Hi! I would like to trade! I have some white candytuft and torenia (monkey flower) for some of your red leaf lettuce and your a-maizing sweet corn (I loved the spelling LOL!!) Maggie My e-mail is peachieq@myway.com

Last shots from September Aconitum carmichaelli Kelmscott. The tallest and latest of named cultivars. Selfsupporting. Here with Helianthus Loddon Gold. Loddon Gold is lower than Soleil d'Or and the flowers are slightly smaller, but otherwise identical. Aconitum carmichaelli The Grim Reaper. Short. Here with Rudbeckia laciniata Goldquelle Aconitum seoulense. For collectors. Less spectacular than A.carmichaelli. But it stands well in shade and the foliage looks like that of the oak trees. Helianthus , bought as Capenoch Star. I can't see any difference between this one and Morgensonne. A good plant anyway. Aster X frikartii Wunder von Stäfa. Marginally hardy for me. One division died this winter, but 3 survived. Extremely useful and beautiful plant. It must be planted in full sun, then it stands up well. I have found out that the only difference between this one and Mönch is , that Wunder can stand up, and Mönch cannot. So Mönch was sent out to the compost pile. I have found another Meconopsis cambrica still blooming Rebloom on Campanula lactiflora Superba. Another variety , Pritchard's variety, is less hardy and got nailed by the winter.The whole clump sent only two shoots, I do not know if it comes back next year. Helianthus Lemon Queen. A very good plant. Another Meconopsis cambrica. Isn't it charming? Hosta Fragrant Bouquet. After 4 years of leaves, it surprised me with flowers, opened September the 30th! It does smell nicely of lilacs. Aster Pink Star. Described as running in good conditions. Not for me. A very polite and healthy plant. Many small pink stars on nicely standing up plant. Helianthus Happy Days, semidouble. I put some champignon compost around it this year, and it literally doubled its height. Last bloom on Leucanthemum Manhattan. Very useful plant because of its late blooming time, from August on. It expands fast, but does not send those ugly runners as Becky did(thrown out!). Up to 1,5 m tall with wide branching, but standing up in normal situations. Aster amellus Sternkugel. Many small dainty flowers on robust plant. Chrysanthemum Citronella. The best yellow for me. Survived 2 killer winters without protection. Selfsupporting. Liatris scariosa alba. The only Liatris alive with me. All the others were eaten by rodents. A butterfly The only healthy and selfsupporting Aster novi-belgii. Unfortunately I have found that identity is mistaken(does not fit to any description and picture). But look at this foliage! This is foliage on Veronicastrum virginicum album, nearly 2 months after the blooming. Does it look good or what? Eupatorium Chocolate. It made flower buds, but I doubt it will bloom. It rarely does. Rudbeckia subtomentosa Henry Eilers'. Robust and healthy plant with zero garden visibility. Anybody want it? You can get it. Sedum Postman's Pride. A very good plant for me. I do not understand the bad reviews in English trials. They always write the opposite what really happens. Do not believe in them. Daylily Baronet's Badge. Very late this year A clump shot of Aster novi-angliae Andeken an Paul Gerber. Aster glehnii Aglehnii in combination with Aconitum carmichaelli and Phlox Hera. Beautiful and big flowers on Hera, but the plant is floppy. It will be replaced with something I hope you enjoy the pictures. There will be much less to talk about in October.

I have four Purple Dome asters in my garden. I started with two which grew quickly and vigorously. I split them each in half a few years back and will have more this next spring to give away. They have excellent color and no mildew and are quite stocky with thickly green stalks, different than the other asters I have had. I also have two other smallish asters Wood's Blue & Professor Kippenberg. I loved Lady in Black but it was too big and loose growing as David said. I may try his suggestion of Prince for another dark foliaged aster. I am also inundated with wild white asters (large blousy cloud-like bushes of them) in lots of places in my garden. Pretty but have to yank them out or they would overtake the world. I guess they came in with the birds, because nobody else near me ever plants a flower. My only problem with asters is the bunnies. They love love love Purple Dome, eating the outside stems down to nubs. Fortunately it is so vigorous that it doesn't hurt the display much. As for anemones I agree with Honorine Jobert as a spectacular looking fall garden plant, but I am one of those that had great difficulty establishing it in my garden. It took multiple tries to get one plant going in my garden and it took my husband digging into in the spring (thinking it was Maple seedlings) to get it to start blooming. Once it took off it was/is a great plant. Another anemone that no one has mentioned is a small one called Snowdrop anemone (A. sylvestris), a spring bloomer, that reblooms for me in the fall. It started reblooming after a few years in the garden, something I never expected and puts on a pretty little display with small blooms very similar to Honorine Jobert next to my patio. It blooms in spring just after Anemone blanda and its pretty dark green deeply lobed leaves stay in perfect mounds all season. It starts reblooming a week or two before HJ and makes a nice counterpoint to it. It's a great groundcover anemone for smallish areas.

My 2 recently purchased double Knockouts were blooming when I got them just before Thanksgiving - the freeze about 2 weeks ago (down to 19) did the blooms in, the leaves are still hanging in there. My Sheffield Pink mums, while not starting to bloom until late (Sept.-Oct.), were still trying to open the last few buds last week - another freeze (only 24!) finally did them in. Since I did almost NO watering this summer - 'thought my well was running out, but the pump was burning out instead, with much the same results, little or no water for long - so I can't really judge what might have done better. I have a semi-bushy, red salvia, which was a nameless gift, which was still flowering sporadically last week as well - I haven't been round that side of the house to look at it this week.