Thanks for the replies. I had a very busy week after posting this so thats why I didnÂt reply sooner. I am very glad I asked this question here, as I feel relieved from the feeling of being overwhelmed when I look at the tasks I canÂt get to often enough. Gfult you raise a good point about slimy messy petals. Of course IÂll have to consider that when choosing plants close to the walkways and patios. I sometimes deadhead coreopsis, but will leave it alone if it doesnÂt need it. IÂm not sure about salvia. I mostly deadhead but donÂt get blooms back much from them. Lindac IÂm hoping for about as long blooming as I can get. More to the point, IÂd like long blooming and overlapping succession of blooms. So far in spite of that being my goal I havenÂt succeeded. I hope to eventually. :) Entling I looked up the Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac.', and was disappointed to see you are right, it is invasive here. I do deadhead Geranium 'Rozanne, but itÂs in the shade so I donÂt mind so much. Chris_ont I grow some dwarf shrubs, and also have a few variegated shrubs and plants that boast colourful foliage. My variegated Pieris is pink and cream and I love it. Robynpa, dare I try Crocosima Lucifer again? It is a serious spreader here, and still I canÂt grow it! Maybe the fifth time is the real charm. :) Thanks Tess, and Chris, for the reminder that I donÂt have to ruthlessly cut back or deadhead liatris, or Echinacea, etc. I donÂt usually as I like to feed the birds here, but when I went outside and saw the jumble of spent flowers I didnÂt really take stock of what was to stay and what heads I had to off. ;) I felt much better as I said when I went out after reading this. Katefisher thanks for the Moonshine Yarrow suggestion. It looks like something I could work with, maybe with a deep purple coloured plant. Ellen_z7ny I hope my Agastache blooms more. It is smaller this year than ever before. I have always deadheaded but will leave it alone from now on. Yes our summers are coolish for the most part, except for in the end of June and most of July. I will definitely try viola tricolor. Is it good in a container? I have some very large containers that I would like to set about in the garden for continuity of form and colour. Northerner on, Veronica spicata (Speedwell), is another that has eluded me. Only one plant has ever come back, and that is the one Âunder my Rosemary bush. It was faltering and my Rosemary grew right over it, and it bloomed like mad. ItÂs still under there and still blooming?!? Of course I just bought 2 more to torture myself with, lol. Wish me luck. Mollydog I am bloom greedy, I know. We have so much green in rainy Vancouver that IÂm always after a huge burst of colour in the summer. I do grow blue oat grass, and walker's low nepeta, and do cut the nepeta back like you, BTW. I havenÂt tried the chocolate euphorbia, but will try to find it here. You have very beautiful gardens. Thanks for sharing. Is the chocolate euphorbia somewhere on the pics? Stephanie, peach leaved Canterburry bells sounds interesting. So far we donÂt have Japanese beetles, knock on wood, but west Nile Virus is on Vancouver Island, :( , so itÂs probably a matter of time. IÂm glad youÂve found something they donÂt like. Thanks again for not laughing at me in my quest. I know that low maintenance and garden are not synonymous, but less work , and more blooms!, is what IÂm after and youÂve helped me with that. Yeona

Hi Carl! S. koymae is generally available from Plant Delights. I had that in my old garden for 3 or 4 years at least and it went through several real z5 winters so I believe it is fully hardy in z5. Spreads gently but usefully. I remember seeing S. elegans Golden Splendor at a number of Public gardens in Chicago area this summer, and WOW, what a great foliage and bonus flower plant. I am looking for that one next year. As far as S. guaranitica is concerned, it overwintered near a S wall for me for 5 winters, though was very late to emerge in a few springs -- but emerge it did. Never cut it back till spring. And the trick is to find the real species and not one of the color selections. The original plant I got was from Blue Meadow Farm, an excellent but no-longer-mail-order (sadly) nursery in MA that listed it in their catalog as "solidly zone 6 hardy". Perhaps on one of your pilgrimages up to VT you could stop there and get some from them -- maybe they have plants from a colder provenance area. I find the straight species is tough to find -- the named selections like Black and Blue are more ubiquitous. And DirtDriver, of course you can grow the lush big tender ones! That's what we all lust after and grow. They may not make 10' shrubs in the heartland, but the vast majority can be easily grown from little cuttings into good big garden plants in one season. The only occasional problem are those that want to mature so late in the fall (S. mexicana here) that they don't want to bloom before hard freezes set in. So you move them into the living room (who cares about watching Jeopardy when you can stare at S.m. 'Limelight'-- in full bloom?)

Well, it depends what kind of salvia. Salvias bloom mostly spring and fall here but not always. For example, salvia black and Blue, guarantica, and several others bloom all summer. Deadhead and they are fine (they are fine even without, but look better deadheaded). There are even fall only blooming salvias. Annual salvia responds well to deadheading, GGG

I would cut off the spent flower stems if they look unattractive. Really you don't have to deadhead any salvia unless it makes them more attractive to you. You probably have Salvia splendens, which should bloom most of all of the summer and fall. This is an OK plant, but really a poor introduction to salvias, in my opinion, because it is not as vigorous or large and many of the others - it has been over-selected to the point where it is just another cute little annual. There are lots of great salvias that would be perennials for you in GA. I suggest you keep your eyes open for Salvia guaranitica, known as Anise Sage or one variety called 'Black and Blue' and also look for Salvia greggii, known as Texas Sage or several other names. These are really nice, long-blooming, easy garden plants that attract hummingbirds and i think you'll like them. Black eyed susans can be cut back after they flower. Simply cut the stem that had flowers, removing the dead flower and any part of the stem that doesn't look nice. Keep your eyes open for additional buds on these stems, which will become flowers, and don't cut any new stems that may be emerging with new flowers. As with salvias, you don't have to deadhead Black eyed susans or any other flower, it just makes them look neater and perhaps bloom longer. The theory is that since you deadheaded and they aren't producing seed, which is their mission in life, they try to make more flowers and fulfil their mission. I think deadheading works pretty well at extending the bloom season of some plants, and has little effect on others. With salvias, it generally is not necessary and is not a real common practice among gardens I have visited.