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

Ok, now a cpl pics of this great green/pink/white variegated leaf NOID. I picked it out at a florist shop solely based on the leaves, and the lady thought I was nuts for buying an African violet that wasn't blooming, so she gave it to me for free. It took a LONG time for it to decide to bloom, but now it blooms well. It's not showing variegation well at the moment, it's too warm and it's got lots more green right now: Optimara EverLove. This has great leaves. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do now. The color is not represented well in these pics, the first is closer but it's darker and more wine colored in person. And the ruffled edge is pink, not white: Finally, pics of where they all live. The first photo is blown out because of being backlit by a south facing window, but gives an idea of what it looks like: Hope these weren't too many pics at once. Hope you enjoyed them! I end up taking more pics of orchids these days, so I thought it might be nice to take pics of the AVs, for a change : )

Maryl - It only got to 94 here today, and Insider Trading looked perfect at 7 p.m. You may be right about 95 being the tipping point. It's looked good on other 97 degree days, but I guess it didn't like the 91 percent humidity we had during yesterday morning. Luckily, it got overcast here about 5 p.m., and someone in Nashville got rain, but not me. It did cool things down temporarily. Insider Trading at 7 p.m. today - Sorry it's a bit blurry, but your can see it kept its color just fine. I think this would be a super landscaping daylily in all but the southern-most states.

Maryl - Vivacious Spirit does struggle here. I had it planted in another place, and it did not grow well or bloom for two years. Now that it's planted right next to the house, it did multiply. But it seems like a very wimpy plant. Everything You Desire looks much lighter in the sun. It looks quite dark in my shade photos. While cranberry is dark, rose is not. Put them together and you get the color of Everything You Desire. Brad - I'm sure you're right about insurance being a factor in my mother's discharge from the hospital before she is ready to go. We have only about 10 days of rehab left that Medicare will fully cover. Debra