I like to sit on my little bench and write down all of the color combo/iris that I think would look good together. Here are some combos' that I've written down. I honestly don't know if they'd look as good together as I imagine, but I guess I'll see... You can see photo's of these iris at my picturetrail album below. Marauder, Woodland Rose, Afternoon Delight, Branching Out and Pinkness. Ginger Swirl, Cable Car, Harvest Of Memories, Goldkist. Flavescens, Pocahontas, Pallida, Mexicana, a noid that resembles Honorable and another historic noid that is light and dark blue. Covet Me, Tiger Honey, Ginger Swirl. Smooth Talk, Harvest of Memories and Chantilly. Easter Bonet, Dark Yellows, Yellow/red noid, Smooth Talk. Goldish Brown noid (similar to Copper Classic), Dark or light yellows, Orange Two Tone, Brown Plicata's, Pastel Yellow seedling(similar to Jean Cayeux but lighter yellow). Smokey Lavendar seedling, Thornbird, Hello Darkness, Halloween Moon, Tiger Honey seedling (similar to Tiger Honey). Dusky Challenger, Titans Glory, Snowbrook, Stepping Out, Lee Marge, Immortality, Batik, Pocahontas. Pallida, Clarence, Yellows, Dusky Challenger, Titans Glory, Minn Mixed Up Kid. Stunning, Marauder, Black As Night, Dark Yellow. heidi Here is a link that might be useful: Picturetrail photo album

Peke, I am so happy for you! The counter is absolutely exquisite. I am just so happy that you persisted in your quest for a beautiful topping for your lovely cabs. You now have the perfect setting for your "precious".

I have been reading about lacebugs and it is a big concern here. Apparently the "hairier" leafed varieties (Impeditum??) are less susceptible. I was talking to a woman last week and she said that she has managed to keep them at bay by keeping a close watch on the leaves and washing the undersides of the leaves if she sees evidence of their presence. A rhododendron garden in Portland is using some type of sprinkler system to spray upward from underneath the leaves.

Standard lilacs get disgustingly disfigured with powdery mildew where I live - right along the upper Bay. I'd always assumed it would be a little less of a problem in most of SE PA...but not sure. Not a plant on my radar whether healthy or not. Certainly, ardore would be better off planting the special cultivars that are mildew resistant. Another less serious problem with the old patch in my yard is they are a favorite plant of European hornets to use for building nests. They don't actually build in them, they just tear up the twigs for substrate that they use elsewhere, apparently. When I had an infestation of this invasive exotic in my yard (the hornets I mean, not the lilacs LOL), they frequently hung out around them making dangerous to be near them. The one time I was stung (most painful insect sting ever) was when I wondered too close. I destroyed the colony and they haven't been a problem since.