Perennials for Zone 4 Aster (Aster sp.) Astilbe (Astilbe sp.) Baby's breath (Gypsophila paniculata) Balloon flower or Chinese bellflower (Platycodon grandiflorus) Basket-of-gold (Aurinia saxatilis) Beardtongue (Penstemon) Bee balm (Monarda) Bellflower (Campanula sp.) Bergenia (Bergenia sp.) Blanket flower Bleeding heart (Dicentra) Bluestar (Amsonia) Boltonia (Boltonia asteroides) Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) Bugbane (Cimicifuga) Bugleweed (Ajuga sp.) Bugloss (Anchusa) Campion (Lychnis) Candytuft (Iberis) Cardinal flower (Lobelia) Carnation (Dianthus) Chamomile (Anthemis) Chrysanthemum Columbine (Aquilegia) Coral bells (Heuchera) hybrids Coneflower, black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) (Coreopsis grandiflora and Coreopsis verticillata)) Cranesbill (Geranium) Daylily (Hemerocallis) Delphinium (Delphinium) Fleabane (Erigeron) Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) Foxglove (Digitalis) Gas plant (Dictamnus) Gayfeather (Liatris) Globeflower (Trollius) Goatsbeard (Aruncus sp.) Golden-ray (Ligularia) Hellebore (Helleborus) Hosta (Hosta) hybrids Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) (shrub in warmer zones) Iris (Iris and Iris cristata and Iris reticulata) Lady's mantle (Alchemilla) Lamb's ears (Stachys) Leopard's-bane (Doronicum) Lily (Lilium) Lupine (Lupinus) Meadowsweet (Filipendula) Onion, flowering (Allium) Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis) Peony (Paenoia) Phlox (Phlox paniculata) Pincushion flower (Scabiosa) Poppy (Papaver) Primrose (Primula) Sage (Salvia officinalis and Perovskia atriplicifolia) Sea holly (Eryngium) Sea lavender (Limonium) Solomon's seal (Polygonatum) Speedwell (Veronica) Sunflower (Helianthus) Swordleaf (Inula ensifolia) Thrift (Armeria) Valerian (Centranthus) Valerian, red (Centranthus) Violet (Viola) Windflower (Anemone) Wormwood (Artemisia) Yarrow (Achillea) Shrubs for Zone 4 Broadleaf Evergreen Shrubs Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) Garland flower (Daphne cneorum) Inkberry (Ilex glabra), with protection Japanese Pieris (Pieris japonica) Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) Oregon Grapeholly (Mahonia aquifolium), warmer areas Pieris, Japanese (Pieris japonica), Zone 4b with protection Rhododendron(Rhododendron), some kinds Ads by Google Martha Stewart Gardening - The Martha Stewart gardening line. Available only at The Home Depot. www.homedepot.ca Gardening Zones Flowers - Search multiple engines at once for gardening zones flowers www.webcrawler.com Tropical Office Plants - Design, Installation, Maintenance Award-Winning service, Toronto/GTA www.mooreparkplantscapes.ca Deciduous Shrubs American cranberry bush (Viburnum trilobum) Azalea, Northern Lights series Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) Bottlebrush, Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis) Burning bush (Euonymus alatus) Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) Cinquefoil, bush (Potentilla fruticosa) Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster) Dogwood (Cornus) Enkianthus (Enkianthus campanulatus) Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) Fothergilla (Fothergilla) Honeysuckle (Lonicera) Hydrangea (Hydrangea), some types Korean Rhododendron (Rhododendron mucronulatum) Lilac (Syringa) Rose (Rosa) Serviceberry (Amelanchier) Silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata) Smoketree (Cotinus coggygria) in protected areas Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) Spirea (Spiraea), some kinds Staghorn Sumac (Rhus) Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) Tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima) Viburnum (Viburnum) Willow, dwarf blue-leaf Arctic (Salix purpurea) Winterberry (Ilex verticillata

hey lin ... RS is fragrant.. and all fragrant ones come from plantiginea.. and if you can ever find that one.. its 6 inch pure white flowers.. put all the other hosta flowers to shame ... plantiginea can take near full sun.. especially as far north as you are ... and you are correct in deducing that full sun is VERY important to flower production ... ALWAYS keep in mind.. that hosta are technically only SHADE TOLERANT .... and most can take a lot of sun .. presuming you are not in the deep south USA ... [the usual issue in that regard is white tissue on variegated hosta .... which burns in high heat/sun ... but that isnt you] but a big flower show is also a maturity issue... and you should see a post on this page about something like sleep/creep/leap ... which means the third year after planting.. is when we hope.. that maturity will start to hit.. and when that happens.. the flowers will follow ... i sometimes like to say the same this way .. grow the roots.. and the plant will follow.. and that would include the flowers ... and yours was growing roots last year .. you have to try real hard to not grow RS easily .... its one of those.. you will be beating back with a shovel in a few years... just have patience .... and unless you had it in a cave.. i doubt that low sun was the issue.. as much as simply giving it the year or two it needs to grow the roots ... in other words.. you are comparing the neighbors mature plant.. with a recent transplant .. and only time will make your mature ... good luck, and try to find plantiginea.. and grow it in full sun ... ken

I always love when someone brings this topic up because I get to tell my favorite removing buds story: A few summers ago a woman here at work couldn't understand when the rest of us were complaining about having tomtoes coming out of our ears because she had NONE. We asked her what she was doing... "Well, I bought the plant at Lowes," she replied "And I'm doing everything the guy told me to do. I water in the morning. I pick off any bugs. And I've been crazily picking off the buds and flowers, just like he told me... I just don't know WHY I'm not getting any tomatoes!!" Needless to say we nearly died trying to contain ourselves. No buds = no tomatoes :) I personally don't remove any buds. I don't prune. I don't fertilize. I don't remove suckers. Even though I seem to do everything (eh-hum) wrong I still get tomatoes. (I'm not a lazy gardener, I'm not a lazy gardener, I'm not a lazy gardener) They seem to thrive on neglect... Oh alright and it could be because I'm a little lazy... Good luck - Hopefully you'll hear from someone who isn't so (eh-hum) LAZY!

Over the course of the summer I have dug a couple to check. The last one was about a week ago and it was about a quarter in diameter. This set were the surviving cloves from a set of hardneck bulbs that had mostly dried out in warm storage. They had not been subject to any cooling period since they were dug in August of 2014, and all sprouted quickly when planted in June of 2015. Not one of them sent up a scape either this year, but all stand up to about 12" to 15" tall with almost no drying leaves nor has that situation changed at all for a long time. They haven't been watered either after they showed good initial growth. The real question in my mind was whether I could get large single rounds out of the small cloves. I think I can at this point but I do not know if I can get them to cure. I may have to use them green. The second question is whether they will winter from an early summer planting, which I think is likely, and then hopefully produce an increased size bulb next summer. edit: garlic almost certainly needs a rest period before it can sprout, but I do not think it needs cooling for that. What it needs cooling for is to start the blooming scape (sorta sounds like tulips doesn't it - same sort of thing IMO). I do not store my garlic cold, but rather at room temperature in a corner of the kitchen. The variety in the summer bed sends up scapes real easily when fall planted and wintered over in the ground. Even bulbils often do. But this summer bed never showed a single bolt. I intend to do this again perhaps on a larger scale depending on what this set of two dozen cloves ends up producing. So far whatever they end up doing they are all behaving very much alike, really uniform to this point.