I want to see a picture of your lily- sounds stunning. I don't know what I want to see most. I didn't plant too many new things this year that I haven't seen before. I guess I would have to say that I have a Sum and Substance hosta that came up with 55 eyes this spring and I'm expecting it to hit a 70" spread this year. If I don't lose it to hail damage or other pests then that should be a traffic stopper for me.

That would be a show stopper in anyone's garden Nettie!

Birdwing, that's a tough one. There wasn't much here when my husband I were married in the fall of 2003 so pretty much everything in the garden went in last year and that was a lot of stuff.... I think I'm going to say an 'area' rather then a plant. I'm most anxious to see how my new shade garden develops. I put in a lot of hosta, fern, bleeding heart, and so on. It will be an evolving story that lasts all summer, so I probably wouldn't cancel a vacation for it, because who's to say the next week won't be even better?

Mostly though, I'm looking forward to it all, and already enjoying the fruits of my labor so very much!

It was dahlia craziness this year- there are 18 dinner plate dahlias on the south side of my house in several raised beds- yes in the city- on a postage stamp sized yard. They'll get to about 4 ft tall in a range of colors- and should peak in late July. Then another 14 in other various spots in the yard- I need help - i know. If your in longfellow seeing me tending to them stop by and say 'hello.'

Also some false indigo (baptisia? sp?) this spring in the back yard's 'blue/white' perennial bed. This tough plant- with blue lupine like flowers- was seen thriving in a rock bed underneath a pine tree in downtown Mpls a couple of years ago! It looked great in that hellish spot-so it should be a no fail plant in the spot it is occupying in my perennial bed. Wagners had f'-indigo for $4 a piece for a 3-4" pot- really good sized plants for the price-considering they were $10 at another nursery.

Being a first year homeowner of an extensive front and back yard perennial garden- there are many 'natives' planted by the previous owner which should be exciting to see.

I too would like to see pictures of that black beauty lily-

My bearded irises for sure. I got some from my aunt two summers ago and will be the first time I get to see them bloom. I see the stalks with flower buds on them so I know it's gonna happen. Good things come to those who wait (not very patiently though...)

Laura.

70" ?! How old is that hosta Nettie? (by the way my husband says there were not 50 flowers on that lily, more like 30. Now I have two though so that makes 60,at any rate it IS stunning...)

We have a new shade garden too that's looking pretty happy and beautiful right now with all the rain (ferns ,wild ginger, blue phlox, hosta and some jack-in-the-pulpit) my husband planted that one and he's much more focussed than me..

I'm also waiting for Iris(no buds yet though is that a bad sign?) and Dahlias; last year I had about 20. This year, maybe half that but I still may get more(why not?) they had their own bed last year but this year I've put some in the perennial beds.

The other thing I'm obsessing about is my "Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate". I got it from a guy 3 years ago after we were driving through the alley and saw it in his back yard. We knocked on his door and asked to buy a plant and he gave us some(he was kind of a big tough guy and when I asked him what it was called he blushed when he said "kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate") This year I probably have a hundred little seedlings that I've been moving to the back of the garden because it can be 8 ft tall!

Has anyone else ever had it in their garden? I've only seen it growing a couple times but I love it.....

I'm going to try and post a link to the monticello gardens where there is a photo of this plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: monticello/kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate

No my irises don't have buds yet either..
Wow you will have to post a picture of that S & S when it leaves out, I have to see it
And I look forward to seeing my echinacea "Sunrise" bloom.

I am anxious to see if any of the species lillies I planted quite late in the season made it through. I didn't get my garden in until October as we had just bought the property in September.
Birdwing-I can appreciate your excitement over the Black Beauty lilly, I still consider it one of the loveliest I ever grew. In my old garden however it wasn't reliably hardy so I never got to see it fully established. It seems like they would die out within 2 years or so. Of course I was pushing zones on that one!

Kiss-me over the garden gate grew quite well up north in my old garden and liked to reseed everywhere. The first year I grew it along with Love Lies Bleeding and a small patch of Bleeding Heart
as a humerous "Ode to Love" corner. It was a little thrill of pleasure if anyone visiting my home was able to pick up on my jokes sprinked throughout my garden and property without them being pointed out. One of the hazards/benefits of living way out in the country, you learn to make your own entertainment!

This may be going off on a tangent and need it's own thread but I have to admit that I find the common names of plants a lot more interesting and quaint than trying to remember the latin terms for everything.
As a foil for your 'Ode to Love' corner you should have my shadegarden with snakeroot, spiderwort, toad lily etc. I don't have a name for it though....

I love your "love" garden idea: maybe some love-in-a-mist too? It's funny because when I was first looking for the "kiss me" , people at nurseries and the farmer's market kept showing me love lies bleeding and insisting that they were the same thing,

By the way freezengirl, I noticed you know alot about roses..
I planted both a midnight blue and angelface rose a couple weeks ago. They're both supposed to be purplish but the buds that have opened since the planting are blooming pink.Do you know why? Is it the weather? I thought I had read somewhere cool weather was supposed to make them more blue.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Midnight Blue is a deep purple. I don't have one yet but saw one blooming at Linders. Considering the color, I can't imagine that one blooming pink. Angel Face is supposed to be mauve but maybe it's possible the weather could be causing it to look more pink. It is fragrant with ruffled petals. Mine is new this year and I'm still waiting for those first buds to open..

