Nature in east N America is tougher in tooth & nail than the forested areas of the NA west (and west Europe). Some major reasons: 1. Continental climate -- extreme/rapid temp changes. Trunk-bark cracking on the south side killed three ~80' Norway maples at my house from the bitter-cold 76/77 and 77/78 winters. The fourth one that had shade on its trunk from a garage had no problem. 2. Spring/summer violent thunderstorm winds -- especially bad on lush, fully-leafed hardwoods. 3. Wet snow/ice-storms -- more common in E NA. Total snow amounts aren't directly important -- the stickiness is (then the amounts are important). 4. Hurricanes & tropical storms in late summer/autumn. Sandy-storm... 5. Summer high-humidity & associated fungi & bacteria. 6. Winds. Not that the west has slower winds, but larger & more extensive mountains provide more potential shelter. Coastal redwoods get tallest behind shelter of the coastal ranges. The tallest east-coast forests are in sheltered coves of the Smokies. 7. Lightning. Certainly in the US southeast and southern plains, but even in western MD, prb'ly my favorite tree growing up, a 90' Nordmann fir, was mostly (except for one branch) done in by a direct strike. The northwest-exposed sycamore on my lot at 115' is hardly gaining height any more. Not that it doesn't try, but invariably the strongest Tstorm of the summer shreds leaves/new sprouts off the top. But it's spreading out & thickening at a good rate. Where I grew up, a nearby open-grown 350 yr old white oak (8 ft dia) was a mere 90' tall, but over 100' wide. There was no branch damage at the top, just the growth slowing to a crawl there. The lesson for a tree seems to be, if you want to live centuries in eastern NA, keep a relatively low but wide profile, and have trunk-bark thick enough to insulate against freeze-thaw cracking... Prb'ly a dozen of the 100'+ white pines that grow above the canopy have been broken/uprooted & vanquished just downwind of me on the lower slopes in 9 yrs. They need physical shelter and/or a dense, self-protecting "grove", like the original PA stands, to get taller. This prb'ly goes for any tall canopy trees here. I noticed Spruceman's Norway spruce & hemlock stands looked quite dense & got hammered, but that just shows localized extreme events can damage or even destroy any stand no matter what. The 1994 ice-storm in VA caused a whole nearby east-facing slope (at least 30 acres) of mostly 100'+ tuliptrees to uproot. It must have been like dominoes -- the highest-slope trees sagging downslope against their neighbors, finally giving way, then w/the added weight, those trees uprooting, etc, etc, down to the bottom. A sight of carnage just a mile downslope of me. That ice-storm produced four inches of liquid-equivalent sticking to surfaces. 4" liquid is equivalent in weight to ~40" snow -- but all of it sticking.

Thanks everyone, it looks like I just needed a little reassurance. If my yard someday looks like any of yours and someone commented on it negatively I would just probably be able to just laugh at them. Being that my collection is less than a year old, I guess it has more of an impact on me... enough to make me second guess myself. Especially when all of this happened within 24 hours. I honestly don't think anyone has said that it has looked nice here in person... last year we had our family reunion here and everyone was just talking about how much work it will be to keep the mulch beds filled... I tried explaining that once everything gets larger you won't see the mulch anyhow but I would have had better luck explaining this to a brick wall. Sarah - I actually have your blog bookmarked =). I space everything so the average conifer can get at least 12' wide without touching... some less and some more depending on the growth rate. Obviously the stuff I have that grows a lot slower can be almost planted next to each other. Since I space everything so far apart, I plan to add lower maintenance companion plants this spring to help cover some of the mulch along with ground covering conifers. Once the conifers grow larger, the plants can easily be moved or killed. Mike - Your garden is one of the very best. I have some Green Giants at the property line for the immediate effect and in front of those I have a mixture of spruces & pines. Hopefully the neighbors will be gone within the next couple of years. Whaas - I'm pretty happy with my bed layouts, I just changed them around a little yesterday though. I've been designing based on Kens & Dave's idea. Since I have a lot to mow, I try not to make beds with to many curves. Some curves are a must though. I also try to put a focal point conifer in each bed... something that I would consider a little more special. One thing I know is that I can't be to focused on bed design because as the conifers get larger the beds will disappear anyhow. Right now I can look out my second story window and see what all my beds look like. I could only imagine that 10-15 years from now I won't be able to tell what the bed shapes are.

angel19603, I find one of the most fascinating ones for me is The Enchanted Home. This gal is building a house that is incredible. That is the only word for it. She has great photos in every blog. There isn't a lot of "teaching" just sharing. She does a house "update" on Thursdays, and I usually have my jaw on the floor because I can't believe anybody is building a house/mansion like this in this day and age. It is really incredible. Cote de Texas is always enjoyable, Joanie is a really funny gal and she has some great ideas. Her photos are wonderful and she does seem to "explain" things and teach why certain things work and others don't. She also does the occasional interview with other designers, photographers, etc. so there are lots of good tips. I check out others, but these two are ones you might like to check out. -Bee

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!