So glad you posted these pics. I am growing Verbascum Milkshke this year (got the seeds in a trade) and I have great germination. It's good to know it's height. I am also growing 3 types of Rose campion - fuschia, white, and angel's blush so they should should be beautiful together. I am told they are biennials and will bloom the second year, but the fuschia and white are such great re-seeders you will probably never be without them. Nice photos.

The first Prickled Petals X Ed Brown bloom was lavender, although the first picture was not very accurate in colour rendition. The second picture is very accurate as to the colour of today's bloom. We will have to see a few more blooms to see which colour will win out.

Chinch bugs like hot soil, so keeping the area cool with deep watering is key. It might need to be a little deeper next to the sidewalk and drive way. After you get them, it's different. I've never had them but I would try attracting birds to that area. Birds like bird baths and seed feeders. If you can't attract enough birds to the spot, then beneficial nematodes. I like the ones called Guardian Lawn Patrol or something like that. Company is in Colorado. Beneficial nematodes carry a disease that kills the bugs within 24 hours. Nobody tells you this but they must be applied to saturated soil. If you apply to dry soil, you just wasted your money.

Wisteria bloom season is always something we look forward to. Wisterias are marginally hardy here so we always have our fingers crossed as bloom can range from great to poor. This year has been very poor indeed so far. The last week of May is their usual bloom time. Last year was a disappointing year for the Chinese one as we did a very hard prune in 2016 to reduce its height in order to make pruning it easier. The hard prune prompted an early explosion of foliage growth in 2017. The foliage obscured the flowers. I was hoping for better things this year but, so far, we've only seen three flower racemes - hidden in the foliage. I wasn't sure if the problem was just with the pruning we did in 2016 our wisteria 'trees' or whether it was due to the yo-yo temperatures we had for an extended period in January and February this year when temperatures fluctuated rapidly between well above freezing to well below freezing, with high wind-chills too. So this afternoon we drove by a nearby property that has a large, rampant wisteria on the fence. There are not too many wisterias visible around here so I use this one as a comparison to check the relative performance of ours. That one appears to be in the same state as ours so we assume the yo-yo temperatures in Jan.-Feb. must have killed most of the flower buds! Now I'm hoping for a decent summer re-bloom.... Nearby wisteria last May: Nearby wisteria this afternoon: Our Chinese wisteria May 25 2017 - after pruning off some of the foliage! Our Chinese wisteria this afternoon: Has anyone else had this kind of wisteria year this year?!