Shari, I have caryopteris Longwood Blue--I can't stop it, every place a branch touches the ground it roots a new plant. I cut it to the ground every year and it does great. It is on a hillside so the soil drains. The same with Homestead purple verbena, I give TONS of it away and I have been transplanting it around my yard. It will overtake ME if I stand in one place long enough! :-D It is real simple to grow. Don't cut back the plant until at least March, the dead stuff helps it overwinter. I cutback my caryopteris the same time. I confess, I can't grow zinnias. Mine always look sick. I know they don't like overhead watering. But I have tried them in pots too and they still look sick.

My favorite fragrant house plant is a small shrub, Murraya paniculata, which has a great orange blossum fragrance and it is apt to bloom several times a year. If you have a window that gets sunlight, it is what I recomend. It would do best if you did put it out for the summer (in a semi-shaded spot) but that is true of most house plants. Do you have any idea why the jasmine did not thrive? Perhaps too much sun or too little time for it to make the adjustment to outdoor conditions? Understanding what went wrong would help alot with your next plant. Wishing you great success --- Jerry

Stevia can be quite temperamental. It can die in what seems like perfect conditions for no reason at all except to spite you. Its saving grace is that sometimes it only pretends to die and will resurrect - sometimes taking up to a year to make up its mind to do it - so if that happens to you, don't give up on it, but keep giving the occasional drink to an apparently dead plant! Certainly, it will die (or die right back) if you allow it to flower. It's not a particularly fast grower, is very slow to get going in fact, and it doesn't spread. I've never, ever had any luck propagating from my plant, though I've tried many times, using seed I've collected and cuttings. The plant is climatically suited to climates from temperate to sub-tropical where temperatures range between 21-43C, with an average of 24°C, but it will also grow in the tropics, where it prefers shade and will also grow in cold climates with winter protection. Plants in the ground have been noted to take minimal frosts. It's dormant in winter and often loses its leaves, even here in the subtropics, which shows that it's really happiest in warmer climates. It likes regular water, but won't tolerate water-logged conditions. It can be a gangly plant, so it's a good idea to stake it to begin with, or to plant several plants close together. Once it's older, it can stand up quite nicely. In short - theoretically it should be an easy plant to grow, but in practice it presents quite a challenge. More detail (the theory part of it!): Propagate by seeds or by tip cuttings taken in summer, or root division in spring. Seeds are notoriously infertile and slow to germinate. Flowering usually occurs 54-104 days after transplanting. Plants in the ground have been noted to take minimal frosts. It is a somewhat temperamental plant and may be slow to grow at first. Even in ideal conditions, it is not uncommon for plants to die suddenly or to lose their leaves. As long as the roots are alive, the plant may regrow. Poor, loose, well drained soil is recommended. The plants need to be well-mulched so that surface feeder roots do not dry out. For gardeners in cold climates, it is recommended that plants be started in large pots so that the pot can be moved to a warm verandah in winter. In cold climates, the plant may go dormant to the ground. As stevia does not over-winter outdoors in freezing conditions, the roots are lifted in autumn and stored indoors in perlite or sand and then set outside again in spring. Stevia requires regular watering in dry periods but has poor tolerance to long waterlogging or to saline water or soils. In its natural habitat, the plant occurs naturally on acid soils of 4-5 pH but will grow well on soils up to 9 pH. Leaf yields can be increased with a moderate application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers. Plants also respond well to liquid seaweed as a foliage spray applied fortnightly. As soon as the plant flowers, the leaf production slows down, so it is an advantage to nip off flower buds, to encourage further leaf development. If the plant is left to flower, the tip leaves take on a slightly bitter overtone. Plant will die if left go to flower, so it should be cut back repeatedly to prevent flowering.

Thank you all - I am back to the drawing board, I only wanted to do tulips because my 8 year daugther has loved them since she was a toddler and this was to be "her" flowerbed. I am not to worried about critters, i have a completely fenced in yard, and a dog :) things that are silly enough to come in, do not usally get back out! ( ekk!) thank you again, i will start looking at flowers more now, as the weather warms up. Maintence free / easy care to me would be not having to "dead head" , not have a ton of bees or ants, and be able to tolerate once or twice a week watering ~ i grow mostly veggies and i would like to water then entire garden at the same time. (more often mid summer) thank you again! Tina