floridarose, I got my seed from a friend, but I always assumed they were something like Summer Carnival, but after being open pollinated for years, things can change. There is some variation in height, but most are a little shorter like SC, and do often bloom the first year. It's hard to tell if they act as short lived periennials or are just reseeding almost on top of the mother plant. I don't stake my hollyhocks, but grow them against fences and the house. I've tried the Madame Butterfly snaps, and didn't like them as well as la Bella. Not only do la Bellas live longer than most other snaps, when they are pinched back they promptly send another single thick shoot up. When I pinch back Rockets, they start branching off with floppy shoots, though they also live through winter here quite well. La Bella doesn't reseed like the other snaps I grow, though (darn). It's probably a hybrid that wouldn't breed true, anyway. Here is a pic of Rocket snaps. Off to the side are some pink la Bellas. Hopefully, my file isn't too large for posting here.

It must be the dry heat here but irises and day lilies don't have the explosive growth some of you describe and therefore they make perfect companion plants for me. The iris flowers are a wonderful bonus (I have reblooming ones) at unexpected times of the year but it's really their growth habit, and that of the day lilies, that makes them a valuable accent plant in the garden. My day lilies only bloom in spring and early summer, which is just as well, since I have the common yellow and gold ones. Cutting out the spent bloom spikes on the day lilies seems like the most onerous chore, right along with cleaning out the dead fronds at the bottoms of the plants. For me the best companion plants have turned out to be pelargoniuns, which bloom for most of the year in white and fuchsia, and make a great companion for the roses I grow. Very little maintenance and lots of blooms. And, last but not least, the animals and snails leave them alone. Ingrid

Jean- My 4 o'clocks never come up the following year, they always get frozen by winter. They do not even self seed here. I mean they do alll summer but then again nothing comes up over winter. So I have to start them again, which is a real pain. I had them running all along the front wall last summer until I yanked them to make that big planter box in the front yard were lots of new daylilies are going to be planted. Now morning glories are another story, those always (and easily) self seed. I find that if I leave any or miss any they bloom the wrong colors with smaller flowers, so I pull out self seeded vines and plant new ones from bought seeds. Last year I had some on a tower but they got so overgrown I pulled them out. This spring I think I will plant them on a much bigger, stronger tower were my trumpet vine died. Julie- I love the flowers on the bearded iris but for me the bloom period is too short to go nuts and plant them all over. Also, I do not like the looks of the bearded iris folliage. That skinny bed section in the front will be it for now. The Siberian Iris are different and I think they will be a lovely no fuss addition to my garden. Last night I also ordered one Japanese Iris because the picture was so lovely, I could not resist. I had some Japanese Iris many, many years ago at another house but not since then. I have this empty spot that I tried daylilies in but moved them because I did not like the look there. Its got roses and crosima on the sides and daylilies in front and then empty spot will now be iris. I also bought my first ever Spuria Iris and still don't know where I will plant it.

I agree with Brent. Frost is so variable in the MAG area (at least here in the DC outskirts) and winter temperatures set in so late, that while my cannas and sages might be zapped in late October or mid-November, I usually have reblooming irises on my Thanksgiving table and two years in a row I've been out in shorts on New Years' day planting bulbs (in 70 degree weather; I'm no masochist!) Since it takes so long for the ground to freeze in the DC area at least, I find that most fall-planted things have no trouble achieving enough root growth to spurt ahead in Spring -- with the exception of mediterranean plants that can't deal with the wetness; they rot out from the crown. By the way, I'm writing this from San Diego, visiting my Mom; we're going to a couple area nurseries tomorrow to see what goodies we can find for both our gardens. But I've already snagged a gallon Princess Plant and a greggeii sage at Lowes for $3 each -- oh, those California gardens! Lynn