Thanks rouge, it started out with 26 buds in its first flush! I have never had a more productive rose in a 3 gallon pot. And the color variation is a delight. I scored it from Lowes for $4 last fall. 😊 Now, if I could find a yellow/orange/red of similarly strong genetic makeup I would not kill 3/4 roses every year. Yes, the hydrangea is in a 10" hanging basket, trying to be purple this year. I got it as a blue one in a 6 inch pot from Trader Joe's early last spring. It didn't need a bigger pot when I checked in early spring but probably does now. I am trying to decide whether to defer it until the buds have had a chance to fully open.

diggerdee - Thanks for asking, devil's club is described here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/oplopanax_horridus.shtml It's definitely not for everybody in a home perennial garden, rather its 'horridus' thorns are lamented by hikers ! but native Alaskans and my forager friends use it medicinally - one day I will tackle peeling the stems and making a salve for my arthritis but for now I do purchase it and I think it helps :)) I love it for its architecturally reaching stems, white flowers, pure red berries that the birds love and it just grows naturally at the edges of my property. Anyway, August isn't over yet so I took a few photos recently: Enjoying the color of this geranium:

Markay, It looks like April there! This has been the worst April for the garden that I can remember. I usually have a lot of photos to post in April but not this year. And we appear to still be in a drought. Everything is dry out there and very little spring rain. And we haven't been getting out to work in the garden hardly at all. The weather has been very cool for the most part and raw some days. Twenty years ago the weather would not have kept me in the house, but that has changed. And honestly, even if I had gotten out to work in the garden more, we've barely sat outside, there's been so few nice days, yesterday being one if them, but...it was May 1st...lol. So the bulbs did come up and they looked nice enough, but not as enjoyable in a bed that didn't get the full clean up as usual. And then there is the rabbit damage.... *sigh*. I used to have a large collection of epimediums and I'm down to a half a dozen or so. And I have shrubs that I've had to cut down to the ground. Roses I've had to cut down to the ground. So...hopefully May will bring about some pleasant surprises and make up for April. :-)

Jay, i have no idea what 3/4 of your plants are! Your gardening is on an entirely different level than mine i was scrolling quickly and the photo of a blue poppy came up.I thought i was still on your post and couldnt believe you had a blue poppy as well! Then realized we would have heard about your blue poppy long ago .Going back more slowlycleared up my confusion about whose post i was reading. But wouldnt that be an accomplishment to raise a blue poppy outdoors in a Chicago climate? Notice i did not discount the possibility that you could do it. Question In the photo of the hyperion, are natcissis blooming? i was confused because the dafs are the dominant items in the photo.