Monarda - all if them! This year I winter-sowed 4 species of Monarda, 3 of which I had never heard of before researching seeds to buy. Beautiful and the pollinators and hummingbirds love them. Phlox - again all of them - growing many species and cultivars, but one of my outstanding performers is Phlox paniculata 'Nora Leigh' - beautiful variegated foliage, very vigorous, never gets mildew Agastache 'Blue Fortune' - very pretty spires, and the Bumble bees just go nuts over this plant. The Blue Fortune I bought at a nursery doesn't reseed at all, but a couple other Agastache from a plant swap last year that look like Blue Fortune have reseeded like crazy this Spring. Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' - this is a HUGE plant but what a beauty! Lots of lemon yellow flowers that the bees love. I've got 4 of them and they literally make a hedge they're so large, and they spread rhizomatically into these massive clumps. Eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate' - really nice foliage, and I love the haze of little white flowers at the end of the season. I'm growing so many new plants from winter-sowing and some I purchased on sale last November (including Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight' and 'Prairie Twilight Blues' which are sending out buds), that I may have some new favorites popping up this year! :)

Boom- thanks for the lesson. Bill Susan- did you just click on the purple titles in the links at the bottom of the post I listed above. That should take you to either site. (Aloha or Sandy's auction). Also temps in the 40 could be a bit cold but maybe not. You might drag them under a cover or bring the flowering one inside for the night. It is hard to say what shuts down plumies. Each plant is unique. Some shut down quickly and others keep going late into the fall. I do not know a single answer that fits all situations. Bill

Bill, that big red seedling is amazing with its beautiful petal shape. What a shame to lose it! Did you make "back-up copies" of it? Dewaine, sheesh, I didn't think I could any more envious but I am. The Wildfire is fantastic. I ordered a rooted one last month, but the roots were pretty scanty. It started out great, leafing out after about ten days, but it's stalled and the stem is now a bit spongy and wrinkled. Still firm at the base and tips, just not growing any more. Our night temps have fallen into the 50's and 60's; I don't think it's happy with that. I keep reading how hard the reds are to root, and how cold-sensitive.

I'm going through this dilemma now; what tile to choose for a galley kitchen back-splash. So many choices. Palimpsest's post made me sit up and take notice. I'm in a 1950 cottage-ranch style home; shingled on outside with some elements from pre-WWII. The galley kitchen makes me want to keep everything simple and streamlined and uncluttered so no busy mosaics for me. I keep coming back to a running bond design either in subway tiles or square tiles. What I am wondering though is whether a mini-subway tile on mesh is easier to install than the usual 3x6 tiles. I've read that the tiles on the mesh backing often pop off and are not spaced uniformly which makes the grout off kilter.