Hi Marnie, glad you liked the photos :) ... and, no, it's not too late to start them now! Mine have recently been sown (in the solarium) and are just now showing themselves. Yes, it's nicotiana in the photo, I had planted two varieties, one being "Perfume Delight" and the other "Eau de Cologne Mixed", it's likely the latter ... though, they have a pleasant fragrance, they're certainly not nearly as fragrant as the tall growing and evening scented "Fragrant Cloud" ... clumps of this plant will purfume the evening air with a wonderful fragrance :) Terry

ooooo Lisa I like yours too! I do like it with the Black-Eyed Susans...I wonder if I should let them re-seed in the prairie bed? Might be a lotta work thinning them out each spring, but might be well worth the color combo.Hmmmmmmmmm! That bed gets watered maybe once a month if that; they should stay rather short and not over shawdow the BES, Echinacea, Ratibida, Gaillardia ect. It probably would look good with the native grasses in there too :D Vera

Danielle, yup cannas bloom the first year from seed. They are amazingly fast growers. Gloria, the pineapple guava, that's the one with the silvery leaves and pink flowers right? i've heard the fruit tastes kind of like a mix of strawberry and guava and are pretty sour? is that true? I found the white guava at my local Home Depot, they normally carry subtropical fruits. The tropical pink guava and the lemon guava i bought at a nursery near Santa Paula and Ventura/Oxnard. I don't remember which one, because there are TONS on that little strip but i'm sure the guavas are common enough that almost any will carry them. About the geraniums, those in the photo were actually propagated from cuttings in March/April and they have already taken off! the momma plants are HUGE! about four feet wide and four feet tall, and that's because i've been taking TONS of cuttings to full barren spots throughout the yard.

I've just looked into the local forecast for the next 14 days. I don't know if the forecast is reliable. It states today would feel like 30 C -- right now it feels like 20 C. Anyway, what's driving me batty is that I want to redesign the front yard. In the rush to establish this year's garden, I hadn't planned things out properly. And so I've been tinkering with some ideas. I have to transfer a beautiful Harry Lauder walking stick which was unfortunately planted in the sunny spot. (It hates the sun) -- in it's place I have to find a nice tree or design a tall pole for climbers. I will also rearrange the David Austin roses - so that's my biggest fear that these may not last thru the transplant. However they are also the core - or first plants that require moving. . Next to be replanted are the blue salvias, delphiniums, lady's mantles, and the lambs ears. Right now I don't know if I wish to keep the spiderwort. The coreopsis moonbeam requires closer grouping for maximum effect. The various echinaceas are about to bloom and rudbeckias are blooming so that will be a challenge. It's like a domino effect situation. Maybe it's best for me to wait till the following weekend to do the massive transfers. While I'm on this subject. Are any of you aware of an annual that grows tall, thick and deep green foliage and columnar and perhaps produces some blooms? I need to interhedge some plantings and am toying with putting hedgings that are replaceable every year. That way I can put out a new design in the front border every year. Ianna