Just got to the computer for the first time today - sorry for the hold up. I wish it was "better news" on the plant that everyone likes so much in photo 2. That lush, wonderful plant is Purple loosestrife (lythrum) and I bought it at a garden center about 5 years ago before I knew anything at all. Recently, I found out it is considered a nuisance plant -apparently does real ecological damage in wetland enviroments, crowds out other plants. Here is a piece I found just now on the web: "Commercial Sale and Regulation of Purple Loosestrife. Nurseries across the country still sell purple loosestrife as an ornamental despite its well-known impacts on wetlands. Loosestrife is promoted for use as a landscape plant and as a nectar plant in honey production. About 24 states have listed purple loosestrife as a noxious weed and prohibit its sale and distribution. Since purple loosestrife is very difficult to control once established, the best defense is to prevent its spread and to eradicate new populations as soon as possible (Stein and Flack 1996). That said - - I have NOT had any problem with this purple one at all, spreads at a slow managable rate (unlike white loosestrife, bought at the same nursery the same day that invaded everything around it and pulling it out almost sent me to my grave one summer.) I have divided the purple one only once and that clump seems very contained in its spot too. It blooms profusely and for a long time, just gorgeous next to that Echinacea white swan. I even took a little piece and added it to a planter and that did well too. But I do worry about birds carrying the seed to nearby wetlands although I've never seen any anywear when we take our Kayak out. Here is a list of what is captured on the picures (I haven't figured out how to leave space to write under them yet, but I will!) #1 - Verbena Bonariensis - - self sows.I recommend it to any gardener - it is so polite (quietly springs up between plants, nver bothering anyone!) and pretty. I also collect seed and WS and have a couple of places with thick bunches of it where I planted the seedlings.This way I can cut them all in one spot for arrangments. #2 - Loosestrife discussed above. Also the shorter gray fuzzy plants are one of my favorites. I bought the seeds from PArks in a foliage set of packs a few years ago and began saving seed. It is an annual,Plectranthus Silver shield, and it gets large and lush by summers end (3'H x 2' wide). I use it a lot in planters. I'll have seed to trade later in the fall if anyone wants to try it. #3 Agastache foeniculum Golden Jubilee - also puts out tons of seed if you'd like it. It is great in a semi -shady spot. Really brightens things up with its lime green foliage and long lasting flowers. #4 A mess of Iris (mostly Siberian) and a few lilies I have squeezed in. Stick that pole with the hanging backets in to try to get some color there as everything else is done blooming by mid summer. Need to rework this bed, it is so overgrown. Believe it or not there is even a tiny pond with a gold fish stuck in front of that huge hosta. You can see some of the rocks bordering it just to the left of the first hanging basket. Pond was hubby's idea - to me it's so small it looks silly. But they were the rage in our neighborhood a few years ago and he just had to have one! #5 Backyard bed. This was early in the season. It is an absolute jungle now. Those cleomes have been reseeding for 6 years. I will have tons of seed. Let me know if you need any. #6 WS Love lies bleeding (from a trade) - love it! With the Black eyed susans that compete with the cleome to rule the roost. And the colors aren't a great combo unfortunately. Sorting them out a bit is on my to do list! I am gloing to save seed from the LLB and try to plant a bunch of it with the Black eyed susans as I DO like that combo. #7 The last photo is all that cleome and a pot of ornamental purple millet. This millet was in the same Parks foliage mix as the silver shield and I've been collecting seeds each year as well. Love it in pots and in Large groupings in the garden beds. Hope this answers the questions you have asked! I've really enjoyed the chance to share. I am going to take pictures of the current jungle tomorrow and try to post! Nancy

