Yes, Cameron - they are prickly. We have deer (and rabbits, etc) - but I didn't notice the malvas eaten - which may not really mean anything because I have tons of borders and the deer may have just passed the malvas on the way to something better... Japanese beetles, however, go for Malva but they are so gorgeous, it's worth it. They reseed great but the only problem with larkspurs, poppies and malvas (from my experience) is that they are very difficult to transplant. You may be able to lift them when they are really small (the malva/larkspurs), but transplanting small reseeded poppies are really difficult and sometimes almost impossible because of their long roots. Maybe someone else on this forum has had luck transplanting them, but I haven't... The cleomes can get very, very tall. The larkspurs I have found look great in the early spring but as it gets really hot, I have found the foliage starts to get yellowish and a bit ratty. Unfortunately, I like to harvest the seeds, so I deal with the foliage a bit longer than I like.... Carrie

Thanks, oilpainter. One article I saw said annuals rated HA could be sown in fall. I get nervous about any coming up and tend to start them under lights. This year I tried Emilia coccinea, some I planted under lights, some I sowed outdoors. The ones I started under lights Feb 12 I planted out May 7 and they started blooming June 26. They are a little tall, skimpy, and floppy, but still blooming, 1/2" red dandelion type flowers in clusters. They might look good mixed in with other plants of the same height that don't have a long bloom season. The direct sown didn't come up for a couple of months and then just started blooming in September. I will see what happens next year with fall planted ones. Johnny Jump-ups did really well, I started them under lights Feb 12, some were blooming under lights by April 20. I planted them out May 8, they are still blooming and have already self-sown, some of those are just starting to bloom. They stay low and are really cute, too. I will see if they come back well next year. An edible annual I grow is Corn Salad. It likes it cold, it comes up in October and grows all winter, the leaves are small, so hard to harvest, but they taste phenomenal. I use them kind of like a winter ground cover to keep down weeds. It seems to take forever for them to set seed in spring so I can plant something else, though. I don't collect the seed but they are great at self-sowing. In S. Calif. Nasturtiums will self-sow to grow in winter too, down there they can get montrous over winter. Usually they died out in warm weather.

Hi Dawna! So excited to see you online today. Haven't seen much of you lately, and I assume you are still busy with getting everything resettled from one home/landscape to another. Thanks for the tip on the iochroma. I guess it is one of those plants that looks better in a photo than in an actual garden. lol Dawna, I guess the Pink Texas Star was a sport or a mutation? I'm not sure of the correct terminology. The leaves were exactly the same as the Red Texas Star. I guess it could have been a cross with the white swamp mallow, but it didn't otherwise resemble the white one, and they are several hundred yards apart. If I ever have another pink one show up, I'll be sure to save seeds and share them. Glad to hear your hummers are back. Mine have been back for several weeks and we have had a lot of nights in the 30s since they returned so I have worried about them. I have filled the feeders but they are spending most of their time so far at the American Crossvine and 'Pink Lemonade' honeysuckles. I've had mostly ruby-throated ones and a couple of black chins. Dawna, have you hauled the gravel out or what???? I think I would shoot anyone who ever suggested to me that I should mulch with gravel. Please tell me it was on top of a fabric or plastic mulch and not directly on top of/mixed into the soil! Now, I like morning glories but I mulch heavily and am always careful to pull up the volunteer seedlings as soon as I see them. The vine that reseeds everywhere for me, including all kinds of places where I don't want it, is the black-eyed susan vine. Merry Heart, The only work I have done today is to run over to care for the neighbor's animals, run a couple of errands in town, stop to pick up milk at the store, and only a very small amount of housecleaning and laundry. I have been unable to step foot in the garden and you know it is killing me. I haven't actually ordered plants on line, but I have been looking at them. I already have so many flats of plants started that I can't get into the ground because of the weather that I'd better not acquire any more. :( I would love to be outside either planting or making new beds. I will have have to rototill up some bermuda grass and make a new area to plant all my winter squash, summer squash, muskmelons, cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelons and pumpkins. The tomatoes have taken over the spot where I used to grow melons. I am going to hate losing that bermuda grass (OK, not really!) but that's just how it goes. My ultimate goal is to eventually get rid of all the bermuda grass, but I don't know if DH will go for that. When DS called while on his lunch break I told him I was going to make fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner and he perked right up and then said "must be raining there too". See how well he knows me! Today at the fire academy they have been OUTSIDE all day practicing extrication of victims from crashed vehicles, so he is wet and tired. I hope they enjoy dinner tonight, because tomorrow the weather should be good, I'll be outside all day, and dinner will be something from the crockpot. Dawn

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Perhaps I am. Indeed, I know I am overcomplicating this. Apologies. I guess? While I appreciate your offer of help (or maybe, more precisely, the claim that you are offering help). . . let me just say that I feel as though, from your tone--you decidedly do not understand what it means to be on a fixed income and rent (e.g., not have any long-term commitment to the garden you're trying to improve). I don't have time; that's exactly it. Annuals just make more sense. It's unfortunate that I have some shade, but I have to make the most of it and figure out what works for me. I can't spend $400 on plants; I don't think I can spend $200 on plants, frankly. And then all the other stuff @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK: e.g., Hall's Honeysuckle might seem to you to be ugly and "potentially invasive,"--admittedly, it is in most places--but it decidedly is not in Portland, Oregon, from every single source I've read. And trust me, I'm thorough. I just want something that will thrive and grow quickly despite my difficult soil conditions. That's why answers like those of @einportlandor are a little more helpful, you know? "Yeah, I was broke, too, I understand how you feel... planted poppies and nasturtium and it all worked out fine!" This isn't rocket science. I just want my backyard to look nice. On the super-cheap. I don't need cutting comments for no good reason guised as "help." And to address your query re the soil; argh. I have done everything within my very limited means and power to fix the soil problems and spent approximately $700 in the past year in the wrong-headed attempt to do so: I mixed in 6" of compost 2x by double digging and excavated about 50 gallons of pebbles/rocks and a miscellany of items left by previous tenants. I created a swale and taught myself how to build a rain garden to handle what the gutters can't manage; I regraded the yard, aerated the lawn; etc. etc. This year, I decided to give up on anything more than a little patch o' grass for my dog and constructed "lasagne"-like raised beds (not supported by anything; my landlord won't let me install anything permanent, like even a floating deck, but I put down wood chips everywhere else. It's the only way that I'll anything approaching meaningful drainage (on my budget) and not spoil even moisture-friendly perennials. Forgive me; just a bit frustrated by what feeling like I've been subjected to [inexplicable] derision/passive-aggression rather than been helped. I'll back out slowly now . . . I honestly don't believe you really even want to look at photos or mappings of my garden (other than to get in something that might be helpful but will definitely be officious). I don't ever do this but this nice/mean thing sucks and I just had to respond; sorry. Thanks all.