Wow. Interesting thread. Since this book thread has morphed into a general conversation on garden design I just wanted to share my recent experience with hiring a garden design professional. My husband, family, & friends thought I was nuts because I have been a professional floral designer most of my life, & have all that good stuff going for me: sense of proportion, balance, texture, color, etc. However, I have been gardening in containers all my life & have been able to rearrange things as they matured or changed to create pleasing compositions. When I bought my first house & it came time to plant things in the ground, I was seized with fear. All of a sudden I realized that ultimate landscape size, and the happiness of a plant in it's permanent position was critically important. The person I hired was excellent. He liked a lot of what I had done & worked from that. He suggested shapes more than specific plants, although he had a few plant suggestions. And some of his ideas surprised me. Things I wouldn't have thought of. A lot of it was based on classic English garden design even though my yard is tiny. It was such a pleasure to plant the first tree, and wake in the morning and realize not only did I see it out the living room window but I could see it from out my bedroom's french doors. He had thought of that! And having a design plan that said "deciduous tree here up to 25' high, or tall narrow conifer here up to 12' high" left my brain free to focus on the plant that would ultimately fulfill the design goal, and thrive in it's location. When I was a floral designer I had friends who were too snobby to do funeral work. As if this momentous occasion were above them. Well good design is good design, as I think several of you have pointed out, even it's resting atop a casket. So I guess what I'm saying is good design is important but also hard. Even for those of us trained in it. And the plants do matter. Without the right plant in the right spot the design doesn't come together. And even if you think you know what you're doing it's always great to have another set of eyes.

I was on vacation, returned yesterday, happy to get so many responses to my post, and wonderful feedback. Coolplantsguy - yes, I do love peonies and heirloom plants for that matter, I just don't have the room though I admire them in my neighbors yard. The one we had toppled from the weight of the blooms, I don't know the variety, they were here when we purchased. Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider if I ever find the space again...my lawn gets smaller with each passing year. LOL. Pat, you make me chuckle. I'm like you. I spend so much time planning and thinking things through over the winter, only to find later that I don't like the combos or placement, so I plan again for next year. Some of my plant combos happened by accident & some I've followed suggestions when researching companion plants. I'm still learning how textures compliment eachother, and other things I didn't know to think about a few years back, but it's fun to learn. Summer is too short though. Prairiemoon, I also have Astilbe planted next to my Annabelle, and I enjoy the contrast of the red plumes and darker foliage with the brighter green backdrop of Annabelle. I've learned it's best to NOT fertilize it once it's established, it makes the blooms too heavy and they'll topple. Still, the rain does make them flop, but mine usually bounce back, I have one staked with a support, but it was just planted this year. I also cut my dianthus blooms back before I left for vacation, and returned to a new flush of blooms, the foliage tends to yellow on me though, I need to stop watering, I didn't realize they're drought tolerant. I forget the variety, it's got blue spiky foliage and red flowers. I will have to do more research on hellebores...we added a raised planting bed/retaining wall with a row of purple leaf sandcherries on top, and I'm looking for an underplanting in full sun; the sandcherries will be trimmed into a tree form once established. For now, I planted yellowish hostas at the base for contrast, but I know they won't do well in full sun. I'm glad to hear about Sedum Angelina, mine will be delivered some time this week, now I'm really looking forward to growing them, I just worry about our new dog, she's so rambunctious - she's a chihuahua boston terrier mix, the cutest thing, she likes to grab my plants and tug on them..I'll have to get her some more toys. I was thinking of amending my soil for the iris, adding more grit for drainage, we'll see if that works. I had one aster that bloomed for me, but it was spindly, a combo of dry soil in this area and minimal sun, but my campanula that I moved not too long ago is doing much better, must be the sun. I have to move the asters, just trying to find a location. It's funny about the Autumn Joy Sedum, my husband keeps telling me to pot them up since I can't find the 'right' place for them, I'll have to try that. I do like the blooms, very pretty, and they grow amazingly large after transplanting a single stalk, very impressive. I will try to post a pic of William Baffin rose when I have a chance..the pic is not mine as mine is only a few months new and I'm still learning how to prune them to shape, but my friend has one along their property and it's a stunner, grows upright almost like a tree canopy, and does well in our zone without protection and is disease resistant, with prolific blooms, but I know they have to trim it back regularly, it's a monster. Give me a couple of days and I'll try to post here if I can figure out photobucket. Of the climbers, I have Don Juan and Sombreuil. They died back almost to the ground, but new growth emerged in the spring, so they're still puny and it's the end of July, though I also transplanted them in early spring. We'll see next year if they do better. I purchased Smokebush 'Grace' and 'Golden Spirit' - I've read there's some potential winter die back, mine is only a month new, but I've also heard that they grow like weeds once established, so even with winter die back they'll grow like crazy. 