I hear ya, CMK. I thought I was the only one who got tired of her garden.

For years, I had allowed my garden to fill up with seedlings, but this past weekend I finally had had enough and pulled them all out: Phlox paniculata, Asters, Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm', Lamb's Ear, Asclepia of all sorts, Dill, ornamental grass, Centaurea montana. You name it.

The Centaurea montana looked simply aweful this year.
I was also tired of Miscanthus Yaku-jima so out it went.

I moved several clumps of Orange Tiger Lilies and pulled many seedlings.

This spring, I began to dig out the daffodils that have been shaded by the house next door. On Sunday, I sheared a few more clumps of them and dripped Roundup on the stumps because they were too deep to dig out. But hey, I planted 5 double Bloodroot in their place. :-P

I dripped Roundup on bindweed too after restraining myself for several years from using it. I simply cannot stand that weed anymore.

Someone on GW suggested a mustard bottle to use as a Roundup dispenser. What a terrific idea, so I went and bought a bottle of mustard and dumped its content in a pill bottle. hahahah,

It feels good to see a tidy garden for once. I still have half the backyard to tidy up. That may happen this coming weekend.

A colleague showed me UV protective long sleeve T-shirts. He said they kept you cool in the sun, so now I wear them for yardwork. Super cool - litterally. 30 SPF/50 SPF T-shirts. What will people come up with next?

After an early spring Arctic freeze followed by 4 months of record setting rainfall I am a bit surprised that my own garden is doing as well as it is. My melianthus (honeybush) which was tall and gorgeous and bloomed like crazy last spring was cut back to the roots this winter but is recovering well. And I lost a 3 year old containerized dwarf Ginkgo of all things....who would have thought that tough little tree would have had winters worries in my climate?!

The good news is that my tiny little beach cliff terrace bed of mostly perennials is doing great! All the early bloomers bloomed their heads off and the later stuff is going strong. What I can't say enough about is my 'Hot Lips' salvia which is now entering its 4th year and has turned into a sizeable shrub. Enough so that I gave it a pretty hard pruning this spring as it was encroaching on its neighbors. Started blooming in late May and will continue nonstop until fall. A continual draw for the hummingbirds!

And I am pleased as punch to have a very young Clematis florida Sieboldii blooming for me :-)) Purchased bare root from Costco early this spring, I am amazed to see flowers already!! I have tried to grow this rather foo-foo clematis variety multiple time in the past without success so I am really chuffed it has even survived our wet spring, let alone produced 4 big white and purple flowers on this still tiny little vine.

I really can't complain this year. Despite the terrible winter, everything is growing gangbusters.

Except

Miscanthus Morning Light. It barely made it through the winter, but seeing I only put it in last year I guess I should be happy. I tried Goldbar a couple of years ago and it only lasted the first year. Bummer because I think that one could be spectacular if it ever grew up.

Kevin

-pitimpinai, same here. Gone are the days when every seedling is a small treasure, LOL! Now I become a lot more ruthless. Sure Knautia is pretty, but do I truly need 5,000 seedlings starting around it? Not so much!

I had to laugh at your mustard in the pill bottle. In a pinch I've occasionally taken condiments in them too. Nothing is better medicine than ranch dressing, LOL. ;-)

-gardengal, wonder if the Ginkgo got flooded out in the pot? It was a wet winter over here too. My ornamental rhubarb needed to be planted in the ground- it was so sodden in the barrel planter! I'm envious of your Sieboldii! I've long lusted for that one.

-Kevin, too bad your Miscanthus isn't doing well either. What plants are you impressed with in your own garden right now?
CMK

I am superbly pleased with my backyard this year -- the patio re-build and re-planting has a lot to do with it, but also the amount of rain, everything is so lush this year.

My front I am not so happy with, the yews took a beating this year and need pruning, the hibiscus leaves are getting eaten by some sort of bug, my Iceberg rose looks puny (not enough sun, probably), my coneflowers have a BAD case of mites. Just kind of a mess out there, and I just don't have it in me right now to do anything about it. I suppose to passerby everything looks fine - it's not THAT bad -- but to me it's a mess. BAH!

