Don't forget all the hardy annuals that you can direct sow in late summer/early fall to bloom in spring. I have had good luck with these early spring cool season bloomers. Best for me are larkspur-never fails, poppies, hesperis, and sweet alyssum my books say spring sow, but fall for me, in the spring I hardly have time to breathe). These are all sow-in-place types and useful only to those with appropriate spaces for that use. larkspur - always reseeds, blue seems to reseed mostly blue love in a mist baby blue eyes (beautiful but closes by noon) five spot poppies - CA, Shirley, opium forget-me-nots silene clarkia godetia dames rocket (hesperis) - reseeds just right batchelor buttons sweet alyssum(esp the new large tetraploids) and all the beautiful plants by previous poster. Bulbs and roots: the small alliums-uniflorum, roseum, cowanii- and anemone nemrosa,geranium tuberosum, dicentras, (exsc spelling please). Also don't the dutch iris and glad.Bz. bloom in the down time between e spring and e summer? The LA lilies also very early. And viola Columbine,the v. odorate varieties.,astillbes, aquillegias, dianthus, May Queen daisy, salvia Blue and White hill and May Night, achillea Anthea, candytuft. small veronicas. And the early shrubs - Quince, pearl bush, small roses, beautybush, deutzias, lilac.

For those of you who liked Chama Valley, those are the largest and best flowers I've had on it in four years. CV spent its first two years in a pot, and last year only put up one scape out of five mature fans. This year all the fans have a scape, but bud count is poor (8-11 per scape). In its current location, performance is maginal. Kay - If you really like the seeding, you could test it out for me. I'd be interested in knowing if the bud count is higher farther south. Random Harvest - The seedling does outdo Gilded Knight on branching and bud count, but not Evening Enchantment, the pod parent. The dark baby blooms about a week earlier than Evening Enchantment, which used to be a reliable rebloomer until the neighbors planted trees next to it. So far the seedling has not rebloomed, but it is surrounded by other seedlings and, at this time, only gets about 5 hours of sun a day. My Darling Clementine is a great little reblooming workhorse here. It's never been the earlier bloomer here, but its always in the first 7 or 8 to bloom. Vickie - You are right about Kokopelli's star-shaped throat. That's one of it's many unique features. Your comment makes me think I need to plant more of my Koko seed crosses. Sue - I think you will like Grandma's Smile. A friend had it, and she says it's one of her very best pinks. I would like it better if it didn't have white midribs. Debra

Thanks all. It's interesting to see the different tastes/favorites people have. Christmas Is is my least favorite of all the above DLs! Those of you who are thinking of buying it, should know that (in my garden) the color fades in a lot of heat, unless it gets a lot of water. This is the best year for it, since we've been blessed with plenty of rain. Julie

Thanks, Serena! How weird that your posts aren't showing up? Thanks, bustopher! I'll keep you posted on CL. Thank you, ladyrose! Thanks, harmony! Yes, you get both types on the same bush. Singles are classed from 5 to 8 petals and I get that full range on mine. Even Dainty Bess will occasionally give me a bloom with a few extra petals. Thanks, lovemysheltie! Ruffled Cloud is a nice garden rose. It's quite small in size too so it's good for a tight spot! Thank you, nummykitchen! I got both BPI and CL locally so they should be out there. Where abouts are you in the mitten? I'm just north of Detroit on Lake Saint Clair.