Thanks, Rita. My And The Band Played On was new and not a lot of bloom last year, but much better this year. Joan Senior has always been white in my garden...Isn't she supposed to be? I am looking forward to your blooms this year. There are a couple I am going to get that you post if I can just figure out where to plant them...I am pretty careful about who I buy from now since I have so far avoided having any rust in my garden. I would like to continue that way. So far the leaf streak is nothing like last year, but I think it may be because I was really careful to nourish them...I will water them tomorrow since it is so hot and dry. And the beetles are here arrrrgh! kay

Definitely says cottage to me! It looks like a place you can be quite comfortable in while enjoying the bright colors and sights. I love the "aged" look of the garden, lots of volunteers and seedlings weaving through, making new magic. Those pink hollyhocks are just lovely, and the black and blue salvia practically glows it's so blue. I'd like to see more of that twig arbor that is just peeking out in the photo.

My favorite photo is of Palace Garden Beauty. The rabbits ate my scapes, so it's nice to see a bloom of it somewhere. Your photo of it is excellent! I just love PGB, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for rebloom. Autumn Wood is one of the all-time greats. Mine always blooms much darker than your photo. I enjoyed looking at your album again. Your latest photo fo Metaphysical Moment is a killer. Debra Debra

The large windmill palms in the picture are in large black plastic nursery pots. I have strings of incandescent miniature lights taped around the pots, and then fiberglass roofing insulation, and finally plastic sheeting to keep the insulation dry. This set up prevents the soil in the pots from freezing, allowing the palms to stay outside during temperatures down into the single digits. If it gets colder than that, I move the pots under the eaves of the house and tent them. Once the cold snap passes, back out they go. About one out of three years they spend the whole winter outside. I have a waggie (Trachycarpus wagnerianus) planted on the other side of the house, and I use the lights and burlap to protect it when it needs it. The night jasmine spends the winter in the garage. It can freeze in there sometimes, but these have recovered from 26F. They get chopped back hard in spring. Cestrum parqui seems stem hardy down below 20F, and can come back from the roots from much, much lower. I planted one this spring to give it a whirl! Waggie Windmills. The one on the left is actually slightly taller than the one on the right, which sits on a block. The pergola with the hummingbird feeder is 8' tall.