I am very fastidious about what I plant in my flower gardens. I research, research, and research some more before I plant anything. So needless to say, I don’t plant many things that do not do well in my yard. However, sometimes I plant things that do too well. The plant that was the “ugly” I planted recently was Grandpa Ott Morning Glory. The flowers are beautiful, but I think every seed it dropped was viable and sprouted in my yard. I had Morning Glories growing everywhere and ended up treating them like weeds. Never planting that one again…
The “bad” was Wine and Roses Weigelia, because it turned bright green and scorched. However, I moved them to a still sunny but not so hot area of my yard and now they are looking better. So althought I don’t consider them “bad” anymore they are not “good” either, at least not for my climate.
So far, my favorite plant by far has to be my Guacamole Hosta. I’m also very fond of Ninebark Summer Wine which has the best fall color of any plant I’ve seen and is the hardiest shrub in my yard.
I also have Goldmound and Froebelli Spireas, Russian Sage, Rosy Glow Barberry, Autumn Joy and Autumn Charm Sedums, Diablo Ninebark, Sonset Lantanas, Pompus Grass, lavender colored hardy mums, Black Knight Butterfly Bush, and a few other variety of hostas. Everything is doing very well this year.

What am I impressed with?

All the other grasses, the veronica - Sunny Border Blue is going to be close to 3 feet tall this year. Never, never has it done this!
Clematis, daylilies - although they seem very late - lots of lush foliage, but few flowers yet.
Lilies are great
Helenium - I am so in love with these! Mardi Gras is huge and just starting to bloom.
Rudbeckia triloba - one is over 5 feet tall and it hasn't even started producing buds yet.
Mums should be great - very lush and since I pinched them a couple of times, well branched.
Delphiniums - OH WOW!

I just can't complain except for that blasted Buddleia that didn't make it, but we've talked about that.

Kevin

For a new perennial I really liked Ranunculus aconitifolius "Flore Pleno". GW member "Ispahan" gave it a two thumbs up last year and it bloomed beautifully for me in this its first spring in our garden (planted it last August I think). I think I will plant another one or two if I can find more!

Christin, congratulations on the Penstemon and the Helenium. I know what you mean about growing something from seed. [g] Nice to have some success when other plants are disappointing you. I almost tried a Sambucus this year, but at the last minute I accepted the fact, I had no place to put it. I got rid of my Knock Out Rose probably four years ago, I’d guess. Don’t miss it.

Sounds like most of you are pretty happy with your gardens this year.

I’m not liking a lot in our garden this year. [g] I’m still out of action, and DH is keeping up with the vegetable garden and staying on top of the weeds and that’s about all that’s going on here.

Lesson learned. Never rip out plants without having plants ready to replace them, right then. :-) I pulled plants out last year in the fall, planned on redoing two major beds this spring and haven’t been able to do that. So they all look okay, but not great.

I just gave away Perovskias and ‘Purple Rain’ Salvias, that I’ve had for a long time. I was having more flopping than I liked and so out they went.

I ripped out a lot of echinaceas, but I saved a few and those are doing very well this year. Especially a white ‘Fragrant Angel’.

Kept ‘Orania’ Lilies which have multiplied, but they are not as large and gorgeous as they were last year. I think it was the difficult winter.

I did add new Buddleias and two new Baptisias last fall, ‘Purple Smoke’ and ‘Carolina Moonshine’, but they were small quart size plants that just made it through the winter by the skin of their teeth. They are all in the wrong place and need moving too. Oh well. The PS Baptisia did have a few branches of bloom this year, and I was really happy with what it looked like. So if I can rearrange them where they need to be I think next year, I’ll be very happy with them.

I’ve given up on Salvias and Agastaches. My clay soil is just not giving them what they need even with amendment and adjustment, so, they’re out. I had a 'Lipstick' Salvia and an 'Ava' Agastache that never came back this spring.

Ferns are doing well this year too. ‘Ghost’ and Japanese Painted Ferns are filling in a few shady areas. How much more carefree can you get.

I am happy with annuals that are growing in pots and starting to rev up with the sun and the heat. A sunflower from last year, reseeded and two volunteers came up [in the wrong place (g)] and are looking very happy with pristine foliage, for a change, so I left them where they are.

We added a Kolkwitzia ‘Dreamcatcher’ in 2009 in an area that has been difficult and it’s doing really well. I’m pretty surprised about that, because it’s a new cultivar that is supposed to have gold foliage and I was prepared for disappointment but it did not let me down.

Back in 2006, when I was winter sowing, I started some grape seeds, just as a lark, because someone sent them to me in a trade, and I had it growing in too much shade for a few years, then moved it to a sunny position two years ago. I was doubtful that it was going to be enough sun, not a full day, but lo and behold, we have grapes this year! So I’m pretty excited about that. We just covered it with bird netting.

That's about it. Hope everyone is enjoying pleasant summer weather!

-PM2, wait...what? Did I miss something? Did you get hurt??

