Oleg, I spend little time on GardenWeb during the outdoor garden season, which is brief and busy here. When the weather cools and the outdoor garden is dormant, I come back. I spend the long, dark, cold winter catching up, reading new posts, and tending to the indoor portion of my garden. So I am just reading this thread now, and admiring the wonderful photos. I still don't have a camera but I enjoy looking at the photos everyone else shares. And I enjoy reading your posts. I bought a package of two Nerine bowdenii bulbs this spring and one is blooming now on the windowsill. So since my first Nerine was a success, now I'm wondering about Lycoris aurea. Oleg, you said yours is indoors. Please tell me more. Is care similar to Hippeastrum and Nerine? How big does the plant get? What size pot does it need?

My Professor Von Klippenberg, from a few years ago. This picture was taken in 2010, and that was the last year it looked this good! I don't know why, the plant itself keeps hanging on, but it is actually a bit smaller now then it was then, and while it has lots of buds, its flowers seem to get a little later every year. I had another New York aster that was quite a bright pink, and it bloomed beautifully for a couple of years, but it has had the same fate as the Professor: I still have it, but it keeps getting smaller and the frost gets most of its blooms. I LOVE the way they look, but I probably won't plant anymore since it appears I need to replace them regularly. I guess the same goes for Mum's...mine usually only do well for 2 years or so. As far as fall color goes, I mainly enjoy different colors of foliage in the fall. All of my roses turn wonderful colors; rich yellows, oranges, reds and burgundy. I have grasses, daylilies which turn yellow, the dark greens of dwarf conifers, the light blue of my globe blue spruce, etc. My peonies foliage turns a nice burgundy-ish color, and I have a couple of different spirea and ninebarks which are very pretty this time of year. Almost no flowers, though!

This flower bulb we give to you, So you may watch it grow. Your business we appreciate, Just wanted you to know.

If you know that pansies will make good growth before the onset of winter - think in terms of a 15cm/6" spread for each. Sometimes, though, they Sit and fail to make any reasonable growth before the onset of spring. The T-a-T's bullied their way through established Calendulas a few weeks back, and the forget-me-nots, so pansies wouldn't slow them, IMO. Perhaps pure-colour 'Violas' would establish better, or the small flowered varieties.