Where did you get them from? Maybe they were mislabeled? If you're really worried post pictures of the blooms on the Rose Gallery forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Angel Face on HelpMeFind

The thing is they were purple when I bought them (midnight blue was deep purple and angelface kind of lavender) It was after I put them in that they started blooming pink....hmmm

Yes, I got them at linders during their 20% off sale..

Ooooohhhh! Linders is my favorite for roses. I shoulda picked up Midnight Blue when I saw it. Do you know if it's zone 4 hardy? I held off because I wasn't sure. I'm trying not to plant anymore tender roses in my yard.

I would guess it's the weather doing it then, especially if you saw them blooming when you bought them. I'm so excited to see/smell angel face when she blooms.

Adding to this I'm also anxious to see my new roses bloom this year. konigin von danemark, sea foam, heritage, stanwell perpetual, wildberry breeze, country music, prairie sunrise, prairie sunset, distant drums, polonaise, honeysweet, tahitian moon, morden sunrise, charlotte, the prince, redoute, friends forever, barbara worl, and reine des violettes. Even after buying all of these I still want more!

I would suspect also that it is the weather also that is affecting your roses color. I haven't grown either of these roses however because I tend to stick with hardier roses for northern gardeners. I use the benign neglect style of gardening. If it survives the no frills approach, I keep it!

Nettiesgarden- you could call your shade garden with snakeroot, toadlilly ect. the Ode to rejected lovers corner or maybe Enemies Alley or Sweet Revenge Row. ;.)

I have been following the different threads on the garden web for 4-5 years now. I love how much I learn here from other gardeners. I especially enjoy hearing how other gardeners create their own unique spaces. Our gardens seem to be made of much more then plants alone but are often a reflection of how we view our worlds.

Middle of the night, style musings also show why my gardens seldom lack from manure! ;.0

Re. rose color...we've found rose color to be a great deal more variable than I think most people would expect or believe, varying, I suspect (though I could be wrong), with temperature. The most striking example would be that we've found the flowers on 'Double Delight' (a pink/white bicolor) to vary from pure white/cream to pure pink, depending on the conditions during the bud formation. Interesting...

Double Delight is a sun blusher. It gets its strawberry red color from the sunlight hitting the petals. If there is no sunlight then it really will not change color.

Freezengirl, remember some lilies, and especially some species lilies, may rest a year after transplanting,without coming up at all. Martagons are known for this, although I have not experienced it. I suspect the more tramma to the plant, the more likely. As you invision, your planting was late (and making it more likely on susceptible species), but still perfectly acceptable. Just don't disturb the area for another season if nothing comes up.

I am having a great time seeing all my new lilies emerge too. Especially Lilium tsingtauense with its heavily ruffled leaves and Super Tsing, different again. I remember the first time I saw tsingtauense, I thought it was virused, although very pleasing.

Rick

Yes this new garden is probably going to be the smallest and most slapdash garden I have ever started out with. It couldn't be helped, it was this way or no garden for spring. I knew I could never survive winter without some hope of a garden! The lasagna style garden formation has worked out quite well over the years for me. This time however it was a formidable prospect. Our property was abandoned for several years so the grass was waist high when we purchased it. My husband knocked down the grass then mowed it quite short. I sprayed the area twice with roundup (which I wouldn't normally use) and then I planted a bunch of roses, 7 varieties of species lillies, dozens of bulbs, some hosta, catnip and a few reliable perennials, willy nilly. I was fairly certain I could have heavy losses from frost heaves but it was the best I could do that late in the year. Happily, I located the garden in a spot where the snow naturally drifts and collects all winter so it looks like I only lost one plant. The tulips and daffs are blooming beautifully and cheer me immensly!
I have stacks of newspaper I scrounged for and saved all winter waiting to be put to use. My DD brought me a dozen bags of mulch for Mothers day too. I am waiting for the soil to warm up more so that I can lay the newspaper down and cover it neatly with mulch. Because I didn't get a vegie garden area going last fall either I am going to plant vegies in the flower bed. Lots of empty space for them there while the perennials take their first year of "sleep". Instead of towering spires of delphiniums and alce it will be heirloom tomatoes and bean pole towers. It will be cool I think!
Right now though I am glad that I live in a rural area because this years spring chaos mess would never fly with in town neighbors. We have 5 acres we are cleaning up and clearing brush on here. We are also clearing out the area we want our new home to be built on (and building it ourselves!). I suspect no matter how hard my husband and I work this summer that we will never be caught up and untidyness will rule!

I'm looking forward to seeing what my gardens can do without deer damage. This year I enclosed 3 areas with deer netting, so hopefully I'll finally see what those gardens are supposed to look like! The other areas aren't so easily enclosed, so I'll continue to spray. I'm becoming a big fan of Liquid Fence.

Something else I planted in the fall was an asiatic lily called lollipop. I planted 3 plants and now each one has a bunch of stems. Anyone else know about this lily? It seems like it's going to be great; getting so much bigger after only about 8 months in the ground.

birdwing, you will like Lollipop....very hardy, and produces many new flowers each year.