Here's what I've had experience with from your list: PainterÂs Palette Blanket Flower.... 2nd Year Aquilegia Blend (Columbine)...2nd year (on all Columbines for me) Coreopsis Sunburst...a little first year, better 2nd year Dianthus Amazon NeonRose Magic (2nd year on all Sweet William...not sure if you have SW-- Dianthus barbatus) Chives (can't get the durn things to even sprout!) Thyme (Mother of Thyme) (either late first year, or 2nd year) Delphinium Blues....2nd year...and they only sprout for me when I keep them in complete shade DigitalisYellow Foxglove...late first year, then normal time 2nd year with bigger blooms Chinese Lantern 2nd year for me Obedient Plant (I'll find out...sowed first time this year) Butterfly bush ...this is the second year for mine...we'll see. Definitely didn't bloom first year. Aconitum Carmichaelli...must be 2nd year. I WSed some last year and it didn't bloom then. Four oÂClock...my 4 Oclocks reseed with a vengeance. Hope this helps :-) Linda

Hi there, This is my first attempt at posting photos, so I hope the file size is not too huge. Please help me if I need to be more viewer-friendly with my images. My picture taking abilities are also a bit suspect. :) We have lots of dirt everywhere due to a recent foundation repair on the back of the house. Here goes! This is a front bed I made "lasagna style" last fall and am in the process of planting with perennials and annuals. Here is the middle of the front bed. I have mgs, black-eyed susan vines, and hyacinth bean, which will grow up and over the fencing--I hope! There are holly hocks, cosmos, 4 o'clocks, nicotania, and marigolds, too. Back of the house where you can see the foundation destruction. There are zinns, delphs, cosmos, snappies, cleome, nicotania, and 4 o'clocks all across the back. ws toms in the middle, basil, and rosemary (too tiny to see). The three big toms on the right are from a nursery. Barrell of dwarf sunnies, larkspur, and dahlias. Mgs, zinns, and marigolds. My hope is the MGs and sweetpeas (not seen on sides and behind) will climb up and around the chair. This is a picture from the "back" of the front bed, which is looking from the opposite side of picture #2. Lots of zinns, larkspur, and dahlias. Thanks for looking and letting me share! cheers, NB

Don't know if we have the same kind of forget-me-nots or not, but I let mine set seed... when the plants begin to brown I go out with a stack of big sheets of newspaper (or something flat and flexible to hold the seeds...), I rip out the plants with my hands and lay the whole thing on the newspaper sheets, with all the plants layed in the same direction. Once I've got a pile of stems/dried flowerheads on there, I lift them together, upside down, and give a little shake. Tons of little shiny black seeds will drop down, with the chaff, onto the newspapers. Toss the plants in the compost, carelessly allowing seeds to fall everywhere, then lift the newspaper carefully with a slight fold down the middle so you can pour the seeds out into your container. I'm taking out my plants this weekend (started last night), but I'm not bothering to save the seeds. Hope that helps! I love how carefree these self-sow! :)

My last bloom on APPLE TART just dropped off. I would have had 12 weeks of blooms if it had stayed on, but maybe the storm or cool weather caused it to drop off. As it is, I got 11 weeks of blooms off of this gem. RED VOLUNTEER is putting up a rebloom scape... certainly didn't expect that. KING OF SWING, PURPLE DE ORO, and PLATINUM PALETTE CALYPSO CORAL are also still blooming as well as the ones below. Not too bad for this area in the second week in September. Just hope the fall stays warm enough to produce blooms. BUTTERED POPCORN is reblooming and is sending up another scape just to the lower left of the bloom. WITCH STITCHERY... also wasn't expecting this rebloom scape. The blooms have been subjected to cool weather lately, so they aren't laying as nicely as usual, but hey, I'll take it! SEA GOLD... really growing to love the layers of color on this one. Vickie