'Golden Spirit' has new growth in a pretty lime green color and grows more upright in form whereas 'Grace' fans out. 'Grace' grows at a house up the street from us and it's just beautiful, especially with the smokey plumes. I ask my husband to slow down every time we drive by. :) Phyl in Chicagoland, I'm embarrassed to post pics. I still consider my landscaping in the beginning stages, most plants aren't mature or established yet, I've moved a lot around, still a work in progress. I had problems with photobucket last time I tried, but I'll see what I can do. I'll tell you though, do an internet search on 'Nancy J. Ondra', I came across her website when researching plants (that's where I got my iris and lemonbalm combo inspiration from) - her garden is to die for, absolutely STUNNING!!! I peruse her garden pics whenever I get the winter blues. Mxk, I was also looking at the Iris pallida but wasn't sure if it would look odd to mix these with the non variegated type. If you like the look of Jacobs Ladder, it reminds me of a shrub, Carol Mackie Daphne. Same variegated foliage, with pretty spring flowers. Connie, this is also my first year with wave petunias and I love them, I have them in hanging baskets. I've read they are self-cleaning, unlike the regular petunias, but I still deadhead here and there. I'd do them again, definitely. The foliage is also very pretty. Gabby, I used to throw tags away, but as the gardening world became more intriguing to me, I've learned to write down the names of my plants on a 'map' of my yard...LOL. Mostly in an attempt to overcome winter blahs, I also compiled a list of plants that need deadheading, cutting back, dividing, etc. so I know what to do come spring. Daylilyluvr, ok, like I said I'm an 'advanced' beginner in the gardening world, still in my learning curve. LOL. I had no idea Sweet William was a biennial. I've had it for two years now, the blooms are stunning, but this year it got all brown and ratty after blooms were spent, I chalked that up to too much watering. I cut it back and it looks like a few blooms are starting to come in again, but I had to remove old dried stems. Web says if you don't let it self seed it will shoot up more stems and act as a perennial...looks like that's what's happening for me as I likely cut back the spent blooms last year too. Crunchpa, my favorite person from the container gardening forum. LOL. I have a TON of containers this year, maybe too many. It takes me over an hour just to water everything, and that's just the containers, but I think I got overzealous and overstuffed them this time around...still, I wouldn't go without my containers, I'm hooked. I love that moss sedum, I'll have to try it. You always have the best pics. I still have dirt to cover until everything is established, I'm waiting patiently though my transplanting doesn't help either. I was looking into that red hot poker at one point, if I remember correctly I think it goes dormant mid season and then comes back again later?? Or am I thinking of something else? Pretty. I'll have to research more of the suggestions here, though I'll probably be losing more lawn in the process. :)

Jo- I planted the cucumbers around early to mid February. It was a little cold so the first batch struggled and I replaced them with these. I think I figured out the best thing to do is start really early and keep replacing them until they take. Seeds are cheap. tinael01-I don't think it is nematodes because they are in containers. Once I did have nematodes in a container of okra that was sitting on pavers. Nematodes sure love okra. Today the curly tomatoes have somewhat improved, so I have hope that it is not some dreaded virus. The tall purple flower in the second picture is larkspur. It grew from seed. I was shocked it turned out so well. I think you never know what will do well here until you try. Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Hello Hummingbird Lovers, I too have had a bully hummer (Rufous? He’s got a bright ruby throat). This guy terrorizes my other birds not just by attacking them but also by loudly chirping as the birds get near any of my 2 feeders. My other birds have shared the feeders in the past especially just before sunset for their last feeding. While they obviously don’t like to feed near each other, they seem to unpleasantly coexist. Not the bully. He is not letting any of the other birds near the feeders to a point where I don’t see my regular hummers come around at all. I’m in an Apt so I don’t have too much of a choice than spreading my two feeders as far apart as possible on the balcony. Today I decided I was going to bully the bully (am I going nuts?!). I know my other birds will feed near me so I stood in between the 2 feeders right in front of the bully and every time the bully tried to zoom in to terrorize my other birds, I’d get in front of him. He finally gave up and left the hood, probably temporarily. Immediately some of my regulars came back, still a bit scared. I feel bad doing this but I miss seeing my sweet hummers who either feed together or at least wait for each other to finish feeding before taking a turn (no joke. They do it!). Even the alpha Anna’s aren’t as mean and aggressive as the ruby throated Rufous. Im going to try placing a number single feeders around the balcony and see if that helps. I do have other flowers around me but my hummers love my nectar recipe of water mixed with organic cane sugar from Trader Joe’s. I clean and refill the feeders very 3 days whether they’re empty or not so they’re nice and fresh. I happily spoil the heck out of my sweet beloved hummers!