Dear Anna and all, Gosh...I'm afraid to post anything anymore. I was so excited about getting my last bulbs of the season, and in such great shape...and with my 2 bulbs that were "surprises" as per the website...I had no idea that someone's feelings would be hurt. Anna, I'll be happy to share some Germa babies when they get roots! Sales happen all the time and usually I'm the one that shops on Tuesday and the big sale is announced on Wednesday. In their emails, I think (I'm not sure) that RC was letting people know that the end of the shipping season is fast approaching. I can't defend their timing of the addition of the surprise bulb(s) for an order of a certain size. For once I got lucky...and again, I'll send you Germa babies if it's possible to send them to Canada. Sigh..... Kristi

Same with my plant - red flowers are 'leftovers' from being outside, light pink are new, since plant has been brought in. It is in best sun I can provide - unobstructed south-facing windows. Still not enough... But I still like them. This COT is getting too tall, there are 3 stems, tallest one is 48" from the soil to top of the flowers. I would like to shorten it up, but not sure about cutting it. And it flowers non stop. Rina

I'm on my first year with my garden, but so far my strategy has been to pick flowers with a loooonnnnnngggggg bloom time. If the flowers last only a month, forget it! Here are some of the plants that have been blooming for months on end: Lupines -- yep, still blooming, even with my halfhearted deadheading 6 Hills Giant Nepeta May Night Salvia Roses Dollar Princess Fuchsia (I'm really hoping this is hardy in my microclimate!) Zonal Geraniums Snapdragon The lupines and snapdragons are going downhill now after a whole season of continuous blooming, but I've got dahlias and hydrangeas to continue the show. If you're going for a strictly herbaceous perennial border then this approach might not work so well, but I'm sure you can still find plants that will bloom a long time and still have something closer to an actual cottage garden. I think next year I might skip the geraniums (I got them this year because I just wanted some color, fast!) but the snapdragons have been such workhorses that I plan to winter sow lots of them for next year. I suppose I could care more about what the garden will look like come winter, but really? At my latitude in winter it's still dark when I leave for work and dark again by the time I come home, and I don't really care to be outside on weekends either when the skies are almost permanently covered with low dark clouds. I'd rather have masses of blooms all spring and summer.

I have also gotten some new colors in the last week or so. Mostly thanks to my daylilies, bee balms, and glads. I have a gorgeous Shepherd's Purse daylily. It has large, fluffy, white flowers. It is a young plant with only one flower spike. It should really look nice in a few years, when it fills out. I also have a lot of Crimson Pirate daylilies blooming, with their dark, slender flower petals. We tried nanus glads this year. they are supposed to be winter hardy. The blooms aren't quite as big and showy as normal glads, but they have some neat colors. Most of them are shades of red, pink, and white, with dark centers. Between the Stella and Penny's Worth daylilies, Coreopsis's, primroses, and daffodils; we have so much yellow in the spring and early summer. We do have some tulips, hyacinths, spiderworts, and other flowers of varied colors, but the yellows seem to dominate. My wife has said "no more yellow flowers" for a couple of years now. I bought her a Sterling rose for mother's day, and it has added another great color to the garden. I know some people like theme gardens, that focus on one color. But I find many colors much more interesting. Even if it doesn't have a theme, or flow to it, you just enjoy going out every day to see what has bloomed. James