Beautiful flower beds! Great job. I love all of it.

Your willow looks great!

Neil,
The garden looks wonderful. So many varieties of plants. So many different colors. I love it. And you have River Birch too. That will be striking in winter.

Do you remember when you lamented that your garden was so empty? Look what you have now. A beautiful vibrant garden full of life. You've done a great job. I am happy for you.

BTW, in photo #11 the plants on the right of the corn stalks and the plant on the far right are weeds.
And for Dahlia, keep on cutting the spent blooms to encourage new blooms, OK?

Congratulations!
:=)

Just beautiful! Good job! Thanks for sharing.

Your flower beds are beautiful! What kind of bee balm is that?

Mone, I removed a lot of weeds yesterday. Took me almost 2 hours to remove 90% of them. There are still some left. I should put a lot of mulch on that area since I won't be planting anything there.

proudgm_03,

About the Bee Balm, only Mone can tell us. She gave it to me. :)

There is another 2009 ws plant that I have not posted yet. The seeds came from tiffy. It's the inula goliath. The leaves are like 2 ft long but height is still short. :D I'll post it later.

WOW Neil!!! Turn that bench around, place it on the lawn and have a seat to admire what you've done and pat yourself on the back!! AWESOME!!

I think that Bee Balm is Jacob Cline. Sure looks like it. Wouldn't surprise me if you can split that footing already. They are very forgiving. I have them and will be moving more to my part-shade gardens as they do better there for some unknown reason.

Can you tell me what is the variegated plant in photo #7. That is really beautiful!!

My Inulas sometimes don't flower until the third year but another GWer got blooms out of her's the second year when it grew to 5 feet. My soil is full of rocks so I usually have to wait another year for things to bloom.

Tiffy,

The variegated plant in #7 is snow on the mountain. It's an annual but according to them, it's reseeds crazy. When it first starts, the leaves aren't variegated. I think it took more than 1.5 months before it started becoming variegated.

Thanks! :)

Beautiful! Tiffy, that varigated plant is Neil's snow-on-the-mountain; it is gorgeous, isn't it?

I'm am truly jealous of everyone's gardens this year - my garden is just NOT doing well. What hasn't fried is so far behind in blooming that I don't think they ever will. Boo-hoo!

Neil, for a first time WSer, you have done absolutely great! Kudos!

PV

P.S. - Neil, if that SOTM has seeds to collect, PLEASE keep me in mind!

PV

Sure PV! I actually saw small green circles that looks similar to the brown seeds I received early this year.

Tiffy,

Here is my inula goliath as of 8/12.

{{gwi:422965}}

Your inula look great!

Mine is frying; I don't know what to do - I've moved it from a sunny spot to a shadier spot and the older leaves are still drying up as new leaves emerge. I sure hope next season is a better one for me.

(Sorry for crying on your post!)

PV

I bought that Monarda as 'Gardenview Scarlet'. I won't be surprised if it is the same as 'Jacob's Kline'.

Neil,
Did you WS that Snow on the Mountain or was it a hitchiker from Miscanthus 'Morning Light'?

Your garden is beautiful.

I have Snow on the Mountain that came with the Morning Light. :D The one above are all ws. I think, I sowed them early February.

PV,

My inula gets direct sun from 9am until 6pm. The bee balm gets more hours than the inula. It is very drought tolerant since I don't water the beds at the back. Actually, all the plants I planted at the back are very drought tolerant.

WHOA!!! Nice Inulas if you don't mind my saying so!! :O) Watch out 2010!

Hey neil, your gardens look so lush, wonderful wonderful. Oh for more sun. Anyway I was wondering if you collect seed from the four o clocks? I quite like my limelight this year and my other plants haven't even bloomed yet. We need to work out that trade. :) Oh and I did get some Borage for you.

floodthelast, I haven't collected seeds from the 4 o'clocks yet. How do they look like? And yes, I love them too. They would have looked better if the leaves weren't eaten by the jap beetles. I'm going to attacked them with Sevin next year. My eyes tell me that 4 o'clocks goes really well with the LB petunias. :D

Thanks!

Neil,
4 o'clock seeds are black and look like little hand grenades.
Pls. save seeds for me too.

