OK everybody, blowsy is a term I picked up from reading english gardening books. I take it to mean big pretty flowers -- like the kind you see in all of those english cottage garden books. you've all given me some really lovely choices -- GGG, many of the plants on your list are also on the list of deer in my neighborhood. I'd love to grow asters, but that's on their list right after roses. And bulbs are absolutely a no-no in my garden -- the voles have an absolute field day with any bulb I plant. Silly me, I planted out 50 different alliums last fall -- and by spring there wasn't one bulb left. Not one. Nell, love your suggestion for a shrub. it will be a mixed border, and I'd forgotten about putting in shrubs. great, great idea! vikki, i have many nepetas in my garden already (even a pink one!). so i'm looking for something a little different. but you're on the right track with that suggestion -- the deer hate nepeta. Maybe an agastache would work! I also received an offline suggestion for onethera -- the pink one. I absolutely love this plant and it does great in my garden. Another great suggestion for a plant that I'd forgotten about. By-the-by, I'm in zone 8 too -- california. i *may* post a picture of the bed once it's planted. although i may wait until next season when things are bigger. Can someone write me offline and tell me how to post a large picture. I'e only ever been able to post a thumb nail. thanx again everybody -- happy gardening.

That's funny "flowers", and the answer is, my "Gold Regal", greatly reduced to fit my head in a way to allow room for any of the others. I even had to reduce the "Blue Angel" considerably. My suggestion, only plant "mini's" in your scalp in order to have the room for the most possible varieties! John, you flatter me, but thank you just the same! I just have more "time" on my hands, lately, to learn how to "play" with these things! It really is not as difficult as some may imagine! What I do have, is a big imagination, and sometimes that is helpful in "coming up" with the ideas! However, Andrea and Jed did the work this time, in giving me the idea--I just had to put it together!!:O) janice BTW, Ken--I'm afraid the Hosta Journal might think this too "silly" for their magazine--but, thanks for thinking they might like to have it! Only certain kind of hosta-folk could bear with it, I'm afraid! LOL

The thing with yellow is that it "blows up" the more surface area it covers, am I right? I wanted my cabinets to "read" BM Fresh Butter. To do that, I could not actually paint them that color. You really have to Ignore the chip colors almost entirely and be prepared to pick a dirty yellow/more brown than seems advisable color. For me, that came down to Vellum. I also looked at BM Goldfinch, but it was just a bit too brown even "blown up." In the bright sunlight, the sink base cabinets really do read BM Fresh Butter to me, until I hold the chip up to them. Then, they don't. Yellow is the hardest color - also because the color takes several coats (often) to fully develop (so its a pain to swatch it). The cabinet color was the hardest part of my kitchen plan. When you see my mood board at the final reveal, you'll still see the Fresh Butter strip :-). I couldn't let it go (and the Vellum strip is just "meh").

gmom74, that is one hardy rose bush, and, yes, the thorns are horrid, but the rose is so beautiful. I've talked to a lady in Canada who grows it, don't know how it does in warmer climates. I always coveted the Lady Banks rose, which is a beautiful yellow one that spreads all over the place, but it is not hardy in my zone, it is for your zone. I guess you could try and see. They couldn't look worse than mine look right now after we transplanted them and they suffered severe setback. They are starting to put out new leaves even on the one plant that looked like it was a total goner. They are a once-bloomer, so if you could find something similar for your zone that blooms for a longer period, I think you might be happier with it. And I learned when I asked questions about it that it is only one r, named after the Harison who found it, patented or propagated it originally.