Thanks for the replies. I had a very busy week after posting this so thats why I didnÂt reply sooner. I am very glad I asked this question here, as I feel relieved from the feeling of being overwhelmed when I look at the tasks I canÂt get to often enough. Gfult you raise a good point about slimy messy petals. Of course IÂll have to consider that when choosing plants close to the walkways and patios. I sometimes deadhead coreopsis, but will leave it alone if it doesnÂt need it. IÂm not sure about salvia. I mostly deadhead but donÂt get blooms back much from them. Lindac IÂm hoping for about as long blooming as I can get. More to the point, IÂd like long blooming and overlapping succession of blooms. So far in spite of that being my goal I havenÂt succeeded. I hope to eventually. :) Entling I looked up the Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac.', and was disappointed to see you are right, it is invasive here. I do deadhead Geranium 'Rozanne, but itÂs in the shade so I donÂt mind so much. Chris_ont I grow some dwarf shrubs, and also have a few variegated shrubs and plants that boast colourful foliage. My variegated Pieris is pink and cream and I love it. Robynpa, dare I try Crocosima Lucifer again? It is a serious spreader here, and still I canÂt grow it! Maybe the fifth time is the real charm. :) Thanks Tess, and Chris, for the reminder that I donÂt have to ruthlessly cut back or deadhead liatris, or Echinacea, etc. I donÂt usually as I like to feed the birds here, but when I went outside and saw the jumble of spent flowers I didnÂt really take stock of what was to stay and what heads I had to off. ;) I felt much better as I said when I went out after reading this. Katefisher thanks for the Moonshine Yarrow suggestion. It looks like something I could work with, maybe with a deep purple coloured plant. Ellen_z7ny I hope my Agastache blooms more. It is smaller this year than ever before. I have always deadheaded but will leave it alone from now on. Yes our summers are coolish for the most part, except for in the end of June and most of July. I will definitely try viola tricolor. Is it good in a container? I have some very large containers that I would like to set about in the garden for continuity of form and colour. Northerner on, Veronica spicata (Speedwell), is another that has eluded me. Only one plant has ever come back, and that is the one Âunder my Rosemary bush. It was faltering and my Rosemary grew right over it, and it bloomed like mad. ItÂs still under there and still blooming?!? Of course I just bought 2 more to torture myself with, lol. Wish me luck. Mollydog I am bloom greedy, I know. We have so much green in rainy Vancouver that IÂm always after a huge burst of colour in the summer. I do grow blue oat grass, and walker's low nepeta, and do cut the nepeta back like you, BTW. I havenÂt tried the chocolate euphorbia, but will try to find it here. You have very beautiful gardens. Thanks for sharing. Is the chocolate euphorbia somewhere on the pics? Stephanie, peach leaved Canterburry bells sounds interesting. So far we donÂt have Japanese beetles, knock on wood, but west Nile Virus is on Vancouver Island, :( , so itÂs probably a matter of time. IÂm glad youÂve found something they donÂt like. Thanks again for not laughing at me in my quest. I know that low maintenance and garden are not synonymous, but less work , and more blooms!, is what IÂm after and youÂve helped me with that. Yeona

It really depends on color, but one of my favorites for the front of the border is Nepeta Walker's Low - it has silvery green leaves, and delightful purple flowers that start in Spring and last most of the summer - it would cascade very nicely over the fieldstone without invading your lawn, I think. I also have "Snow in Summer" in the front of the border - it's got delicate green foliage with an almost white fuzz on it, and it gets very pretty little white flowers on it in the Spring. You could also try Oenthera "Sun Drops" (though some on this forum have called it invasive, I haven't found it to be invasive at all in my garden). It has narrow, dark green leaves, with maroon stems, and it gets very bright yellow cuplike flowers on it - it flowers very prolifically in the spring, and goes for several weeks; mine is just starting to stop blooming now, though the foliage doesn't decline at all. That, too, would cascade nicely over the fieldstone, and I don't think you need to worry about it rooting in the yard. Finally, creeping phlox is "made for cascading over rocks", so you could look into that as well. Sounds like a pretty spot with lots of possibilities. Have fun with it!

Agastache, Agastache! Xeriscape, a hummer magnet, various colors (the blues didn't do a thing for me and were not long bloomers....look at the other colors...the pinks are radiant and there are orange/peachy shades now)Blooms in mid July straight to frost with absolutely NO deadheading...the flowers just "stay". (maybe one light shear in Sept/Oct?) Compact, bushy and no maintenance. The only thing you MUST do is to provide sandy loam that is well, well drained and a full sun (preferably in winter too) location. It's very adaptable to more water during the season but a soggy soil in winter will take it down. Mine thrive here! Golden Jubilee is another winner. Chartreause/lime foliage with blue flowers. Google and you'll see some great images. Fragrant as well.

(This though evolved a discussion with Jim Delahanty who talked about how some of the polys in his CA garden had problems with chlorosis.) I grow some of the same polys as JD but don't have a chlorosis problem with them, but I grow them in eastern acidic red clay that is slightly emended with organics. (The red clay seems to be winning as predominant character, even though the color is less red than before.) The great group of polys descended from Orleans Rose grow here really well, and bloom consistantly. From Orleans itself to Heinrich Karsch to Baby Faurax to Marike Cazant to Golden Salmon and Golden Salmon Superior, these can handle the clay. The multiflora in their parentage makes them roses that seem to be 'for the east' and some of them are the survivors in old cemeteries (Madame Levavaseur predominately). Cazant is the cream/pale apricot/verging on light pink depending on season that you want. I got it (and it's sometimes hard to find) because I bought a book at a book sale and it was one of those list books, but from earlier decades and on the list of 100 roses you must grow were many whose names I recognized, but I'd never hear of MK, so I 'had' to have it. And it was worth the search. Mine's from Vintage. (And I have Borderer and is is the lowest growing rose imaginable and with a strong pink presence and ability to thrive in red clay, you do need it, too. (It's one I wish would have lots of kin, in similar colors.)