I'm sure your neighbors were happy to see veggies, even bolting crops, over the weedy yard, Spaghetina. Here's a couple of suggestions I have from my time growing organically up in SF and Marin. 1) Most of those flowers of the bolted veggies are edible and tasty. While the leaf flavor has turned bitter through the winter and the taste change that comes with bolting, the blossoms often gain a very interesting taste that is great topping salads or lightly fried in certain dishes. 2) If like germinating your own crops from seed, remember which of your crops are heirloom (their seeds will usually produce true) and which are F1 or other hybrids -- it's seed is typically still viable, but may have very different characteristics than the parent. The GW seed exchange forum is a great way to get those exotic seeds you mentioned w/o having to pay catalog prices or drive all over the Bay area, but you need your own seeds to reciprocate. Some of the best plants & veggies in my yard are from trades I've made with other GW members. 3) To my way of thinking, your soil mix seems too heavily focused on decomposed organic matter and doesn't take advantage of the alkaline SF clay topsoil and it's associated soil flora. The compost/purchased soil is great for nitrogen and drainage and you can artificially pump up the P/K/Fe to grow good veggies & plants in it, but organic amendments like blood & bone meal, fish emulsion, seaweed and others need bacteria & fungi to free the nutrients for your crop's roots. That's generally not true for soluble inorganic amendments, which is why they are popular. There's definitely a risk of adding weed seeds by using your yard's topsoil in the garden beds, but that soil food web is necessary for growing good organic crops, IMO. For plants that need lots of N and like great drainage, I go 2/3 purchased soil/fully composted organic matter and 1/3 native topsoil. For tomatoes, peppers and others that suffer in N-rich soils, I use 2/3 native, 1/3 organic matter.

Lykaon, What a beautiful yard you have...it makes me realize I should really spruce up my edges...mine is way more "rustic", so to speak. I say "YES" to your idea on future hosta beds, you have such an excellent backdrop there for beds. What are your flowering shrubs, Viburnum? Not sure on the Thunderbolt question, it doesn't look quite like mine that I can remember (I lost mine.)....I think mine were more blue, but someone else may have a better thought. Thank you for sharing! Your beds are beautiful! I finally bought Regal Splendor last year after having it on the wishlist year after year...can't wait to see it furl out now! (Eyes are only just now popping up this week here.)

Jim, you made such an excellent choice! I love your roses because they all are known to have amazing fragrance to them! I try so hard to get roses with fragrance, but not always do I luck out... Zyperiris, I would definitely get Gemini from Jackson & Perkins...You will have better luck with them having fragrance at J & P because not all Gemini have fragrance...I love the scent of mine (smells like honey and and peaches)...Advantages of Gemini are that they flourish and look beautiful even in 95-97 degree heat; they are rated exhibition form roses by the ARS and are highly resistant to diseases and are very vigorous! Fragrant Cloud makes...delicious rose petal jelly--haha! man, when I eat that stuff I feel like I'm eating plums, super-saturated kick-pow jam, it's got flavor intensity to the max. It's got a very strong nice perfume, but my favorite perfume will always be Mr. Lincoln. Disadvantage of Fragrant Cloud is that it is very, very difficult to color match whereas Gemini looks beautiful anywhere you plant it! Special Occasion is a very beautiful rose but!!!!!it's got a split personality. It has a classical very lovely shape from young to maturity blooms, but once it's past mature it becomes an antique Souvenir bloom (google search Souvenir de la Maison) and you'll know what I mean. If you don't like the curliness and petticoat shape of this type of antique rose, you may not like Special Occasion... You see Special Occasion is a long-lived blossom, it takes forever! for it to fade and thus it has a split personality-- a breathtaking classical hybrid tea, but once its past its mature bloom stage, it becomes a cute petite OGR. It is now currently sold by Vintage Gardens. Mine was supposed to be exceptionally fragrant, but in my opinion it is only medium in fragrance so far...Also with Special Occasion it is OUCH!if you pick it up by the blossom neck-it's like a bristle brush of very tiny miniscule thorns...

Carrie751, after far too long, over a decade, I've come back to find you on this post to tell you what a beautiful thing you did for my son and myself. We were beginner gardeners, and after a Fort Worth plant swap, you had us come and "help" you thin plants. We found out that YOU were the one helping US. Everyone at the plant swap had been so generous, and then you loaded our minivan with enough plants to turn our desert backyard into an oasis, which we did! You sparked something in my then-teenage son who's approaching 30 in the next few years--he learned to love gardening that day, and he still does! He lives in North Carolina now, and I've moved to the U.P. of Michigan, building a new organic homestead as my husband and I are transitioning to grow all our own food, in addition to TONS of flowers. Because of what you did for me, I started a plant swap group in our small town that has over 425 members now and is growing every day. There was already a seed library here, and I'm an active member. I try to be as generous with others as you were to me. Just wanted you to know that your kindness has spread a long way, over many miles and years and people. Thank you so much!