Sorry it has taken me a while to get back and check in. I was out of town for work and just got home. Thanks so much everyone for the compliments. It makes me feel good, I must admit. I always seem to see what needs to be done, and sometimes forget to look at what it is! I will try to answer everyone's questions. Hope I don't miss any. In no particular order... The lilies in the "big" picture are almost all daylilies. The lilies in the close-up pictures I am not sure. Just some bulbs I picked up, probably at a big box store or the local garden center? Sorry I don't have their names. The rose pictured in the 4th picture is Morden Belle. There are actually 3 bushes planted in that bed. I hope that is the rose you meant? Yes, I do have the courtyard of roses and yes they are blooming. However, many of the roses on the fence were taken down this year due to RRD. I have planted bittersweet in their place. Won't be the beautiful flowers, but will provide privacy that won't get RRD. As you can see from the picture below, the fence is now pretty bare looking on the side. I have decided that I will try to keep the roses on the fence across the end and around the corner. The need for privacy there is not so great, as the Wine and Roses weigela in the island bed does screen most of the garden from that end. Again, thank you everyone! I am so glad you enjoyed the pictures. It does help to make the aches and pains feel better! :-) Marylu

Ewww, rats - I'm sure you'll win the war, but YICK to have them in the first place. I love the 'Silk Road' lilies. I really want to plant a bunch of oriental and asiatic lilies this fall. I had some gorgeous ember-red-orange asiatic ones called 'Avignon' at the old garden, but that variety is hard to come by now - I might have to try another similar one instead. I also had a lovely oriental called 'Bergamo,' that I think I can still find. And the "tiger" lily 'Sweet Surrender' is one of my favorites. The bulb catalogs are starting to roll in - I'll have my wish list made soon! Laurel

Good morning folks, Hope you all are having a great week. We sure had some nasty weather here Sunday afternoon. Strong winds blowing heavy rains sideways and hail. Scary stuff. Our property is waterlogged. I did get out and mowed yesterday since the temperatures for the next few days are supposed to feel like it's in the low 100's. Yikes. Thank you all for your kind comments. They really touched my heart, and helped me see my gardens through your eyes instead of my own which sometimes sees everything wrong, or I feel bad because they don't meet up to certain standards. Thank you for taking the little tour and for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it. Reading them inspired me to work in the 'secret garden' yesterday. Anna ~ Glad you and your DH enjoyed the stroll. The paths in the gardens are roll-roofing for some and the part that looks like little steps is shingle roofing. I like how that part looks too. Some of the path material we bought some we found curb-side shopping. One of these days I'll go around taking pictures of our yard art, benches, etc. Felix ~ You are welcome, glad you were inspired. That's what sharing about our gardens does, inspires. Kate ~ Thank you. It has all come together through the years and is a continual work in progress. Goldenpond ~ We found ours, 3 of them, they are hiding the down spout. :-) We love old concrete stuff and in our area we have 'found' a lot curbside. Benches, tables, columns, pots. We're getting too old to lift that stuff these days so something would have to be really special. I think the last thing we got was a 48" diameter tiled cement table top. It was broken but still together and we got the smaller broken bits to bring home and use for our outdoor solar shower floor. Loading that into the back of the wagon about did us both in. ~ I bet your benches look nice and now they can be enjoyed by you and guests. Do you have pictures? Kara ~ Thank you. We love our iron gates and trellis also. I keep working on making our place look better and feel better, and with all the rain we've had in the past two weeks, it's fuller. I will post pictures when things are in bloom again. The blue bottle bouquet is in a terra cotta pipe that I recently had to stake with two pipes on the inside because it went over, thankfully nothing broke. We had those horribly strong winds on Sunday and they stayed right where they are. :-) SaintP ~ ;-) I was going to email you but see you don't have that option in your profile. Anyway, thank you. The driveway and front gates were given to us in trade for work that DH did. The gate in the main garden, I don't even remember where we got it. We did a lot of buying at a local flea market for years, so got a LOT of stuff there, plus yard sales. I don't know about mastering the cottage garden look, organized randomness vs. chaos. I feel the gardens look pretty chaotic but am working toward a peaceful, calm look and feeling. Thanks for the encouragement. Puglvr ~ Thank you. Right now it sure is lush from all the rain we've had. Orchids are blooming, both ground and the wild vanda types, roses are starting to, seedlings are growing, and before long everything will need trimming again. One of my favorites is the Queen Crepe Myrtle and it's in bloom right now. Thonotorose ~ Ah ha, you noticed. It's been many years now since he visited and left his mark. We only found one of these though. Atreelady ~ Thank you very much. Yes, it is a labor of love. Thank you again everyone. Your words have been encouraging and inspiring. FlowerLady