Floodthelast, pls. save me some borage seeds too.
Thanks.

The four's seed break loose when viable and kind of shake around till they fall out. They are super easy to collect. Borage on the other hand I am finding difficult. It seems to hold tight till it's ready then drop without notice. I'll see what I can do piti.

Really nice - I really love all the curves in the Corkscrew Willow. I am thinking of adding a couple shrubs/trees in my yard. Will be researching this one. Thanks for posting.

-StLGirl

I have some updates for today. I direct seeded these plants. It's called Double Rudbeckias. These are the very last to sprout. I thought the seeds were all bad. I'm lucky that I am seeing seedlings now. I direct seeded them the same time as my safari primrose, bachelor's buttons, and limelight. I really need to find a good performing plant with burgundy foliage. The purple ruffles basil didn't work for me. Height was only 6-8" tall.

{{gwi:422971}}

{{gwi:422977}}

Wow, Neil, everything looks great. Beautiful lush flower beds. I love that SOTM too. Never tried it. I'd love to try it, too, but probably don't have a space for it. It needs full sun, right?

Karen

Wow, your gardens look like a flora oasis in the middle of your neighborhood! Looks like you've been very productively busy with beautiful results.

My Limelight 4 O'clocks all snapped off at the stem base at ground level. So bummed and the foliage wasn't anywhere near the "lime" color of yours. Going to try them again next year with staking as they got top heavy. I love them.

Those corn stalks behind the flowers look so cool.

Congrats, big time!

Nell your garden is beautiful. I am planning on trying winter sowing this yr. My beds look so pitiful after the spring flush.I have been saving my milk jugs, and trying to trade for seed. Your pictures are very well done as well. That bee balm and sedum look wonderful together.
I would love to get my hands on that bee balm, SOTM, and double rudbeckia.Your pics make me even more anxious about trying wintersowing.
Tammy

Thanks Karen! I replied to your question yesterday. I am not sure why it didn't post it. But yes, SOTM can take full sun. About the seeds, I should check before nature drops them.

Thanks Newbie! I'm very happy with the 4 o'clocks. The jap beetles though loves the leaves. About the main trunk, I looked at it yesterday and if I remember correctly, it's like 3/4 inch thick. I looked at it to find out how far apart I planted each seeds.

Tammy,

Go winter sowing!!! I can't believe how easy it is. There are seeds though that can be easily direct sown after last frost. SOTM(annual) is not one of them but from what I was told, it's a very good reseeder. The double ruds(annual) were direct sown and are just starting to flower. The beebalm is a transplant provided by Mone. I'm still waiting how to harvest seeds. Thanks too!

Your garden looks very lovely. I agree with Nicole, move that bench across from your garden so you can enjoy the beauty. Each evening before going inside I sit for a few minutes looking at the blooms and taking in the aromas and watching the birds.

Here is an update. I did a lot of weeding 2 days ago and yesterday on the bed shown below. The builder also sodded the other property. Here is the other side of the bed. Ooops. I've got to fix the Cosmos(knocked down by the storm, LOL :P ).

Taken this morning.
{{gwi:50166}}

Also, I forgot what plant it is. It's starting to flower now. The flowers are just a little bigger than a quarter. I don't recall if I direct seeded it or ws it. I do see a pattern on how I planted them though, most likely direct seeded.
{{gwi:267102}}

{{gwi:267103}}

Oh, I have another update. My KMOTGG is now flowering although just one flower. LOL. It's only 2 ft tall and single trunk. I also have a ratibida. I just saw it this morning when I was fixing the garden hose. :D

It's Aster as told to me by someone on peren. :) I remember now that I direct seeded it mid May.

Looking great, Neil. Beautiful.
You've done a wonderful job with your garden.
In a few years, the shrubs will grow bigger and give you much needed height.

Yes, that's Chinese Aster. An annual.
Very pretty.
I love the birdhouse and bench too.

That gray house is your back neighbor's?
Does you property slope down just like his?
I hope you house is not at the bottom of his slope.

Cheers.

Yep, the slope was very well done by the builder. We don't get flooding at the swail.

I'll send you an email tomorrow. :)

Thanks Mone!