How about the evolution of one area 2010-2013? It's taken time to try to get the effect I wanted, especially because I didn't know what effect I wanted in the first place. 2010: Got rid of that lawn and the Cercis trees in 2012. 'Laguna' climber has grown to obscure a good bit of the neighbor's roof. Yay! Added a tutuer as a focal point for the axial view, but the dull green color doesn't attract the eye. Moved all the 'Jubilee Celebration's there to form a hedge. Temporary row of bell peppers in front of the roses proved quite ornamental. Dahlias and shasta daisies and 'Rozanne' this June almost stole the show from the roses... November 2013...the dahlias and daisies are done for the year, but 'Rozanne' and the roses go on and on. The eye is supposed to be drawn from the 'Rozanne's back and forth along the path up to the 'Perle d'Azur' clematis on the right side fence and then to the tuteur, which doesn't look like it in the photo but painted now the same color (in person) as the 'Rozanne' flowers. That's the theory, anyway. Now if the exact right shrubs can be found to render the rest of the neighbor's roof invisible, I will finally be satisfied. (Temporarily.) As a garden evolves, so does the gardener--or is it the other way around? And to recall 1999 again, the same area but looking in the other direction.

Funny how different our experiences can be with the same variety of rose. I had mentioned that Moore's Striped Rugosa doesn't tolerate spray, and Paul (Trospero) corrected me by saying it does. OK, MINE chemical burned from it, and I've heard others say the same thing. I smiled, too, when Sunnishine mentioned Livin' Easy & Easy Goin' being bad blackspotters. My Livin' Easy never got more than a trace of it, even growing next to a bad BS'er. Just goes to show the value of taking everyone's advice with a grain of salt. We each have particular growing conditions that can greatly effect health outcomes. And sometimes our particular plants even differ in constitution from others of the same variety. That's why its good to get as wide an array of input as possible, and even then treat none of it as gospel etched in stone. Mike

Crazy year in our yards, too. Backyard Bads Artichokes got infested with earwigs. Zucchinis mated with crook-necks to have non-descript tasting offspring. Composter didn't seem to do anything so I am thinking of getting rid of it. Too much "green" in it this year. The gardenia and hydrangea we planted in the backyard died within weeks. Backyard Goods None really. Our veggies beds seemed to have been on various radars. However our Topsy Turvey tomato planter we got did really well. Front yard Bad 75% of our front yard was torn up due to our geothermal heat install, which involved breaking off one of the larger branches of our newly installed Linden tree as well as covering up the other 25% of the yard (that we just graveled and added a fountain to) with the dirt dug up from dropping the geothermal wells. Peonies didn't bloom. Front yard Good Added a Linded tree. Finally graveled one side of the walkway and added the fountain we bought the year prior. Turned the odd corner we have into a flower bed so that people quit driving over it. The first day lillies I planted bloomed beautifully. Rhodedendron seems to like the new place we planted it much better and all the eunymous seem to finally be growing. On-going issues Trying to figure out what to do with this one are that seems to kill anything we try to plant in it.

Beth, you probably have Passiflora incarnata which is a native vine in Oklahoma (as well as many other states). There is probably some info on the Internet about sowing the seeds, but I would winter sow it - does need some stratification in order to germinate, but some say that a GA3 treatment is necessary. You can buy it at gardening centers. Some say it is difficult to grow from seed because it contains a natural growth inhibitor, and others say it is easy. When someone tells me it is difficult, then I gotta take up the challenge. I just ordered seeds so we can compare notes on our progess! I also ordered P. ceurulea, common name of Blue Crown passion flower, and will try them, too. Years ago, I bought a vine labeled "Purple Flowering Passion Vine" at Warren's (now defunct) in Midwest City. I later ID'd it 'Lavendar Lady'. It is gorgeous. Comes up late spring, but grows very fast, and produces beautiful, fragrant, purple flowers until frost. It bloomed this year until late November. Anyway, one of the parents is P. incarnata. Cuttings are extremely difficult to root, so propagation from seed is virtually the only way to reproduce this vine unless you buy one off the internet, or from a local nursery (good luck!). Prepare to be inundated by Gulf Fritillary butterflies when growing this vine, because it is their host plant. They will eat it to pieces, but they will not kill it. The ultimate reward is beautiful long winged orange butterflies with silver spots on the underwings that glisten in the sunlight. They will stay in your garden daily. Variegated Fritillaries also use this vine as a host, but are not nearly as prolific as the Gulf Frit. Try soaking your seeds a couple of days before planting them. I have also heard that this helps. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Passion Flower From Seed