MichiganPete site is the same as SaltCedar's description for me. But Benard's pic is definitely a daylily. Being that there are thousands of daylily cutivars, and many look similar, it would be difficult to figure out exactly which one it is. If it is a good late bloomer, that's great, name or not. Remy

Matt, Normally, the bulbs that are sold in Sept. thru Feb., maybe even longer, have been forced, or prepared to bloom within 6-8 weeks. That is a marketing thing. Most Amaryllis are sold for houseplants, not planting in the garden. Unfortunately, the 'garden amaryllis' are (I suspect) leftover houseplants. Knowing this, I always pot up the bulbs and give them protection during the winter months. After that, they can be planted in the garden. If you choose to plant them directly into the garden during winter months, you take a chance that the blooms will abort due to excessive cold. OR, they may bloom and the blooms become frost bitten. SO... As a rule of thumb, I always pot newly acquired bulbs and protect them until after the first frost, at which time they can be planted in the the garden. If you receive a bulb from a friend or family member that has been dug from the garden in the fall, then it is fine to simply plant it directly in your garden as soon as you receive it. The problem about blooming schedule only comes into play when you have received a bulb that has been 'forced' to go dormant. Once planted in the ground, they should begin blooming in early spring (depending on the variety and health/size of the bulb, every year). Does that make sense? Ann

LilyNut, they are all SO pretty! But I especially love Lillium Shocking! Very nice and I'm sure the fragrance is 'to die for'!!!

For shorter asters with late blooming, try Purple Dome or Violet Dome at around 2'. For other cascading ideas over the wall, try Saponaria ocymoides -- it can reseed, but will be less of a problem on a wall. Also look at miniature roses (aka "groundcover roses"), many of which have a creeping habit that works cascading over a wall. And some vines can cascade over a wall -- I have a Lonicera periclymenum 'Harlequin' that works well. The catmint (Nepeta fassinii) suggestion is a great one, since its foliage shoots up early, recovers quickly from cutting back after bloom, gives a second round of smaller blooms, and looks good pretty much throughout the season. Buy one plant, divide it every spring, and you're set for life! As for lilies and daylilies with your 18-inch height requirement: Asiatic lilies, Oriental lilies, and Daylilies (Hemerocallis) all have dwarf cultivars that would fit your bill. Stella d'Oro is an infamous Hemerocallis dwarf cultivar... but you can easily pick out other dwarf cultivars of lilies, for example, that fit your color schemes and height requirements by ordering bulbs to plant this fall (e.g., see Hallson Gardens at perennialnursery.com which has a variety of dwarf varieties). One other way to keep your plants within your size range is to think about pruning/cutting back strategies. The Perennial Garden book by DiSabato has extensive info on how to do this for many different flowers. By cutting back many plants by, say, half in early-to-mid-June, you can easily turn a 3' plant into a fuller 2' plant, or a 2' plant into a 18-inch one, etc. By cutting back later (e.g., early July), you can turn a late-Summer bloomer into an early-Fall one, too. The bonus of cutting back is that you'll also get fuller plants that won't require staking. (But don't cut back your lilies or daylilies!) Note that the garden mums option is also best with a few rounds of pinching! And the Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' suggestion can be shaped with pinching, too, to keep it at 18 inches or smaller... see DiSabato's book for an extensive discussion on this point.