Some of my favorite mixed garden companions that have not already been discussed (I think): 1. Seseli gummiferum. Much like Campanula, I love umbellifers. But unlike Campanula, I seem to live in climate that most umbellifers despise. I have had very limited success with Angelica gigas, Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum' and Pimpinella major 'Rosea'. This year, I got maybe 1-2 weeks of bloom from each of them during a milder than normal summer. After bloom, they just faded into the background and looked weedy--far removed from the romantic cottage garden effect I had in mind! Other umbellifers I have tried just died without explanation or were eaten by rabbits. Seseli gummiferum, however, has striking waxy glaucous foliage and stayed in prime bloom for a good 6-7 weeks, followed by seed heads which were almost as attractive as the blooms. It seemed to thrive is my sandy loam soil. I loved it this year and so did the hover flies! 2. Crambe maritima. Another star performer that requires absolutely no care or maintenance other than a good full plant chop after blooming in early summer. Striking, handsome, architectural glaucous leaves and lovely full heads of white flowers with a wafting honey fragrance. 3. Hardy geraniums. Many people have already mentioned them, yes, but I want to mention a few others. 'Rozanne' is exquisite and I have at least 20 of them in various places throughout my tiny garden (!) but many others are just as worthy. Geranium soboliferum 'Butterfly Kisses' is a wonderful fall bloomer that started producing its starry magenta blooms in early September and is still going strong now. 'Blue Sunrise' has gorgeous chartreuse/yellow new growth and was in stunning full bloom from late May to late July this year. 'Tiny Monster' and 'Nimbus' have been blooming off and on from late May until now. 'Derek Cook', a selection of Geranium himalayense, produces huge, striking white blooms with lavender veins from late spring to midsummer. 'Eureka Blue' and 'Orion' are both exquisite and vigorous with huge blooms that are much "bluer" than 'Rozanne' in high temperatures. 'Blue Cloud', much like its name implies, produces clouds of amazing pale blue blooms that stand out in the garden and contrasts nicely with the blue shades of other geraniums. Geranium erianthum bloomed continuously from early June through mid August. Geranium maculatum 'Elizabeth Ann' has striking irridescent bronze foliage and wonderful lilac-pink blooms for a good month in late spring. I am itching to get my hands on 'Lilac Ice', a stunning lilac-white sport of 'Rozanne'. 4. Calamintha nepeta. One of my absolute favorites. About 12-18 inches tall with a spreading growth habit, it starts blooming here in July and soon becomes a never-ending frothy cloud of white blooms (that have a lavender tinged when viewed up close). Mine are still blooming now. Absolutely loved by bees and other pollinators. 5. Pycnanthemum. So far, my favorite is Pycnanthemum muticum with its ornamental silvery-grey flower bracts from July till now. Rumor has it that it can sometimes spread vigorously (it is in the mint family), but so far it has been well behaved for me. In any case, it has shallow roots and is easily pulled up, ripped out, transplanted, etc. I grow several other species and all are nice, with varying heights, blooms seasons, and very different foliage textures. The tiny whitish flowers attract a greater variety and quantity of happy pollinators and beneficial insects than I have ever seen in my life! 6. Agastache. 'Blue Fortune' and 'Golden Jubilee' are lovely and wonderful for bees and other pollinators. I grow both and love them. But I want to put in a good word for the hybrid agastaches from High Country Gardens. 'Blue Blazes' has been a stunning plant in my garden, huge and everblooming with gigantic bracts of blue-lavender blooms that glow when backlit by the sun. Bumblebees adore it and it easily survived last year's harsh winter with no snow cover and countless freeze-thaw cycles. 'Ava' and 'Desert Sunrise' also appear to be excellent, but are not yet mature in my garden. 7. Daylilies. I used to be a snob and say things like "Daylilies are too common and I will never grow them in my garden." Ha! The joke was on me. In my extreme ignorance, I did not realize the vast amount of daylilies available, how much hybridizers have improved them during the past 20 years and how many of them are now truly architectural, showpiece plants. While I still find those with round/frilly/flouncy flowers to be a bit twee and boring (sorry, just an opinion..no offense intended), the spidery/unusual flowered types are gorgeous and many people--gardeners included--don't even recognize them as daylilies. Great strides have been made in selecting for improved foliage habits as well. Check out the websites for Woodhenge Gardens and Heavenly Gardens for a mindblowing education about contemporary hemerocallis. 8. Alliums. They have already been discussed by many people above, so I have nothing to add other than to say I love them and want to encourage other people to plant them. And don't overlook the rhizomatous types that bloom later in summer or fall with foliage that remains glossy and attractive all season. 'Millennium', 'Sugar Melt', A. nutans 'Pam Harper', A. thunbergii 'Ozawa' and A. tuberosum are particular favorites for me in this group (be sure to trim off spent flower heads of A. tuberosum if you do not want it to reseed). A. obliquum and the allium sold as "perennial leeks" by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange are two bulb alliums with stunning ornamental mid-summer blooms that are all but unknown among most gardeners...yet.

