Eric_oh - Nigella in Upstate NY - they bloom for about a month in midsummer (June-July), then form their balloon-shaped seed pods. They reseed freely, and their seedlings form a fuzzy green carpet in the fall, overwinter without trouble, and grow on in the spring. Their foliage and seed pods look scruffy (totally dry) by September, so I pull them out then, and sprinkle the seeds where I want them (or harvest them to share). I have three mixed borders in my yard (suburbia, but a nice little lot bordering a wooded ravine). The widest border (full shade under hemlock trees for half its lenghth) is about 12 feet deep by 75 feet long. The others are both about 9 feet deep by 30 feet long. I wish they could be deeper, but then I'd have no lawn and the kids would have no place to play, LOL - they were unhappy when I took over part of the back yard for an island bed the last two years, so I'll be shrinking that bed this year to give them a little more room. SO, the point of this is that I've had to keep the shrubs in proportion to my smaller mixed border depth. I can only dream of a border that's 30' by 90' - that's almost my entire yard, LOL! In a small yard I have different issues than if I had a large lot. For instance, I can't use a full-sized lilac by the sidewalk (it would block the line of sight down the road from the driveway - a safety issue), so I planted lilac 'Wonderblue,' a "dwarf" that should max out at 6 feet tall. Nice plant, gorgeous flowers. And, my neighbor might not appreciate having a forest planted on the property line, so I have to be respectful of her view, too. Fortunately, she likes looking at my garden, and doesn't mind the border shrubs at all. The backbone of that front border is a mix of five shrubs: a tall lilac nearest the house ('Krasavitsa Moskvy'), which I'm training to be more tree-like and vertical than bushy and spreading; a butterfly bush ('Plum Purple,' dies back most years, stays 4-6 feet tall/wide), rose of sharon 'Blue Bird' (very vertical, self seeds like mad though), philadelphus/mock orange 'Virginal' (again, more vertical than spreading), and then the 'Wonderblue' lilac by the sidewalk. In front of those is a mix of perennials and annuals: peonies, tall bearded and siberian irises, daylilies, white echinacea, a spiny acanthus, pennisetum alopecuroides, culinary sage (makes a nice shrubby, furry texture), chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China,' Stokes asters, plumbago, rose campion, nigella 'Miss Jeckyll Blue,' alyssum, sempervivums, snapdragons, a campanula (from a garden swap - hopefully it will bloom this year; it seems to be a bit invasive and might have to be moved), nicotiana 'Lime Green,' and I'm sure I've forgotten something. I wish I had a good full-length picture of the border, but it's still young - only three years old now, so it's a work in progress. (These pictures are all PD - pre-digital camera. I'll be sure to get better pictures this year.) This is the only overview picture I have of it, from May of 2005, right after heavy rain caused the retaining wall to fall over into the border - AAACCKK! It looks much better now, really. This is the shady end of the longest border. You can't see in this photo, but I've included two Kalmia (mountain laurels) that should eventually give some nice form. At the back of the border, beside the house, is a doublefile viburnum - amazing foliage and delightful flowers. Again, I'm having to manage its spread a bit - I planted it several years ago, then realized it would get wider than I anticipated. The rest of the area on the left of the path is filled with hosta, lady ferns, variegated solomon's seal, pachysandra, two rhododendrons at the back by the fence, toad lilies, lamium 'Hermann's Pride' and 'Chequers,' a dwarf fothergilla shrub, and in the summer with impatiens. I could probably have gotten away with having NO shrubs and only perennials in this area if I really wanted to, but in the winter it's a straight swatch of barren mulch without the shrubs to break it up. The front (sunny) end of the long border. It's got a backbone of rose of sharon (2), rose 'Roseraie de l'Hay,' lilacs 'Andenken an Ludwig Spaeth' and 'Blue Skies,' rose 'Blaze,' a mugo pine, and an unknown rose (I think it's rosa multiflora, planted by a bird - I have to manage it diligently to keep it in bounds, but I love the sprays of white flowers and its tiny hips). That bed includes tall bearded irises, peonies, pennisetum alopecuroides, salvia 'May Night,' sedum 'Autumn Joy,' aster 'Blue Bird,' knautia, stachys byzantina, an unknown pink aster, daylilies, thrift, geranium 'Brookside' (an incorrigible flopper/spreader, but great flowers), yarrow 'Moonlight,' echinacea, hosta 'Minuteman,' clematis 'Duchess of Albany, climbing one of the rose of sharon bushes), white valerian, alyssum, and others, underplanted with clusters of spring bulbs (daffodils, tulips, and iris reticulata). This border has the fewest annuals of any of my garden areas. The reason for the dense planting of shrubs at the back was at first practical rather than aesthetic: the heavy planting (supposedly) keeps the neighborhood kids from riding their bikes through that area in the winter. . . . Laurel

