stage_rat thank you for posting your beautiful flowers! I was wondering where you were. I will try to get pictures of my babies but I have a crappy camera and my pictures are always blurry on photobucket. I can't edit them because I'm having trouble with my computer and it won't let me download the new Flash I need to edit.

Very pretty. Love that digitalis.

Karen

Your photos are fabulous! I love the valerian. I am in SW Michigan, are you close to me? Sybil

What beautiful color/texture combinations - really enjoyed those photos

Carrie

Love the foxies!

Very nice, what is the bottom photo, where you say you got lucky at a plant sale? Is that some kind of variegated clover? Or oxalis?

I like cinquefoil too, I have some of the yellow growing in the cracks of my patio. I winter sowed Melton's Fire last year, and expected it to bloom this year, but so far, it is not getting much bigger and no sign of flowers.

Very very nice, specially considering such a short time since you started it. Love that dig and larkspur.
Valerian that you gave me is growing and smelling nicely too. Beautiful foliage.

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! :)

I forgot to mention that many of my plants also came from wintersowers in Chicago! In another post I'll make, you'll see "Lindalana Land."

Dawiff, that is indeed a variegated clover. The tag says it's zone 4. It was the only pot I saw with the 4 and 5-leafs, except for where it had rooted into adjacent pots. I'm not sure where an aggressively spreading clover (aka "deer and rabbit food") is going to fit into the garden, maybe I'll plant it over some of the dayflower and see who wins.

The Cinquefoil Melton's Fire looks nice in photos, I hope you get some blooms soon!

Sybil, I'm a couple of hours away from you, or more. :( I don't have any local Wintersowing buddies, but the Chicago people aren't too far away. I'm pretty close to the Illinois border. My grandpa lived in Bangor, Michigan. Are you near the lake, or inland?

Proudgm, I hope you do get some photos up for us to see! As long as they're sharp from your camera, you'll eventually get them posted sharp on here. My camera usually wants to focus on the wrong thing when I do closeups, so I review each photo and take it again as necessary. I use Imageshack, if you ever decide to switch photo hosts. They're pretty easy to use. (Use thumbnails or links for _Websites_)

I use a Freeware program for photo editing that I find easy. It's called Irfanview (made by a guy named Irfan). When I use it often, I can remember all the fast shortcuts really well: Crop is Control-Y, Resize is Control-R, Save is S, Rotate is R. I can rotate, crop, resize and save a photo in about 30 seconds. (Selecting the crop takes me a little time!) It doesn't use Flash, and it is a small program.

You can also use it to rotate a whole bunch of photos at once, by highlighting the different thumbnails. It does "JPEG lossless rotation" and conversions. That means you don't lose image quality when you play with the photos. Oh, another thing I like is that I can adjust the size of the thumbnails to several different sizes.

If you decide to try the program, you can email me with any questions, or make a thread on here about it. You can download it at: http://www.irfanview.com/ (it's free)

The blue and yellow is a lovely combination. You've got tons of pretty blooms ranging the spectrum. Nice foxglove. My first Cherokee Sunset bloomed, and it's yellow with a red center. I think this variety has many variations.

I love the double Black Eyed Susans, and your Cherokee Sunset it way prettier than the ones I see at the mail order seed websites!

Very nice pics!

Bonnie

Very nice! Good to "see" you, Stage-rat!

Nice Pics!
Your double Black-eyed Susan looks great!
Is that my hardy white salvia? It looks really familiar : ) It will get very tall by summer's end if it is.
Veronica 'Royal Blue' looks like Crate Lake, but lighter so maybe that is what you have? They are the same species of veronica.
Remy

Very nice! Especially like that lunaria and columbine combo ....

PV

Great pictures!! Was a good way to start my day 'cause it's cloudy and "spitting" outside!
I'm glad you put in the pic of the cinquefoil, It's growing in my garden and I didn't know WHAT it was!!LOL!!
Looking for another blue flower? how about delphinium belladonna,it's not as picky as some delphs and comes in a nice blue.
-B

Thanks again for the comments and compliments, everyone. I looked up Cherokee Sunset on Bluestone's site, and I guess I DO have my plants labeled correctly. I have a lot of different-looking Cherokee Sunsets, and that's actually correct. They're short-lived perennials, and this is year 2 for them. Will they come back, do you think?

Remy, that is your Salvia, and your Veronica! Thanks for posting here! Last year I used very short labels, and lost several. I'm glad to know the name of the Veronica.

Brandymulvaine: I keep trying delphinium, but it does not seem to like my yard. Hmm, my yard is sandy and dry, maybe that's why! I do keep amending, so maybe they'll take hold sometime. I'll try the seeds you recommend next time. I have sea holly just starting to bloom, and I think I'll move it in with the allium and yellows. The roundish blue flowers will mirror the allium! How cool is that?

Lol! about the Veronica. I'm glad I could help with the name.
It is nice to see plants from my seeds doing so well in another garden : )
Remy

The first photo gets to me. It looks like a place where I'd like to sit all day long. Absolutely peaceful and soft. Great gardens!

Thank you for the pics. I just started some luneria because I remembered the seeds from my mother's garden but I had no idea what the flowers looked like. I have never winter sown before but it sounds perfect for me.

Oh and I love using paint.net it is a free software that is constantly being updated.

Nice! Really like that Digitalis and both of the Rudbeckia...especially "Cherokee Sunset"; very lovely!

Do be careful with Bellis perennis if it's near any lawns...it will creep via rhizomes and mowing will not kill it.

Uh-oh, Vera--does that mean it might crowd out the dandelions? :) And the wild plantain, and the queen anne's lace... actually, my "lawn" is mostly different types of weed grass, which will grow waist-high if I don't mow. I bet bellis perennis wouldn't do that to me! But, I'm sure it wouldn't take foot traffic very well, either. This stuff is in a bed surrounded by sidewalk and my house, so it probably won't get into the lawn. I do appreciate the warning, though.

Floodthelast, I think you'll really like lunaria. It blooms very early, after most bulbs have finished and before a lot of other things are blooming. It's biennial, so each plant will die after making seed the second year--so start the seed yourself for 2 years in a row, and then you'll have your blooms each year.

When do you start the seeds when you winter sow? Indoors or out?

I hadn't thought about the double sowing. I used up all my seeds too. I guess I will have to buy more. Or find someone to trade. I started mine late this year and they are just sprouting now.

Wow, stage-rat, what a beautiful garden! You've sure got a nice variety of plants, especially in such a young garden.

Lynda

Your garden is gorgeous, I'm trying hard not to be envious. I am really excited to try ws this winter.
Dorothy