Nanadoll, if you look at Select Seed's website, their 2013 listing shows some nasturtiums as being 1 foot tall (Whirlybird, Vesuvius, Golden King, Empress of India, Black Velvet) some as being 3 feet tall (Forest Flame, Golden Gleam, Hermine Grashoff, Milkmaid) and some as 6 feet tall (Indian Cress, Moonlight, Variegated Queen). Renee's Garden also has a number of varieties listed, with Moonlight, Amazon Jewel and Spitfire being classified as climbing. http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/flowersN.htm#nast Botanical Interests has a number of varieties, but only one climbing - Trailing Single Blend http://www.botanicalinterests.com/products/index/srch:nasturtium It may be that you have to purchase the seeds via mail order if your local stores do not carry the taller types. Alaska has been semi climbing in my garden if it has something to support it, even though it is listed as being one of the shorter types. Here is a link that might be useful: nasturtium listing at Select Seeds This post was edited by plantloverkat on Thu, Nov 7, 13 at 18:09

I'll have to photograph my Monarda 'Thundercloud' - it is such a beautiful red. The Monarda fistulosa is blooming, too. The datura has tons of blooms on it; my very small Bottlebrush Buckeye has one bloom (only its second year), and the buds have just opened! Oh my, it is gorgeous! Asters are starting to bud out (red and white); Passiflora ceurulea is blooming - they are so gorgeous and smell wonderful! Lavendar x intermedia 'Provence' is blooming like crazy. I love the smell of lavendar. My big yellow daylilies are about to bloom. They are rebloomers. The old-fashioned oranges are in bloom, and my peach daylilies are blooming, too. My Tiger Babies are blooming like crazy (pink with recurved petals). Hibiscus 'Kopper King' has buds - it is the most beautiful hibiscus I've ever seen! Coppery foliage and pale pink blooms. Speedwell is in bloom. Lychnis coronaria still blooming. Liatris spicata blooming with pycnanthemum about to bloom. Snapdragons still blooming (red and pink). Coneflower blooming (pink) Indigofera kirilowii on second round of blooms. Clematis Jackmanii still blooming Apricot trumpet vine blooming. Pearly Everlasting getting first blooms Diascia on its 3rd round of blooms Scabiosa Butterfly Blue on 3rd round of blooms Salvia 'Black and Blue' blooming (this is one gorgeous Salvia!; bracts are black and blooms are an indigo blue) Crepe Myrtle has buds (purple) Wild Senna about to bloom Lantana 'Miss Huff' (perennial) has buds Hibiscus 'Fantasia' has buds Red Pentas blooming Agastache mexicana (pink and peach blooms; still blooming) Linum still blooming (white and pink) Rose of Sharon blooming (hate these, tho) Malva is blooming Helichrysum 'Icicles' blooming That's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Susan

I don't like the pale pink and yellow one so much either but I have a big one on the west side I started from a cutting back when I was collecting different hardy types that I got from a Hispanic Church that has a weedy, neglected landscape of robust hard-core Texas plants growing in a torrid spot surrounded by concrete exposed to shadeless, full sun all day in the Hispanic district on the southside along with some kind of thick, tall red-orange one (?). My favorite is a lower growing, solid orange one--an unknown type. I got a small a cutting from a big plant growing in a spot on the Paseo that has been growing by the curb close to the street for years. Its a big plant, the stems are numerous, thorny & mean; it blooms heavily and non-stop from late spring to fall in a big thick mound that is about 3ft tall x six feet wide. It produces a few seeds that produce plants true to the parent. Obviously it has a lot of 'horrida' in its genes judging by the smaller size of leaves and thorns but its form is different than the bigger and taller L. horrida's I grew from seeds I bought from Native American Plants.