This is really a great thread! I just wanted to chime in a bit. I just finished planting 140 trees on about 1 acre, and it went pretty well. I planted: 25 Common Lilac 15 Manchurian Crab 25 White Pine 32 White Spruce 10 Bur Oak 5 Paper Birch 5 Silver Maple 5 Black Cherry 5 Red Oak 5 Rugosa Rose 2 Red Maple 5 Red Pine 4 Hybrid Poplar In addition, this summer, I planted 4 larger trees... a bur oak, an Autumn Blaze Maple, a Siouxland Cottonwood, and a Red Splendor Crab It will be interesting to see how fast everything grows. The clone of Hybrid Poplar I planted can grow anywhere from 5-10 feet per year.. while the bur oak will grow at a glacial 6-18" per year over its entire life. In 1996, about 60 red pines, 10 white pines, and 10 black hills and blue spruce were planted on our land. In 2007, the tallest Red Pine is about 15 feet tall, the tallest White pine is about 12 feet tall, and the tallest spruce is 7 feet tall. Of course, these were all started from seedlings with no weed control for the first 3 years, and only mowing after that (when we moved in). We no longer mow the eastern portion of the property, where red pines are growing. There are a few clearings among the trees, and some shrubs are starting to become established. Among them are Rugosa Rose, low bush blueberry, chokecherry, and American Hazelnut. To date, not one hardwood tree has seeded. Under our deck, however, about 6 Boxelder seeds germinated, and one vigorous and desperate sapling is about 4 feet tall in its second year. I will transplant it to the edge of our property when the leaves drop... Otherwise, the land we own on a lake is already forested... and it's more of a question of management than anything. I desperately want to clear some of the underbrush (it's nearly impossible to walk through the woods here... so thick with underbrush). Between the Beaked Hazel, tree saplings, fallen logs, grass clumps, and various other shrubs, if yo'ure not tripping and trying to regain balance, you have several small branches trying to enter your head through your eye sockets. You basically have to close your eyes and bore your way through the woods with your hands in front of you, shielding your face.

Seniorita Rosalita is a Proven Winner cultivar. I think you have to buy the plants each year. But one plant becomes a nice clump. Salvia farinacea Victoria beside it. The other dwarf cleome are also Proven Winners. They were also striking, though not as dense a clump (slightly larger flowers). As I noted, someone thought it would be a good idea to pick them. While the taller cleome can be nice, they take much more room and, in my experience, soon become seedy. Seniorita has been blooming three months and is more beautiful than ever at about 26 inches.

laagarden - I have no experience with asters but balloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus) and coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' bloom the first year from seed. I grew both this year and last and both bloomed their first season. I start the seed indoors early. The balloon flower I harvested seed from my own mature plant. The coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' is a bright yellow double flowered variety I grew from seed I bought at a discount store. It produces flowers continuously right up into early November here in Z6. BTW, this will be my first year winter sowing too. Good luck!! For information on which perennials bloom the first year from seed, you could check out Dianes Flower Seeds' website. Not only is hers a Top 30 site on Dave's Garden, her plant descriptions say if the plant will bloom the first year. I ordered baptisia australis, digitalis, balloon flower, and meadow rue from her this year among others and had nearly 100% germination just growing them in starting mix in front of my south-facing window. (Note: Only the balloon flower of these bloomed this year.) She provides detailed planting instructions plus any stratification requirements. Whenever I've had a question, she's always answered in a timely manner.

Meghan From my experience it's a toss up. I've had more bad luck with them than good. I do have a couple of bushes that I bought years ago that are still flourishing. For the most part I have given up on grafted roses because for me they grow beautifuly for 3 or 4 years and then they just go down hill after that and start throwing up Doctor Huey sprouts. I have some beautiful Dr Huey specimens that I gave up on trying to dig out and decided to go with the flow with it. Trained properly they are quite beautiful!! LOL!! There are only so many Dr Huey that a person can live with. I now only buy own root roses. Maybe it's just me!! LOL!!