Last year the garden show had some fantastic bargans on cuttings at a number of booths and a large selection of rooted, potted, and fresh cuttings in the 15-40 dollar range at the SCPS booth. Worth the visit if you are in the area. Also Curtis at the SCPS booth is an encyclopedia of information on plumies and always willing to share. Another tip, there is a tool vendor that has some outstanding Swiss made cutting and grafting knives that work great on plumies. One other bargain is the tubers for tuberroses produce flowers that compliment plumerias and smell like heaven. I grow mine in pots between my large plumies.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Perhaps I am. Indeed, I know I am overcomplicating this. Apologies. I guess? While I appreciate your offer of help (or maybe, more precisely, the claim that you are offering help). . . let me just say that I feel as though, from your tone--you decidedly do not understand what it means to be on a fixed income and rent (e.g., not have any long-term commitment to the garden you're trying to improve). I don't have time; that's exactly it. Annuals just make more sense. It's unfortunate that I have some shade, but I have to make the most of it and figure out what works for me. I can't spend $400 on plants; I don't think I can spend $200 on plants, frankly. And then all the other stuff @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK: e.g., Hall's Honeysuckle might seem to you to be ugly and "potentially invasive,"--admittedly, it is in most places--but it decidedly is not in Portland, Oregon, from every single source I've read. And trust me, I'm thorough. I just want something that will thrive and grow quickly despite my difficult soil conditions. That's why answers like those of @einportlandor are a little more helpful, you know? "Yeah, I was broke, too, I understand how you feel... planted poppies and nasturtium and it all worked out fine!" This isn't rocket science. I just want my backyard to look nice. On the super-cheap. I don't need cutting comments for no good reason guised as "help." And to address your query re the soil; argh. I have done everything within my very limited means and power to fix the soil problems and spent approximately $700 in the past year in the wrong-headed attempt to do so: I mixed in 6" of compost 2x by double digging and excavated about 50 gallons of pebbles/rocks and a miscellany of items left by previous tenants. I created a swale and taught myself how to build a rain garden to handle what the gutters can't manage; I regraded the yard, aerated the lawn; etc. etc. This year, I decided to give up on anything more than a little patch o' grass for my dog and constructed "lasagne"-like raised beds (not supported by anything; my landlord won't let me install anything permanent, like even a floating deck, but I put down wood chips everywhere else. It's the only way that I'll anything approaching meaningful drainage (on my budget) and not spoil even moisture-friendly perennials. Forgive me; just a bit frustrated by what feeling like I've been subjected to [inexplicable] derision/passive-aggression rather than been helped. I'll back out slowly now . . . I honestly don't believe you really even want to look at photos or mappings of my garden (other than to get in something that might be helpful but will definitely be officious). I don't ever do this but this nice/mean thing sucks and I just had to respond; sorry. Thanks all.

I have a decent sized area full of echinaceas and I've had a few plants over the years have Asters yellows. Most likely from me bringing in another echincea with it. so I've been fine with just pulling the infected plant out. My father built and tended a large public garden area for 15 years and had large patches of susceptible plants. There were some infected rudbeckia that he "enjoyed the look of" and refused to remove. With that said, it doesn't seem to spread incredibly fast by any means. Mite infected plants are being sold just as much as AY plants, so you have to be careful with them too. Besides just removing the infected cones during the season, I've been seemingly successful by just clear cutting my echinacea bed to the ground earlier in the fall when the plants are looking ratty but haven't been knocked back from frosts. I then just remove all the plant debris. The mite infected cones have been reducing year by year.