As I've found the greggii labels to not always be very accurate, I am just saying how mine were labeled by the nurseries and they have not been verified by an expert. I'm not a collector, but I use a lot of salvias for the long boom season. All of mine are in bloom right now and have been blooming well since May. I am growing a few of the red greggii in part sun. The ones labeled 'cherry queen' are growing under a crape myrtle on the south west side of the house and doing great. They don't get morning sun, but get midday to afternoon sun. For almost three years now, the ones labeled 'Navajo red' are protected from afternoon sun by a large weeping willow. I thought I had lost those from our snows this winter. I cut back 4 of the 5 to the basal foliage and they have now caught up with the 1 that I left alone. The greggii varieties that are getting 8-10 hours of sun in my garden are 'Diane', 'Texas Wedding', 'Dark Dancer' and one that BB just had labeled as 'Autumn Sage' that is a hot pink color. Cameron

Well...Salvia spathacea survived the winter, although it's emerging only slowly. Surprisingly, some of my Salvia farinacea 'Victoria' survived, as well. I suspect Salvia semiatrata may be history, and that the Salvia guaraniticas may be gone as well. Same with Salvia elegans and Salvia leucantha. I'm not going to write them off as dead just yet, because I know better. I don't know about Salvia reptans yet, either. Salvia pachyphylla, Salvia x jamensis, Salvia hians, Salvia verticillata, Salvia greggii (assorted), Salvia microphylla, Salvia chamaedryoides and Salvia dorrii are all doing fine.

mine - or should I say my daughters - Ah! who am I kidding! It may be enjoyable to the girls and any little kids who stop by sit and stare for HOURS, but essentially it was my idea, I designed the whole thing, and have been the driving force behind having it at all... And I continue to think up and create new things for it... Anyway - mine has ended up being placed under a 2 year old corkscrew willow tree instead - It's closer to the house and is much much bigger than originally anticipated. For now the sweet woodruff and wild strawberries are filling out the area around the base of the willow, there's a violet and elfin thyme covered hill with a small lake at the bottom of it and a small gravel path leading to the top (a gazebo and miniture roses pruned to look like climbing roses are being added to the top of the hill later this fall) and a flattened out hollow covered in irish moss for a "meeting place." I have variegated forms of thyme and melissa lavender as shrubs around the edge of the garden and a few branches from my over zealous pink and white weigela hangs over the "hollow". The fairy garden is actually an extension of my butterfly garden, just slightly shaded (and will be deeply shaded when the willow fills out over the next couple of years) I just added some rembrandt tulips I hope will give a nice dramatic splash of color next spring before the freesias, columbine, violets and roses bloom. (and after years of plain colored tulips I can tell the girls that the fairies painted these ones!!!) I will post pics as soon as I can but right now I'm being selfish - want to keep it to myself till I feel it has some semblance of being ready for public viewing... :) Also waiting for the plants to fill out and really look like it does in my head (did that make sense or did I just seem nutty???) As well as the gazebo I'm working on 4 houses to put nestled in the sweet woodruff and a "bait shop" for beside the lake and looking for some small stumps or seats to put around the thyme hollow, maybe even a little swing for the fairy babes? Next year I'm hoping the willow will be big enough to dangle twinkling lights in and lots of birdhouses of course... Soon as I figure out where to put it I'm adding some white heliotrope that I grew from cuttings and have slightly too much of. Now I'm just hoping that the wild strawberries calm down cause they are going bananas and I fear they will choke out the rest of my plants... I'm 30 years old, mother of 4, a criminal psychologist in training and I am no afraid to admit that I love my garden. I am envisioning a few years from now laying in soft green grass in the shade of my contorted willow tree staring into the little village and seeing if I can see the sparkling glint of gossamer wings, or hearing the giggling of fairy children in the rustling leaves of the willow tree.....

Many many annuals benefit from stratification! I don’t think it’s as necessary with annuals but after reading university extension articles about it, they speak a lot about better quality and QUANTITY of flowers ... The orlaya that I allowed to self seed in the fall where I live in Ontario Z4, is already sprouted w 2-3 leaves ea. In the middle of April ...and there is still snow! Mind you, they are tiny but at least have germinated -which can be issue for this prickly little seed... I don’t know if Orlaya is considered a hardy annual maybe? I have collected seed from last year stored in a cool basement that I have been stratifying in the fridge now for a couple of weeks and will also just throw some straight in the garden to measure the difference... I’m sure the latter will take the longest to get going but Orlaya definitely is a great little flower to succession plant , I never want to be without them they are so bright white and beautiful! I’m not sure, but i do think they need light to germinate as well, maybe somebody here can confirm ? Seeds left from last year’s plants were just pressed into the topsoil before I mulch with leaves for the winter ....and those are the ones that have already germinated -in a freezing cold month! So they also don’t need bottom heat to get going !...and because they are a tap root like Queen Anne’s lace, i would not bother starting them inside where I live.. (Does anyone else have problems on this site correcting/editing their comment in real time? )