I grow many of the plants listed above, but I love the "surprises" that show up in the garden. A couple of years ago, I harvested some California poppies .. of course, they don't transplant well, but I put them into a container and let them do their last gasp to spread seed to continue the species. Their glorious orange/yellow has shown up in places in the garden where nothing else would grow well. The funny thing was that I thought they were spring flowering only. To my surprise, if they get water throughout the season, they repeat bloom all season long with no care on my part. Feverfew is another accidental plant that is providing "sparkle" to the garden with it's white blooms. I have poor soil and when these accidental plants show up in places where other delibertly planned plantings have failed, I always find that they are a special sorce of enjoyment. Yes, I have bulbs and am learning to grow irises and the texture of the garden is always changing. For me, that's the joy of gardening. Smiles, Lyn

aha, Florida, of course, special vases (slaps forehead). A few years ago, one of the offspring bought me two silver 'thingies' exactly what you described - short bowls with a grid across the top. Being a bit of a philistine, I had no idea what they were for and tucked them at the back of a shelf. This might be what I need since the other thing which happens when I have tried a few roses is that they all fall back out of the vase. I mention this now having seen quite a few rather nice posies (Zephy, I think seems to have a vast collection of little vases) and every so often, I think how nice it would be to have a little posy next to my bed (perhaps to camouflage the teeth). The previous allotment owner planted a vast array of gladiolus which return year on year....and I confess, I have come to enjoy these flowers since even an idiot can stuff half a dozen in a pot and it looks dramatic.

Um, You realize you posted your question on a conifer forum, right? Many years ago I did a lot of gardening with perennials. Over time they they got increasingly annoying. Now if an empty space comes open, it gets filled with a miniature conifer. 700+ dwarf conifers later, there's not many angios left. LOL ~Dave This post was edited by Glaciers-End on Tue, May 7, 13 at 22:54

nikonhead - I'm not familiar with either one of those, so I'll have to look them up. I was at the nursery yesterday and there was this one plant that had a butterfly on it everytime I walked by. I could kick myself for not finding out what it was. All I know was it had pink flowers. I did end up getting the Kaleidoscope Abelia and Lily of the Valley, so I hope they do good for me. ntxdirtdigger - Thank you so much for the offer. I wish I could take you up on it, but I have nothing to trade at this point. I had a small, but nice collection of daylilies at my last house, but those were all left behind. I'm starting over at my new house and just ordered my first daylily today! I've never grown Columbines, but they had one called White Swan (I think) at Lowes that had the biggest blooms I've ever seen, so I couldn't resist. Should I plant it in the sun or shade?