I'm glad I found this thread. Lots of good ideas, and pros and cons I hadn't considered. A public garden I tend is in the back of a 2-story church with vast, white walls that receive full sun most of the day during summer. In Sacramento, that can mean several days of 100+ weather. We don't get any rain through the summer, so everything needs to be hand watered in the hot, rainless months. For the past 3 years we've used blue morning glories, which are like perennials in our climate. We usually have several days of below freezing weather in the winter which tinges some of the plants, but usually never kills. Careful pruning before spring makes frosted spots invisible. I have not planted any morning glories myself. They have self seeded or continued to grow like perennials. Everyone loves them, but are willing to consider something else. There are places where I need to pull down dead vines, but most of it continues to grow. Last year it joined forces with an extremely vining rose and took over the lower half of the building. Then it was difficult to cut back with all the thorns. It also has turned the corner of the building getting entangled with other plants. It jumped to the palms and hollyhocks in the nearby raised bed. I'd like to find something that is more low-maintenance especially since this is a volunteer-tended garden. Is there anything besides close vigilance and pruning to keep the vining rose from playing with whatever is on the wall? It is planted very close to the wall. I've considered letting it take over, but it's not a big bloomer, especially if I let it grow wild. Perhaps best solution is to dig it up. The bright blue of the morning glories is very exciting against the white walls, so I would need something with lots of continuing color to keep everyone happy. If the vine lost control and kept growing up to the second floor and roof, we would have no way o trimming it back. I've considered passifloras, but was told only one species might survive Sacramento's very hot summers. I do like Black Eyed Susans and the flowers are bright, but not sure they are right for that spot. Jasmines might be too invasive although they smell heavenly. I don't know any that have bright colors either. I don't know the name of the existing vining rose. It has thorns. Not an option of replacing it with a rose that's more manageable -- no funds at all and digging it up would be a big pain. Nasturtium would be WONDERFUL but it needs the coolness and moisture of the Bay Area to thrive here. I haven't found a good spot yet that is shaded enough for a small patch of nasturtium that would bloom in early spring and again in very late summer. Maybe staying with the morning glories is the best way to go? I could be more aggressive in keeping it confined to the one wall, then pull all of it down about December. By spring it's all grown back and starts blooming the minute the sun shine hits it for longer periods of the day. But it never reaches the second story walls. Is there something else you all could recommend within the confines of my situation? This year I've been promised a sort of small arbor around "U" shaped bench seating. My job is to create some overhead shade. I'm leaning toward grapes. Since this garden isn't secured, we don't want to create completely opaque sides that might mask 'other' activities at night. Someone also mentioned tomatoes -- hadn't considered that.

I hope I am understanding what you are asking correctly. I think you have a wonderful space started for your cottage garden. It will be so beautiful from the street and from your windows in a few years. Since you have lots of space to fill and cash is an issue (isn't it always?!), the best advice I can give you to fill this space quickly is...Gilbert H. Wild and Son. You can buy daylilys, unnamed, 100/$99.99 I think it is. If you want named varieties they are like 50/$137.00 Daylilies grow wonderfully in dappled shade. They also have simialar deals on hosta, lilys and a few others. They have a website but it's kind of rinky dink unless they have improved it recently....order the catalog instead. Check Ebay for bareroot shrubs and also plants. There are a lot of plants available there for very little money. The plants will be small but they will grow in a couple of years. Just leave them plenty of room when you plant them and then mulch to keep out weeds until they fill in. Also check out the Winter Sowing forum here on Garden Web. Start your own seeds OUTSIDE during winter in containers. They have a very detailed FAQ section that will give you all the details. This is the perfect time of year to start sowing your seeds. Many on that forum will send you free seeds for a SASE. Good Luck! MeMo Here is a link that might be useful: Gilbert H. Wild

Thanks palmcirtusbananavaz7! Dennis, I think the largest majesty I saw was in the part 1 of the pics. Im trying to remember if I saw a larger majesty palm because I think I did, but their definitely weren't too many large majesty palms. But the majesty palms I did see looked very healthy! Thanks for looking! -Alex

Hello! My parents are in Modesto, so I understand your climate! Last summer, my mom had gobs and gobs of morning glories, which did very well. It's not too late for you to plant them, either. And they love the heat. She grew a combonation of heavenly blue, star of yelta, grandpa ott's, milky way, flying saucers, and scarlet o'hara. Or if you don't want to do morning glories, you could consider pink or star jasmine, passiflora caerulea (mom has to whack it back several times a year, and it's always COVERED with flowers, or wisteria, though it takes 3-4 years to bloom from the bareroot stage you commonly find them in. Email me if you have any other thoughts! Amanda 'romando'