mayland, a lot of people (including myself, till i really got into it) don't realize that gardening is a year-round endeavor, and you can keep planted with seasonal veggies with minimal effort on your part. grocery stores have spoiled me rotten to a degree (year-round everything), but i find it a fun challenge to adapt to a seasonal menu at home - my DW and I love to cook, although admittedly, i do 75% or more of all the cooking in the house. regarding my stackstone beds...i try to keep them planted year-round with (at minimum) salad greens, during warm months (late spring/summer/fall/early winter) they keep us outfitted with tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, herbs, peppers, etc. the beds are only ~12 ft each (~3.5' x 3.5') personally, i don't like needing to buy from the store, and it always taste better fresh-picked. typical exchange at home for us: "hey honey, you want salad for dinner tonight?" "sure!" "ok, i'm headed outside to cut some!" "grab a tomato and cucumber while you're at it!" i tell ya, it is SUCH an immense pleasure to go into the fridge, realize, "dang, i don't have any X or Y!" and not have to nix your dinner plans entirely or drive to the store in order to salvage them. it's also nice to get those occasional perks, like, for example, the brown turkey figs on the side yard, which go so well with balsamic vinegar and either greek yogurt or goat cheese (btw - fig is another one you could potentially grow in that spot...) we're always improving and improvising to find new ways to grow, and i think this year; i think we're going to look into adding something like this into the mix this winter to continue growing things which are cold-intolerant but don't require pollination. ultimately, the options are limitless. we picked up our fig in feb/march and planted - it had one fig on it from the store (it ripened a few weeks back), and it literally leaped already, doubled in size, and has at least 40 figs on it already :) at this point, i've got the edible landscape bug, whereas previously, i was all about xeriscaping. i can't help myself. the hard part is knowing all your options, there's just too much information out there and not enough time!!!

Oh boy!! Well, at this point I'm concentrating mainly on getting the garlic mustard out and only pulling others when they're right in with the GM. Hopefully the 2nd isn't as prolific as the GM, or I'll be in another world of hurt next year! I'm still dealing with the remnants of Jerusalem artichoke as well! Yeesh! OH BTW - could #1 maybe be an Actaea? I'm really hoping not to have to pull it - I've got a bit of it in there and it's actually kind of pretty in a group - I'm gonna keep an eye on it, and see if it blooms and what they look like.

Hi Carol! Those pictures of the pokeweed look great. The contrast between it and the other variegated plants makes for a nice grouping. Do your neighbors know its a pokeWEED? My neighbors would probably smile nicely and then walk away and talk about all the weeds I have later. I would love seeds though. I think you know I have a weakness for variegated plants. Thanks for the suggestions and I'm sorry I didn't give enough info about the location. It's going to sound stupid, but I'm not totally sure if it is a moist area or not.... I've only been here since late June and there's been enough rain to keep all areas well watered. But I THINK it's a moist area. It seems the solid shale construction fill that sits just a few inches below the clayish topsoil fill of my yard(my soil needs help)funnels alot of the rain towards this area. There's some Jewelweed nearby but not in this particular area, so I think it's borderline moist. I do have some goldenrod that seeded in and I think I'll keep it(but keep an eye on it)... and I also like the culvers root and coneflowers... I think my biggest concern is that the plants will be able to hold their own against the pokeweed and goldenrod. But I will be watching, and I think I can coddle the cardinal flower a bunch since I always wanted to have a spot of it! I'm going to try and take a few pictures so you can see what's growing there now and get a feel for the area (its a fairly small area actually)and hopefully keep me from ripping out anything that I should keep. But.. it might be a few days before I get the pictures (painting rooms, company is coming Friday and there's a christening Sunday!) so don't give up on me. Oh and it's mostly an eastern exposure Sue! It should be a perfect spot for alot of things, right? Wait until you see the pictures. It is a mess right now with the invasives and I'm in coal country, so none of this ground is undisturbed, but I think I can make it a little more productive for wildlife!

Thank you so much for the replies! its late i know i lost my email message and have recovered it.I could not find this site for love nor money but im here.Since we last spoke on the other side of my drive i dug HARD and tilled and seived till the soil was crumbly and easy to hoe and rake.Out came a million roots from the neighbours and after this last couple of months up popped some dormant plants:GIANT RED POPPY,SMALL TREE MALLOW(this particular mallow has the flower colour of a marsh mallow but the stem and and rest of a small tree, MASSIF SCOTTISH THISTLE and tons of CLEAVERS (stuck all over me)So the garden is preening itself,i like to let it go "wild" then go and investigate.Celtic wise a farmer close to me is growing awild flower field predom'cornflower some poppy and corncockle to sell seeds .Ive not had much luck in garden the weather at best has been ABYSMAL IN UK just absolutely horrid.thanks for replies and advice and the great book info!!!