The first one is Dianthus barbatus, Sweet William. Try comparing your second plant to Silene latifolia. Here is a link that might be useful: Google image results

Wow! That's a gorgeous shot! You work so well with the camera, Maria! Your photo albums are wonderful! I've bookmarked your page, and will go back to see more when I have a few hours of free time! LOL! It definitely has been a busy summer! And it's not over yet! I still have lots to do outdoors, not to mention taking care of all my indoor bulbs. Since I was way too afraid to allow my bulbs outdoors this spring and summer, I doubt many will bloom next spring... although, I could be surprised. I do plan on purchasing a few new ones this fall, though, so I will have winter blooms! We were going to go to the Netherlands this August to attend the wedding of a dear friend, but with gas and airline prices the way they are, we had to cancel. Airline tickets alone would have cost several thousand dollars, which we can't spare right now. I'm very disappointed, but I am going to attend the Chicagoland Orchid Festival, and even though it won't be quite the same, it will be fun. I should come away with a new orchid or two, and I have Cindee to thank for pointing me toward collecting these wonderful plants, as well as bulbs! Xuan, I doubt the Clematis pods will be anywhere near ready to ship this month, but I am watching them. I will harvest when they're ripe and hang on to them for your next family member to visit the States. In the meantime, I may be able to harvest a few other seeds for you. I will email. I'm behind on shipping out care packages, too... very shortly, I will have several types of seeds harvested and ready to ship... most are perennials from my gardens, but I know a few friends wanted to try some! As I finish getting things ready, I will let you all know what I have. Well... here's hoping the rest of the summer is fabulous for everyone! I just charged the camera batteries, and will head outside shortly to capture a few more summer blooms, so look for those sometime soon! Happy Gardening!

WOW RITA !!!!!you have some very pretty blooms again today,and by the looks of all them buds I seen in 2 of the pictures, you are going to have blooms for some time to come yet.DIMPLED CHEEKS is very pretty, and LAST REWARD, too.HARD TIMES and AUGUST FLAME, I love the colors of them, just not the form.Guess thats what is called SPIDERS?The red color is very pretty, I jst love BEAUTIFUL EDGINGS..Mine was planted and it kept looking worse and worse, till it got down to one tiny leave left,and I thought,I have to do some thing with it,as I dont want to loose it, so dug it back up and put it in a pot, poured root stimulator on it,and now it has 5 nice big fans and a nother small one coming on it too.CHINA BRIDE is a beauty.I just love it.Mine rebloomed on 3 scapes.It still has one bud left on it..Wow, That HARLANDS PRIDE is gorgeous.Thats my favorite along wirh BEAUTIFUL EDGINGS. Jean

Oh nice! Lavender is so nice to have about. Since this popped up again, I will share an update.. I was lazy and ridiculous but I bought a garden basket already planted with herbs. It looked very nice, was getting late and I wasn't sure I'd have time to plant in the morning. I added a small lavender plant to the mix they'd already planted. I tied notes to each plant re: its symbolism or folklore-- all leaning toward health, happiness, healing, etc. Parsley was the only trick one because it symbolizes death .. but thankfully I found folklore that says it was used to protect a home and ward off evil and bad luck. I didn't come up anything for the violas so I just let them be pretty. Mom was delighted ... said multilple times how thoughtful it was and how much she loved it. I also gave her a quiche and croissants. She was delighted by the croissants -- said she hadn't had them since last mother's day when I gave her an array of jams and croissants. (note to self: give mom croissants more often!) I was surprised by how much better she is doing -- huge improvement just in the last week. In fact, she spent the morning fussing with the large potted plants on the deck-- she was overdoing it but she was happy and in the sun. Thank you all for the encouragement and suggestions.