Chelly, do you remember that old Florida ad campaign, "Things are different here"? Well, they are in gardening, too. Have you dug a hole and timed how long it takes to drain? Call your local ag center and ask them about the possible effects of your 7.6 water on your soil and what you should do to find out how well your soil drains. I'd be surprised if it's slow draining. Mine looks like compacted mortar mix with streaks of white clay, but it drains extremely well. Yours could be very different, so do check. If it drains really well, more organics are needed because they simply leach their way to China. For your amendments I would suggest more than just compost. I would get good topsoil, too. I've gotten it in bags or bulk from my handy-dandy local rock/mulch vendor. They have topsoil that's beautifully black, something else they call potting soil that has ground-up tree material in it, I think. The topsoil has minerals in it. The compost does not, neither does the sand, and neither might your clay. I've bought Pine Fines Soil Conditioner in bags, but some places carry it in bulk. It's acidic which is good. Also, I dig the whole bed (at least 2 shovel-heads deep), not just the hole and amend all of it. If your soil does drain fast, you can put cardboard or thick newspaper in the bottom. The last bed I did, I put lots of nutrients in the bottom of the bed in hopes that they leach down deeper before the roots get there. I also use lots (cups & cups) of alfalfa pellets, milorganite (feeds the plants and the earthworms and won't burn), powdered sulfur (not lots) if your pH is neutral to high, RoseTone or HollyTone or any organic rose food, and sometimes banana peels in the hole if I remember. Our soils have virtually no nutrients in them, so you won't be overdoing it. Our plants grow fast and are under constant stress due to heat and humidity and night temps that stay above 70. Manure compost and mulch on top are good, too. Load it up but it's recommended not let it touch the stem of the plant (do as I say, not as I did). Have fun! Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I will certainly post photos when I get the island planted. That will have to be next spring, after the pond [hopefully] has filled up with water. The soil looks to be sandy loam, best I can figure. I will no doubt have to ammend the planting hole with compost. I am saving all these suggestions.....thank you! I went to the Antique Rose Emporium yesterday and saw Swamp Rose - they have it around their little lily ponds. I also hope Spirea [Bridal Wreath] will grow there - it is just beautiful in spring with the white weeping branches. I have some cobalt blue louisiana iris planted by the former owner [18 years ago - I have been wanting to dig this pond all these years!] I plan to add more louisiana iris of differing colors that I brought from my former home. Maybe even some azaleas....they love water. Formosas get huge in time and would be gorgeous! The only color I would be not too crazy about planting is red - I would like a softer effect. But.....if one happened to be right for this space, I would use it. Its going to be a long wait while it fills up! I am having a bridge built over to the island - going to hang bird feeders, make a fire ring and put adirondyke chairs. And plan to put koi in the pond as well. All this may not work, but I have been thinking about it all these years.

You are lucky indeed to have so much space that you can have six big bulbs in one pot. Pot space is a huge issue here, so all bulbs that tolerate it are raised to their limit. The Jamaican doesn't care. It have good paper layering. Well, it was twelve scapes. I hit a 3? Hmm. Anyway, a full adult bulb is not as large as the biggest amaryllises I have seen in bulb size, but it like a very big onion. So I mean from one bulb. I keep an adult with its myriad little offsets in a pot. And the rest, the money part? This bulb has gotten around. It was brought in in '79 as I remember, and hase been given away many many times. My friend wanted it to run free, not to turn it into a money thing. So I hold to his spirit. If I create something which is free-flowering, good-looking and hardy as a horse I'll spring it on him. See what he thinks. As for the Jamaican, I'm sure others have done who knows what with it.

The siberian iris are some of my favorites - carefree and gorgeous. I also have several varieties, and love them all. The daylilies and the oriental lilies are great garden plants as well. If you got a reblooming kind, the daylily will bloom most of the season for you. If you post what kind on some of these, like the daylily, lysimachia and the lady's bells (the latin name should be on the tag) you will get more info. (Yellow lysimachia is OK, white needs to be treated like the spearmint below and deadheaded, and the pink needs to be put into the trash as it seeds into wild wetlands courtesy of birds and will damage far more than your own garden.) I'd plant the artemesia and the spearmint in bottomless containers - I use damaged chimney tiles which you can get for cheap or free from mansonry contractors or suppliers - so that they don't get out of control. You may say that you want spreaders, now, but once they are out of control, they are a huge amount of work to eradicate. (yes, this is the voice of experience.) Be sure to religiously deadhead and put in the trash (NOT the compost) plants like the crown vetch. I have some ajuga growing between a large dense rhodie, a stone wall and the gravel drive. The rhodie's shade, the snow plow and the rock wall keep it in bounds, but I wouldn't plant it in an area that it can spread unchecked. It does do a good job of keeping down weeds under the edge of the shrub, but it will drown other less vigorous plants, so be careful where you plant it. If you honestly want feedback on plants you are going to buy to take advantage of others' experience, you might want to ask before you buy to save yourself money and heartache later on. (not intended as criticism, just a friendly suggestion.) ;>) I've put time and money into several plants that I've later sincerely regretted. Below is a link that shares the experiences of a bunch of New England gardeners - you could try something similar on the midwest or Michigan forums (if there are ones with those names - I kknow there are forums for your area.) Here is a link that might be useful: Plants I wish I'd never planted