I would love to trade you some bee balm for some umbrella plants.The bee balm is either hot pink,purple or red.I have all the same colors growing in one area because the hummers seems to love all of the color combos,lol.Let me know and thanks for reading.

What i notice most native gardeners miss?...water.They all ignore any water feature that takes the same research they put into plantings. Would be great to see a native stream/creek reproduction with native water plants.Native dace instead of goldfish. And a good excuse to include lush moss and ferns. Outside of the Japanese garden not much use of the lower plants. imo.

Thanks for your responses, you two. I appreciate your helping me. Never visited Arrowhead Alpines. I used to go to school in East Lansing and now am in Saginaw. I took a look at the sites you recommended and I was a little overwhelmed by all the cultivated varieties available. I generally prefer wildtype varieties or cultivated varieties that have been around for a long time. This year I may depend on the generosity of friends and family for plant starts and cuttings - turn about is fair play, right? I don't want to spend a lot of money. Happy Monday! Joe

I can really relate to this woman - I live on a 1/8 acre suburban lot, just one block from a subway stop in a close-in suburb, and I've ripped out nearly all the grass and replaced it with a mix of native and non-native perennials, shrubs, and trees with just grass paths inbetween - my garden is also NWF certified. I'm sure there are some people who hate my garden, but when I am out working in the front yard I get nothing but positive, unsolicited comments from the pedestrians who pass by. But I do make an effort to keep it fairly neat, and I live in an area where all the houses are older, a bit funky, and there is no HOA....we have a tolerant live-and-let-live attitude here, but there are other parts of my town that are HOA restricted and my type of gardening would probably be prohibited. There are some towns near me in suburban Maryland (Takoma Park and Greenbelt come to mind) where the towns actually ENCOURAGE the 1/8 acre suburban lot owners to take out their front and back lawns and plant natives and xeriscapes. There are entire blocks in Takoma Park, MD where everyone has done this and it's just beautiful to walk down those streets in any season. If they keep hassling here, perhaps this lady should move to another area where the neighbors think more like she does...