Ha! I got rid of a large Perovskia last year due to its flopping too. No more staking!!!

I'm going to have to try another PS Baptisia. Mine died (or I killed more likely, lol) second year- before it even had a chance to do anything. Bummer!

Another thing I am pleased with right now...Japanese Maple seedlings. I found a whole bunch while weeding this particular area of the nursery a few weeks ago. Some have even put out a few more leaves since I potted them up. I'm tickled to see what they turn out like..
CMK

Christin, just a strain on my achilles that's keeping me out of the garden. Luckily, I've had help to finish the spring garden work. Still have some pots that never got planted, but what else is new? [g]

Sorry about your Baptisia PS. Yes, Try it again! Someone posted a great photo of one not too long ago on this forum. I was glad I bought one when I saw it.

Japanese Maple seedlings are a real find! Fun to watch them grow and to have multiples even better.

Record losses in the garden. The Winter From Hell, Part 2, was devastating.

Last year a huge oak smashed my house; this year a 50' elm trashed my water garden. I am much more stressed by the garden damage.

Since so much is sub-par, I have decided to add to the losses by removing lots of things that I have been luke-warm on. I am amazed by how good it feels! Gone are most of the hardy geraniums. Despite their claims of blooming all summer, they have been lying to me for years, they eat up too much real estate, and get floppy. Begone, I say! Inula magnifica is NOT magnificent and seeds everywhere, so I composted it, though a nest of ground bees underneath made me pay a bit (17 stings on one arm), but it was worth it.

Aunt Dee's wisteria strangles everything she touches and has bloomed once in 20 years.... Ginnala maple should be banned everywhere for invasiveness, so I cut that puppy down.

Liberation is quite wonderful.

Kate

CMK - if you can find it, look for Baptisia 'Twilite Prairie Blues'. It is a hybrid baptisia but with the most stunning coloring! I grew baptisia in my old garden a good number of years ago and just wasn't very impressed with it.......a lot of plant/foliage for not very much flowering :-)) Didn't earn the real estate it occupied. This is my third season of TPB and I am hugely impressed - still a big plant and not the longest bloom period but very heavily flowering and oh, those colors!! And such a low maintenance perennial - plant and forget, except for fall clean up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Baptisia Twilite Prairie Bues

The good and the bad are combined with my clematis plants. Good bloom and growth on some that were lagging behind last year. Meanwhile less bloom or no bloom on some that have bloomed well other years. Thought I lost Gravety Beauty until it appeared from the crown recently.

As Kevin indicated earlier, delphiniums are outstanding. Annabelle hydrangea in full bloom having escaped critter damage this year. Shasta daisies looking great. Veronicas, yarrow, monarda, echinacea and lilies in full bloom. Daylilies have just started.

Hostas have loved all the rain we've had but my perennial gypsophila has died.

Self seeded annual poppies, lychnis, and annul rudbeckia are blooming.

Perennial salvias in second flush.

Some critter damage but minor, ate one group of liatris and some of the lily stems, some phlox trimmed earlier, and some asters. A couple of asters eaten to the ground.

Tomatoes and beans are doing well. Peppers are flowering though need more sun. Will be moving my vegetable beds this fall as trees have grown and casting too much shade in that area now.

I lost very little to the harsh winter. Probably because we had deep continuos snow cover.

All in all the gardens are looking very lush and full of bloom. This may be the peak of the season.

I have very few new plants this year. Due to some very unexpected financial constraints, just about the only things I've bought are herbs and fruit (tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, blueberries).

I changed the location for growing tomatoes and they're doing so much better this year. They're on the front porch in pots and in the front bed. I'm not crazy about the scent of tomato plants, but if it yields yummy tomatoey goodness, I'll survive.

The mystic spires salvia has taken over. Way bigger than last year (first year in the ground) and it looks as though it's trying to eat the hydrangea. I was expecting the hydrangea to be the bigger of the two, so things look a tad lopsided. The echinaceas have been blooming for nearly two months now, the asclepias incarnata is growing well (no flowers yet...) and the gardenias put on a grand show.

The halesia (Carolina silverbell) survived and put out new leaves. I was most astonished as I wasn't sure it would. I planted it in autum 2012 as a 1' sapling via mailorder, and it leafed out last spring, but then languished and eventually dropped the 7 leaves it'd produced. I wasn't sure it'd survive winter, but it did. It's obviously lost its old form, and hasn't done too much, but it's a little bigger than last year and I'm holding onto hope for it.

So I suppose the flourishing tomatoes are the good, the flowerbed eating salvias are the bad, and my poor little halesia is the ugly.