Now that is just a teasing photo; can you show us all the rest of the flowerbeds. Those are beautiful! I didn't notice that you had used tree branches/limbs as a bed edging. That's a neat and creative idea. I would have never noticed it until the other poster mentioned it. The new tall post with the dried corn stalks on them..is that the beginning of an arbor? I'm assumming there's a Fall display in your mind to go along with the dried corn stalks? Can't wait to see what you have in mind. Thanks for sharing your photo. More, more, we want to see more!

WOW! Those are SO cool! Did you grow them from seeds? LMK if I have anything I can tempt you with.

I've collected and grown plants from both. Yes; the imaptiens should have light brown/brown seeds. The white ones aren't ripe yet. If they have snapped off the branches, they weren't. If they were ripe, they would've already popped open when they hit the ground. The ones I've picked have always been still on the branches, and are bright green and fat. I usually collect them by snipping off the branch the pod is on, and then gently put them into a cup, which a lot of times enough to pop them open. They aren't called 'touch me nots' for nothing! As for the begonias, definitely let them get nice and brown until they are practically falling off the branches before gathering. Then, dry them well and store them until you are ready to sow, sometime in early winter. Mind you, I've only gotten a few plants from many pods. They are indeed dust size, and very tempermental. I rubbed the pods gently over the soil and hope for the best, but germination is slow and really tiny. But if you do get some to germinate, be patient and you will be rewarded with beautiful plants that are tougher than the store bought ones. I put mine out in the winter sun on a windowsill and they never burned in the summer sun.

Patience is a very important quality in a gardner. Fertilizer should not be used unless it is really and truly required by the plant. For flowering plants, it is a good idea to be extremely conservative with high N fertilizers and use the high P products. You have no idea of the seeding sequence of the red and white flowers that you purchased....they may have been started weeks behind the others. The white ones will begin to bud and bloom as long as you haven't put so much N (nitrogen) to them that all they want to do is grow new leaves! Since this is your first gardening experience, I assume that you don't know how to decipher the fertilizer analysis on your product? What are the 3 numbers on your container of Miracle Gro? 20-20-20?