I love magenta with orange, hot pink and purple so I encourage the Lychnis coronaria. Feverfew reminds me of my Nonna's garden, but I weed out the double and thin the single

My favorite though is a Calendula whose petals are creamy orange topside with deep burnt underside.

I love my larkspur, and dames Rocket, echinacea, egrigon, feverfew, Thai celosia, Datura, Ipomopsis rubra, milkweed, salvia coccinea, aristolochia fimbriata. The reseeder that I hated was ruella. I am cognizant that , here in Texas, we do not have the rampant reseeding problem that you PNWers have. It is just not as friendly to seedlings here.

The blue Forget-Me-Nots. Some years I have them all over the place, others just here and there. If I hadn't taken to mowing the orchard, I would have more blue chicory, ox-eye daisies and Queen Anne's Lace.

My reseeders are the stars of the garden sometimes - like the larkspur, poppies, foxgloves, columbine, helebores, and cleome. But some things that I planted years ago are impossible to get rid of - like common evening primrose. I thought it looked so pretty along the roadsides that I would try it in the garden. Now even though I yank it out the minute I see it - it is everywhere and I can't get rid of it. Tradescantia (Spider Wort) is another one that just pops up everywhere for me. I do like it here and there but not all over the place. I have pulled out tons of it some years.

I would rather weed out reseeders than real weeds, any time. (See the Shot Weed thread for some real eye-openers.)

Where mulch is thick, there are fewer reseeders. (What a profound statement.)

There are many, many Black eyed Susans in my grass paths, fewer in the flower beds. He-who-mows will take care of the BES that I fail to move into proper places to grow.

I tend to save seeds of poppies, larkspur, nicotiana and other spring desirables to scatter in the fall rather than hope for a successful thick reseeding, which seldom happens here.

The most successful reseeders for me are Madagascar periwinkle and Melampodium, both summer bloomers.

{{gwi:5576}}

Nell

Love-in-the-mist and Forget-me-nots - my two blue favorites that I have to have. They reseed like mad and I have to weed them from the places they aren't welcome but too much is better than none at all.

Larkspur, forget me nots, daisy, morning glory, black-eyed Susan vine, columbine, society garlic, scabiosa, Tradescantia, pink rain lilies, foxgloves, blue flax, pinks, I don't know what I'd do without them all. I know my garden could never have the cottage look that I love.

My next door neighbor eschews all flowering plants in preference to the Texas xeriscape of yucca, cactus and cow skulls, all of which have charm, but I couldn't have them in my yard. There'd be nothing to water, to fuss over, or to pick and bring in to freshen the rooms in my house. My eyes and brain and hands need blooming flowers. Cheryl

My favorite reseeding plant is verbena bonariensis (stick verbena). Just love it. I rescued three seedlings from our grit pathway last week and moved them into the garden. I also love the reseeding ice plant for inferno strip areas (hot, dry). My gaillardia have become favorites. I'm collecting seedlings and moving them to the red flower area and with the salvia black & blue.

This is my first year with larkspur and poppies, so I have high hopes!

Cameron

I regard most reseeders as living mulch which discourage weeds and my favorite and most prolific here are Shasta daisies and feverfew. I'll probably have fewer this year as I mulched more last fall.

I let common mallow do whatever it wants in my wild bed near the birdfeeder and it's filled the space.

Oriental poppies and columbine reseed when I let them. Haven't had much success with the peony poppies reseeding and I hope for better this year.

Forget-me-not and calendula only reseed occasionally and wish they'd either seed more or survive better.

The sunflowers are not RE-seeders but are seeded by the birds all over the garden. We transplant the biggest seedlings where we want them.

I love most reseeders and am making a list from this thread. Thanks everyone!

Naturally I forgot a couple. Geum macrophyllum (Big Leaf Avens) is a great reseeder. It is surprising since it is a native. I have it in the shade garden. It lurks under every hosta and crops up in the cracks of the patio. It isn't a showy plant at all; the flowers are very tiny and quite plain. But there is just something so nice about having a few native plants.

Also Lambsears. But how could I be without them? I remember first seeing them as a kid and loving it because it was so soft. I now appreciate it for its sort of architectural shape in the garden. And my 'Blue Glow' Echinops. I didn't know that the Globe Thistle reseeded so much. Does it do the same for anyone else? I have to wear gloves and use shovel to get rid of the seedlings. But it is such a neat plant, and I love the blue color. I transplanted a couple the to back garden last year.
CMK

nigella
calendula
lavender
dill (tall)
verbena bonariensis (I wish)

At the old house, I had a ton of blue flax that re-seeded like crazy. You couldn't really deadhead it, because it was constantly making new blooms on the same stems, so it gradually took over much of the front garden. Which was a shame, because the petals would usually have fallen by the time I would get home from work in the evening! So, while I did like them, I didn't bring any seed to the new house - just too much of a good thing after a while.

At the new house, I'm not sure yet which will be doing that much re-seeding. I'm trying to keep on top of shearing my nepeta so it doesn't self-seed too much. I like lambs ears foliage but not the blooms, so I have been cutting them back. I have a little bit of larkspur - I actually shook them all over last fall before composting them, since I didn't have a whole lot to bother harvesting the seeds.

I refuse to ever plant echinops. After fighting to keep out the invasive thistles at the old house, I could never get myself to purposefully plant anything thistle-like! Ouch, ouch, ouch...

Nigella, verbena bonariensis, cosmos of various varieties, rose campion and two euphorbias-donkey tail spurge (euphorbia myrsinites) and euphorbia characias subspecies wulfenii. The euphorbias I just love the vibrant limey green flowers in the early spring.

Corydalis lutea, Aquilegia, Lunaria and Violets are 4 that come to mind, I just pull them out where I don't want them.

Annette

How could I forget Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) - I love it at it's various sizes and the bees love the flowers. Can't bear to deadhead because of that altho I must move them away from the patio as I'm "askeerd" of bees! LOL

Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans) is another prolific self-seeder altho easy to pull and has nice foliage as well as blue flowers which I love.

We also have those cute little Johnny-jump-ups (viola tricolor) which have become rarer in my garden - too much weeding or mulching I guess.

Many of those mentioned above. Another vote for Salvia coccinea because the hummers love it so. Another favorite is Stipa (Nasella) tenuissima...Mexican feather grass.
Pam