Congrats Kathy! Wow 120 plants how exciting! We'll try to help any way we can. Looking forward to seeing your new arrivals! Jen

I decided to repot them all into a better mix and better groups last Friday, I didn't want to water them in to a mix that wasn't good to I did a more thorough root cleaning and a better foundation. The jades have their own home now. The semp will spend the winter all alone in a very frosty south window in the basement. I don't know what else to do with it and not sure if it can go outside in my zone over the winter or if I wld have enough time to harden off it off. If it should perish....I plan to redeem myself with a succulent rock garden in it memory. We bought a house last year with a south facing yard and have tons of landscaping rocks on 3 sides and an island of them in the back. We both really, really, don't like all these rocks, but where can we put them all?? Is it a blessing in disguise? After reading so much in the forum I feel like I know you all a little, everyone is so nice and helpful, so I will share another picture of what I have in store for my gardening future. I have so many ideas! My DH is a farmboy in the city so we will have some fun. Mr. B says hi! All the leaves dropped in a week, we had some drought then some snow. I got a fire pit and tree skirts as wedding present from DH. He did it while I was away for the weekend. How do you say, "Thank you, I love you so much and I hate tree skirts? You don't, everyone worked so hard and filled it full of flowers! I hope to use some of that labor for helping in the garden when we get one. Did I mention it faces south? All I will do all winter is research, plan, discuss. 2 year, 5 year, 10 year, etc. I hope to share my progression either here or somewhere on these forums, this IS where the experts are at!

The siberian iris are some of my favorites - carefree and gorgeous. I also have several varieties, and love them all. The daylilies and the oriental lilies are great garden plants as well. If you got a reblooming kind, the daylily will bloom most of the season for you. If you post what kind on some of these, like the daylily, lysimachia and the lady's bells (the latin name should be on the tag) you will get more info. (Yellow lysimachia is OK, white needs to be treated like the spearmint below and deadheaded, and the pink needs to be put into the trash as it seeds into wild wetlands courtesy of birds and will damage far more than your own garden.) I'd plant the artemesia and the spearmint in bottomless containers - I use damaged chimney tiles which you can get for cheap or free from mansonry contractors or suppliers - so that they don't get out of control. You may say that you want spreaders, now, but once they are out of control, they are a huge amount of work to eradicate. (yes, this is the voice of experience.) Be sure to religiously deadhead and put in the trash (NOT the compost) plants like the crown vetch. I have some ajuga growing between a large dense rhodie, a stone wall and the gravel drive. The rhodie's shade, the snow plow and the rock wall keep it in bounds, but I wouldn't plant it in an area that it can spread unchecked. It does do a good job of keeping down weeds under the edge of the shrub, but it will drown other less vigorous plants, so be careful where you plant it. If you honestly want feedback on plants you are going to buy to take advantage of others' experience, you might want to ask before you buy to save yourself money and heartache later on. (not intended as criticism, just a friendly suggestion.) ;>) I've put time and money into several plants that I've later sincerely regretted. Below is a link that shares the experiences of a bunch of New England gardeners - you could try something similar on the midwest or Michigan forums (if there are ones with those names - I kknow there are forums for your area.) Here is a link that might be useful: Plants I wish I'd never planted

See your other post. Discussions about planting - right or wrong - are covered there.