Very, very pretty, Neil. Vibrant colors. Lively. I like it.
Love the contrasting colors. Wonderfully done.

Thanks Mone! I think, the BeeBalm also came from you. :)

Wow! Love those cosmos!

What are the white flowers to the left of the canna? Those look really cool too. Nice flower bed Neil!

Love the Cosmos, and that Castor Bean plant is very impressive. Every time I see a picture of one, I want to grow it, but I've been hesitant because of the kids. Maybe next year they'll be old enough that I can give it a try. Will you be saving seeds from that one ... hint, hint, LOL?

Bonnie

Looks good!!!

I am glad to see you WS russian sage! I want some of that in my yard. I need to hunt for seeds.
Karen

Karen,

I see tons of russian sage in public areas here such as in Algonquin Park, Prime Outlet in Huntley and along Huntley Rd. I went to each place last week and I don't see any spent flowers yet. All are still healthty. When do you usually see the dried seed pods?

Bonnie, I was hesitant too but nobody went close to my garden. We have tons of kids here in the range of 5-10 but nobody bothered to touch, but they do step on my plants. LOL. I will try to save some seeds but I have never tried it since it's also my first time to grow this plant. Hopefully, I'll be able to grab it before birds does.

october17, the white flowering plant is Snow on the Mountain.

Thanks everyone! :)

Birds don't go after Castor Bean seed, so you'll be ok on that one..The seeds are poisonous too, store them in a childproof medicine bottle or something if you have kids.

In the russian sage photo, what's the pink-flowered plant behind the castor bean, and in front of the coneflower? And what's the purple-leaved shrub? I really like this shot of your garden! And the orange cosmos-blue salvia-white moth photo. Amazing how wonderful plants can look in just a few months!

The pink flowered plant is knautia.

The purple leaf shrub is Royal Smokebush.

Yes, I was so delighted and amazed too that I never expected that my plants would grow that big and especially they were started from seeds. :)

Very nice mixed border. I am hoping my only Perovskia survives and blooms next year. I winter sowed them last year and planted out two plants to hide my poppy folige when it dies down. Both came through the winter,but one has died and the other is very small and seems to be struggling. Yours have done very well. What a beautiful bee-balm. Mine always get that horrible worm, but last year I discovered how to get them out and I got some blooms this year, but it's a very tiresome job. BTW beware of the Agastache - they can shoot up to 5-6 feet in their second year. Thanks for sharing.

I wish I knew when I would see seed pods. I only grew mine for a year before I moved here and was not a seed collector then. Maybe the seed savers F&Q might have something?

I see Russian sage all over the place and I always think it would be nice to just grab a few seeds. I have not tried it yet though :)

Karen

That's beautiful. I failed with my Russian sage, maybe sometime or just buy some.

It looks like Japanese beetles doing their thing on those cosmos, which are a really pretty color BTW. Do you fuss over the beetles? They make me crazy and I go out 3 or 4 times a day and drown them in soapy water. They sometimes go for my yellow cosmos, too. Just got done spraying a few plants but nothing blooming that attracts bees or ladybugs.

Monarda, I suppose it depends on the variety. I'm switching to Raspberry wine but the white ones I have for this year bloomed maybe just a little over a month starting early July IIRC. They're done blooming, all mildewy and icky now so I'm trying a more mildew resistant variety, hopefully.

Beautiful!

Karen