I saw an amazing display of cleome withsooo many bees on it, so i will definatly make sure i get myself some next year!
Morning glories, my mom planted them and they are fabulous so now theyre on my list too!!

Natal- Good question. Cosmos and stock...especially the double, fluffy stock in lavender and white. It's so pretty and really did well this year. I also want to get more purple raspberries and maybe some red ones...and more Hidcote lavender...I love the fragrance and it's so hardy :)

Lilyfinch- I would love to get some cleome, but I haven't seen any yet. I may have to order it on the internet next year.

Well the monarda and butterfly weed plants are just starting to take off for me, if they stay healthy and work to attract the wildlife like they're supposed to I definitely want to add more next year! I also want to add more spring (and summer) bulbs. I absolutely loved the daffodil display this year and will definitely need to add some bulbs to my new beds this fall.

I also loved my brunnera and pulmonaria plants this past spring and would love to get my hands on more of them (but hopefully I can divide the ones I have) and the bleedings hearts did awesome for me as well.

I also decided I need more geraniums. I have 2 no-name ones and a Max Frei and I just love the reliability of these plants. same with campanula (a short one - blue chips I believe) and balloon flower. I have 1 short one and definitely want to add some tall ones next year. the ones I have are blooming their little heads off through the drought, high heat and humidty we've had for the past 3 weeks.

~Andrea

I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'm really happy with the alyssum I planted. I kindof want it everywhere. And the Chinese Foxglove is doing really well and I like the tall spires inbetween the roses, etc.

I tried like 6 varieties of lavender this year and only the grosso lavender is doing really well, so I may dig up some of my other varieties and replace them with grosso if I feel the same way next spring.

I got some unusual varieties of foxglove seeds too because I liked them so much, so I'm hoping to have weird foxgloves all over the place next year. :)

I'm hoping after they get settled in a bit that the catmint and lambs ears will do well, if so, I want to get way more of them.

Cleome, alyssum, zinnias, forget-me-nots, poppies of all sorts--especially California Poppy 'White Linen'. Monarda 'Lambada', On the other end of the spectrum, lupines were a fizzle and the bachelor buttons look too weedy. Ranunculus was kinda cool, but the foliage was/is ugly, too. Nasturtiums have been really scraggly looking, but the heat has been awful. Got some larkspur blooming that I direct sowed in early spring, but they are short and I can only hope they'll reseed and start earlier next year. I will sow more in the fall to see if that helps.

Dahlias and tithonia are just starting to bloom this week and look like I'll be having them again next year. I started caladiums from tubers that have been great, too.

Here's a picture of the cleome paired with Kniphofia 'Alcazar'. Loving it! It's a long-blooming combo, to boot.

{{gwi:11000}}

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, so I reserve the right to post again ;)

Lisa

I haven't decided about the annuals that I started from seed myself so we will see about that. But my tall bearded iris were so stunning when they bloomed that I knew right away that about 50 plants were not enough and ordered about 60 more. I also want to enlarge the Lupine Garden area I started with potted lupines bought locally this spring. They are doing great. My test is of course that they make it thru the winter and come back next spring but I think they will. If so, I will get more and enlarge the lupine garden.

Its been brutally hot here for the past 4 days. We never get this hot. But the lupines are fine. I hope they stay that way.

rita, you may get lucky and your lupines will self seed and you'll have lots of babies next year. I tend to deadhead mine too often, so there is little opportunity for seedlings.

You do everything in a big way, you must have an inexhaustible garden budget! ;) I love Iris too.

This is such an unusually hot and dry summer, that I may have to replace everything! We did just have 10 minutes of rain, but now the sun is shining, so I'm sure the plants will be boiled.

If I may be optimistic, here are the plants that should be the stars in a normally hot summer here.

My "cool colors" garden (deer resistant):

Achillea 'Pomegranate'
Agastache 'Salmon & Pink', 'Cotton Candy', 'Blue Fortune, 'Black Adder'
Drumstick allium
Blue flax
Russian sage
Salvia 'May Night'
Salvia greggii 'Dark Dancer'
Echinacea 'Prairie Splendor', 'Ruby Star', 'White Swan'
Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and 'Blue Stocking'
Purple fountain grass
Swamp milkweed (pink)
Joe Pye 'Little Joe'
Ironweed
Eupatorium rugosom 'Chocolate'
persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail'
Amsonia hubrichtii
Leucanthemum 'Broadway Lights'

in the spring, before the perennials blooms, I use larkspur, bachelor's buttons, California poppies 'White Linen' and 'Purple Gleam', nigella

In summer, I use Benary's giant zinnias, cosmos (but, the weather has been a bear to get the seedlings strong without toasting them)

I just didn't get to do everything I wanted to do this spring but I was happy with what I did get done. Planted lots of new stuff that was similar (only improved) from old stuff I used to have and that died out with all the moving of plants necessary with my hardscape budgets.

I just didn't get all the seeds started that I had hoped to do. Well, Great intentions and everything just never gets done.

I am not going to have any self seeded lupines. I deadheaded them all right after they bloomed. I wanted my plants to get established, not stress themselves making seed. But I just love the lupine area. It perfect there in front of some daylilies. The lupines make the spring show and the daylilies the summer show. The lupine folliage looks good there in front of the daylilies all year long. In fact those lupines are growing lots of new leaves and look happy. They do get some shade, which is good in this hot weather. Truthfully, they are in the perfect spot for my yard and garden.

I do alsso have that row of the Woodfield hybrids lupines which are an improved strain of Russell hybreds. Those were the tiny plants I bought from Bluestone on half price. They are not so tiny now, growing really well. I put them in another area, this time in the back as this type has taller blooms. I hope it looks great next spring. But these really seem to like there spot also. They look green and lush.

I grew angelonia for the first time this year in containers and it was doing so well I bought a flat of them to add with the pink penta in the butterfly garden - I love them - nice big boisterous blooms in the spires that look great with everything else. I got a mid-deep blue/purple one but there is a pink, white and I think a very dark blue. I will have more next year. They are happy here.

Angelonia with a goldfish plant in deck container:

Butterfly border tonight - penta, celosia, a deep pink phlox starting to bloom, zinnias, daylily, budlea behind the container (which holds mint that I just cut back) and the angelonia...

Cleome! Big impact from a few plants:

I also love cleome, I had so many plants reseed that I had to rip quite a few out. My echinacea is blooming quite nicely and most of my spring plants were beautiful. I really need to concentrate on plants that bloom mid summer. I winter sowed rubeckia Irish Eyes and have my first blooms, they are really pretty, I'm waiting to see how the plants do.

Carol