So, the next and most important question: Let's say I replace my Autumn Joy by buying a full price plant at a reputable local nursery (that's saying a lot for a frugal WS and swapper!). When I buy the plant it is blooming in a brilliant and delightful shade. Can that brilliant and delightful shade be a product of special nursery conditions, i.e. high amounts of a particular fertilizer, etc.? Can I depend on that color in my garden being close enough to what I saw in the nursery? Let me note that this morning I went out to look at one of my hardy mums blooming. Last year it was purchased and was a fairly common color up here, can't remember the name. It had petals that were pink on the edges and became lighter, to almost a white, as the petals moved inward to the center, which I believe was yellow. Now it still has the yellow center and the petals are a deep burgany. No, nothing reseeded. I have not had any burgandy mums as I don't like burgandy. This was also my first year to really notice spring as a gardener. I checked that bed everyday, watching as each of the plants broke ground. This plant did now show up from seed with the starter leaves, followed by true leaves. I emerged from its roots in the ground with the thicker stalks you see in a returning perennial. This mum reverted on its own to one of its parents. I have seen posters post this before, and many people have responded by saying it had to have been a seed and the poster just didn't know it. I know it with this one. It is the same plant. So, even though I don't think Autumn Joy will revert to anything different, I know it is possible for the plant to behave differently once in the garden. I appreciate all your thoughts and input!

Don't plant it deep, whack off the top as a cutting and start again. Or just whack off all the ends and let it sprout back. Keep it in bright light and don't overwater or overfeed. I've said all that, I don't know exactly what you have, but it will work well for most of them.

Pretty much "ditto" to what icyveins said. Dont know if my sedum is the same as icyveins' sedum, but I looked at some sedum pictures and mine looks like what is named, Sedum sarmentosum Bunge "stringy stonecrop." It turns yellow("blooms," maybe?) for a few days-a week in early summer, then back to green again. The original was given to me by a friend @ 15 years ago and I use it as filler all over my yard, shade AND sun. It looks great in the spaces between my hosta. I also use it in my hanging flower pots.... just pick it up off the ground and jab it in the pots.

Hi Azura, I havent been ignoring youor anybody else. Ive been reading, but Ive been really wiped out by the West Nileand on this thread, everybody else has been giving you good answers anyway! Soregarding transplanting, as others have said, I recommend late in the dayor if you happen to get a cloudy afternoon (they say the monsoon is starting to move in), do it as early in the day as possible if theres no sun. Then water in well, but be careful to not keep watering more every daybut I agree that youve probably got the watering down pretty well by now! Wetting down the foliage several times during the day would probably help someas long as youre not getting the soil significantly wetter. And then shade them for the first few days like everybody else has said. Crates are a good idea as long as the holes in them are big enough to give really good air circulationand I recommend a light color and definitely not black which would just add to the heat. An inverted lawn chair or something similar would work well too if you can find a way to anchor it. Regarding the cutting back, I almost never transplant anything thats blooming. Even many annuals get a clipping before I plant them, and with perennials, since the root is the most important part, I dont recall ever planting any with flowers. With the Helenium, Id probably cut them down further than you will! Id probably go to 2 to 4", but for you I definitely recommend cutting the flower stems all the way down to the bottom (stick them in water!), and cut the foliage down as far as you can stand. How about 6"? Youre not going to get a decent bloom anymore this year anyway, so just keep thinking about how important it is to give the roots a good chance to get established. And Id also recommend cutting them down as far as you decide to and then wait 2 or 3 days before you actually transplant themlet them "adjust" to the chop job first! During those couple days it might not be a bad idea to either put the pots where theyre going to be planted, or actually dig a big enough hole to sink the pot where theyre going to be planted for a couple days. Thatll get them a little bit used to the exact conditions theyll have after theyre put in the ground. Regarding other cutting backoh yeahdo I ever! Ive been cutting a lot of stuff down for the last couple weeks. Most things I cut all the way down to the groundwhich, for me, means 1-2" above the ground. As the sedums get done blooming Ive been cutting them ALL the way downunder an inch. Ive cut the sweet williams down to about an inch, and am waiting to see if theyll come back for next year or not. Some will. And my Aquilegia chrysantha, which was still blooming a lotbut was just starting to get too tall, floppy, and ratty looking, I also cut down to about an inch. Im hoping I did it early enough this year that itll come back and be blooming by swap timebut even if its not, at least the foliage will look good again. And, because of the swap, a couple things I usually cut all the way down, I didnt this time. The spike veronica I cut back to the new growth at the leaf nodes about 6" up. Im hoping it too will rebloom by swap time. And the same with all the lavender. Just spent almost 2 hours cutting them back one stem at a time to between 4" and 6" high, depending on each plantdown to new growth at the leaf nodes. Fingers crossed that its blooming again for the swap, but at least the plants will be pretty by then, if no flowers. Most things I cut all the way down because with many things, if you leave old leaves at the bottom, they just keep looking worse and worse even tho theres new growth at the top of the plant, and I like the whole plant to look nice at the same time! Even if it reblooms, I think the veronica is going to look ratty on the bottom. And about a month ago I cut my Lamium ALL the way down. Last year I did it too close to the swap and there was nothing there! This year I think itll look pretty good. Alright! Yeah! Im trying to get the yard looking good for the swap! But I already have two big blank areas where I took out the hardy pampas grass and where I just cut the Heraclium down to the ground. (Gotta think positive! Thatll give me somewhere to plant whatever I get at the swap!) The Heraclium is outta here too! Unfortunately I just didnt have a shady or wet enough place for it to ever look goodbut dont anybody ask for it at the swap, cause its taprooted AND planted between some huge cottonwood roots. But I did leave the flowers on long enough to develop seed if anybody wants to try some. Dont have a clue if its viable or not, but Im guessing it is. I got pictures of it blooming I can post later if anybodys interested in giving it a try. Im rambling! But I dont really know just exactly how far to cut each thing down! Most things I just cut all the way down either when theyre done blooming or when they start looking too ratty. Every now and then I kill something! But not usually! If youre wondering about something in particular, just ask. Ill tell you what Id do, and then you can decide what you want to do. So cut your Helenium back and baby it for a few days after you transplant itand dont let anything eat the roots! ;-) Next year itll be wonderful! Gonna try going back to work again on Thursday! Keep your fingers crossed for me that it worksand that some other weird thing doesnt happen to meat least for a while! :-) Skybird