Hi Everyonewow , am I behind or what ? I was going to cook enchiladas tonight, but its too hot out to consider turning on the oven so its shrimp cocktail (I love, love, love shrimp) and fresh farmers market veggies for me tonight. So, since Im not cooking an opportunity to try to catch up here-such a lot going on with the Idylls ! Ive loved reading of everyones plants purchases this weekend- Ive bought a ridiculous amount of plants in the last month. Glad to see Im not alone Sue, interesting that you cant find a Salvia leucantha; that plant is ubiquitous here . Arent salvias great ? I only have about 6 or 7 different varieties, some of my favorites get so huge, I just dont have room. This week I bought 4 Salvia sinolensis , which is a small (1 ft ) very tender salvia with bronze foliage and bright blue flowers. Im also trying to decide what to do about my S. Argentinean Skies , which is proving to be somewhat invasive. I guess I could dig it up and put it in a pot, which is what I had to do with the damn Cape Fuchsia.. Cant wait to see the pics of your Caribbean shed Deanne, no partying till the wee hours for me either ! That happened when I became a serious gardener- I like to get up early. My climbing Hydrangea has fallen on hard times..not quite the same issue as D had ; mine is water related, because of where it lives its very dependent on my hose-dragging , and I forget about it. This week it got up to 100 degrees plus , and the poor thing got scorched. Its hardly grown 6 inches since I got it last year. Chelone, you are one industrious lady- what a lot you have going on at the compound .I enjoyed your garage pics ! It was interesting to see the foundation and how different it looks from one here- our building codes are very earthquake oriented and there is lots of rebar involved in foundation work. Re: lawn mowing ..I have a miniscule bit of lawn left-I retired the trusty Snapper power mower and bought a Great States reel mower. I love the sound it makes ! It takes me less time to mow than it did to gas up and empty the bag on my Snapper. There is a movement away from lawns out here since we get no rain in summer and they guzzle lots of water. Cynthia, good job-you prevailed over the window box brackets ! I hear you on the 50 is closer to retirement thing ! Im thinking 60 , and then a totally mindless retirement job to pay for the health care premiums. Hope all your canine kids are doing well Nice of you to stop by Phyl.. Saucy, Brenda, Michelle, bug, eden, Wendy, Mary,Martie etc ..hi to all..and T, V, Honey, Babs??? Time to whip up that shrimp cocktail Kathy in Napa

Mine seemed a decent size as well. As I said I 'divided' the northern lites one and have it in a few spots. A few weeks after being planted the Panicum virgatum 'rotstrahlbusch' seems to be doing the best, though to be honest it still looks like crab grass that I forgot to mow. My 'northern lites' seemed a bit drier when it arrived, I even soaked in water for a bit. It's coming around, slowly. I think the problem is that it's a cool season grass, so it slows down in growth this time of year anyways. Fortunately the weather has been more on the cool to just comfortable side this week (though it can't seem to go a day without a downpour of rain). My Imperata 'red baron' is doing okay, I sort of delayed planting it until I found a spot. Alongside the deck I have a strip of white rock with 3 planting holes. I removed the boxwood (that I adored, but it's toxic to puppies) and planted the northern lites and the red baron grass. It should look nice if/when it ever grows. Glen

I have them mixed in everywhere. I particularly like the smaller grasses for ease of maintenance. The larger ones can be a pain to cut down in the Spring. My favorites are: Calamagrostis arundinacea brachytricha (thrives in part sun/part shade) Hakonechloa macra 'Albo Striata' (another for shade) Miscanthus sinensis 'Gracillimus' Miscanthus 'Little Zebra' Muhlenbergia capillaris Panicum virgatum 'Cloud Nine' Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' Pennisetem orientale 'Karley Rose' Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' Stipa gigantea (a see-through plant...the grass itself is only 1' tall, but the whispy plumes shoot up to 5')

Greenhaven, I'm so glad you posted pictures. Welcome! You've really done a tremendous job in a short period of time. How lucky to have all that ledge and the way you've incorporated the gardens is really great. It all looks quite natural. PL, Love those sunflowers! I've tried them from seed before a handful of times, but as soon as I get them planted the chipmunks come along and dig them up while mocking me. Jewel weed brings me back to nature walks with my mom. Used to use it on poison ivy. I always thought it was a great cure, but as I got older I realized I'm not allergic to poison ivy, so I'm not sure if my "tests" as a child were valid! It looks great in such a mass like that. I guess I made it just in the nick of time to post for August. Hard to believe tomorrow is September. I know there was some talk in another thread about the smaller butterfly bushes. They're kind of hard to photograph, but I have three in a row forming a bit of a hedge and I really like the way they bloom later. There was also a discussion about heptacodium on another thread where everyone said it would break and most were unhappy with it. That really changed the way I'm treating this shrub/tree. I was planning on limbing it up into a tree, but after reading everyone's experiences I've decided to leave it more as a very large shrub, or at least a non-limbed up tree. The hibiscus are in bloom now on the other side of the fence. Those will stay when we get our new fence later this fall. I've never done annual asters before, but this middle bed of the veggie garden starts as lettuce and once the crop is done I let the nasturtium take over. I threw in some annual asters and I have to say I really like them a lot. One of the back beds with zinnias still going. Another bed back there. Holy cow! The bees are insane with the turtlehead and anemone blooming. Interestingly, the bees swarm to the barely open anemone flowers with 5 or 6 of them all huddled and fighting for space. The open flowers are not touched. The lespedeeza is starting its show. I do wish the clethra would bloom just a tad later so the white would be blooming with the pink. Here's a closer shot of one of the back beds. There's a carpet rose blooming in the bed behind the butterfly bushes. I like the peach and blue combo with the physocarpos mixed in for good measure. Love the fairy rose that comes back strong while so many other plants are withering in the heat! The front slope is filled in with all the colorful shrubs. Lobelia and caryopteris. I put them together because the caryopteris can hold up the lobelia when it flops. Cottage garden gone wild! I really, really, really love amsonia hubrichtii. I'll post this picture again when the amsonia and the climbing hydrangea both turn glowing yellow. Ironweed is great this time of year. Okay, okay, I'll stop! LOL! I get carried away. There is so much going on in the garden now and so much more to come. Such a great time of year.