. Was it more a true orange or red leaning? I really had no idea they could come in a color like that. That's really fascinating about the John Fanick becoming triploid. I knew the basics of the story of its discovery, but not in that much detail.

Claudia, when I was ordering my mixed colored Drummond Phlox seed, I saw an add for a true blue Drummond Phlox. I ordered 1 packet of seeds of them and there was no germination whatsoever. I was suspicios about them. Have you ever heard of a true blue Phlox? I do some sand gardening and there's a local species of Phlox that grows in sand. I think it's called Phlox bifida and it has white flowers with interesting pinked petals. Posting photos here has always been hit or miss, but usually more hits than misses, except all of a sudden it's more misses than hits. I imagine the houzz app continuously tries to sell things. Sand Phlo

Phlox bifida, Sand Phlox

Phlox bifida

This is a test. I can sometimes piggyback my photos via previous comments. (?)

Jay, I haven't tried growing phlox from seed yet. I have a packet of annual Dutch Tapestry from Renee's Garden that I'm planning on trying next year. I don't know about a true blue phlox. I have Phlox subulata Emerald Blue which I really like and reads light blue to me but not what I'd call true blue. I want to try Phlox divaricata Blue Moon, but it looks like is has some violet in the mix. It would be nice if there were more true blue flowers out there. Last year I grew Evolvulus Blue My Mind that was true blue. That Phlox bifida looks really interesting and I will have to read up more on it.

I can see your photos! I started writing my comment then had to step away a couple hours. That's a neat trick I will have to keep in mind in case I need it sometime.

I can only comment if I turn off my autocorrect. I think I can't post photos when my autocorrect is turned off. All the hoops we have to go through, but it's free agrivation.

Zinnia, Cosmos and Mealy Cup Sage.

Asteraceae and Lamiaceae

Stoneroot, Collinsonia canadensis.

Lamiaceae

The Lavender Hyssop is a pollinator heaven. I have tied it up to a chokeberry. They have brittle stems that break easily. The Wingstem,Verbesina alternifolia is about 10 feet tall. The 4 tallest species, Wingstem, Annual Sunflower, Saw Tooth Sunflower and Camphorweed are getting ready to bloom for a big grand finale.

Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, Commelinaceae, Hypericaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Glossulariaceae, Polemoniaceae, Plantaginaceae. 11 families. I can provide a list.

Missouri Ironweed, Vernonia missurica

Asteraceae

Ironweed does fine after being sheared back. I sheared back my New York Ironweed 5 times and it still bloomed.

Hopness, Apios americana. This is the sterile, triploid form. It produces up to 20 new edible tubers annually. I never see pollinators on it, so I'm guessing it doesn't produce pollin and nectar and I'm now growing the fertile diploid form in order to test my theory.

Fabaceae

Large-leaf Aster, Eurybia macrophylla

The basal leaves are beautiful and it's habit is more attracive in deep shade. Great and easy perennial for shade.

Asteraceae

All the Susans are at their peek.

Brown Eyed Suzy, Rudbeckia triloba

Asteraceae

It's been a few years since I've had nice and tall Tithonia, Mexican Sunflower. They are so bright and cheerful.

Asteraceae, Lamiaceae

Hackellia is quite good at remaining hidden until it's too late. The seed pods are architectural. Just keep your distance.

Boraginaceae

Phlox Robert Poore is another triploid thst was discovered at an old deserted homestead in Mississipi.

Phlox Robert Poore has better resistance to heat and drought, just like John Fanick.

The venerable August Lily is blooming!

The reasons I'm so excited:

I haven't seen this plant since 2006 when I moved from Minnesota to Washington state. I used it heavily as a designer back there, but only for discerning clients ("why would I want a plain green Hosta?"). It's a species Hosta, and is quite unique from all others for various reasons I won't go into here. It has exquisite fragrance! It's flowers are very large for a Hosta, perhaps the largest of all? It blooms in August (I know there are others that do) and everything that blooms in August should be celebrated. I love that apple green foliage color (deeper green in heavy shade) quite tolerant of sun without scorching, even this, their first summer in my garden. Finally, I got them from my next door neighbor, who didn't care for them(!)

Anyway, they're a trip down memory lane for me, I'm thrilled to be having them blooming again in my Portland garden after so many years.

Hosta plantaginea - the August Lily.

Jay, I believe I read that the Robert Poore can get to almost 6 feet tall. I think I had dismissed them based on the height, but now I'm reconsidering. Enjoyed all your photos and info, particularly the Lavender Hyssop and Apios americana.

@artinnaturez8b Wow, do I love that hosta! What a beauty. I enjoy hostas and wish I had more shade to grow them. I have some pass along no id hostas that rebloom some years but they have small purplish flowers.

That is a beautiful Hosta @artinnaturez8b. You got me interested in learning about the 45 natural Hosta species, but it requires using botanical libraries, because so much emphasis is put on the 7000 Hosta cultivars. The hybrids are the big money makers. I have 3 Hosta that look like Sum and Substance and they are in moderate to heavy shade. They don't bloom in that spot. I just discovered Sum and Substance flowers are a magenta, cranberry color. The plants

look healthy to me, but if they were in a sunnier spot they'd probably be 6 feet wide by now.

Water Parsnip, Sium sauve

The roots are edible. It's cousin Sium sisarum is the medieval root vegetable skirret.

Skirrets fell out of favor when industrial potatoes became available.

Clematis pitcheri.

It's fun watching the bumblebees sqeeze into the flowers.

Where did you find Sum and Substance has magenta or cranberry flowers, Jay? Ive grown it for 25 yesrs and see it all the time at nurseries, and thats not how i describe the flowers.

perhaps the discrepancy is in naming the color not the actual color.

I just looked at google images and some buds appear to be reddish purple. But actual blooms are all in varying shades of lavender. Have I missed some moment in hosta breeding?

@Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a.

I think I described the color wrong. More like burgundy or lavender. I think the flower color varies.

Your image is what I see on google. i think the flower colors are all in shades of lavendar or some might say purple. For laypeople describing and naming colors is very subjective

I still can't post photos.

@Jay 6a Chicago, are you referring to trying to post pics via your phone (w/o the app)? The Photo option has never been available for me when on the houzz site with my Android phone. I refuse to download their app.

I will post a native plant (I want to make @Jay 6a Chicago proud of me ;))

Here is "Baby Joe" today:

Rouge you don't show up when I try to tag you. It's hit or miss with photos. Even if I compress the photos and have my history cleaned, it's still hit or miss. I have to turn off my autocorrect in order to comment. I go back and forth because sometimes I don't know a correct spelling. I'd guess that having the houzz app might make the experience more like facebook where the AI wants to know all your business, while trying to sell you everything and anything. Oh and yes I use my Galaxy s21 android phone. My macbook broke down and I don't want to spend a lot of money fixing it and I'm fine using just the phone. BTW Nice Baby Joe!👍

Maryland Goldenaster, Chrysopsis mariana

Flowering racimes of Aralia spinosa, Devil's Walkingstick.

Gaillardia Independence with Salvia guaranituca