I received 3 helianthus "lemon queen" for mother's day. Unfortunately 2 of them didn't make it, but the 3rd one did... just barely. Seems, as the plant was just taking off, a ball from over the fence broke most of it off. It has since regrown but hasn't bloomed yet. I also just received 2 replacements from the company my daughter bought the originals from and will plant them as soon as it stops raining. (I may just have to build an ark if it doesn't stop soon!) I've also acquired some Boltonia from a neighbor and bought a black sambucus. Let's see... from seed I started some perennial sunflowers and heliopsis. Most of the new perennials did pretty good this first year but I imagine they'll do even better in the coming years! In the meantime, to fill in the gaps until the perennials fill out I planted tithonia, annual sunflowers, along with scarlet runner beans. Next spring I'm going to transplant a clematis too. All in all it was a successful year keeping the little darlings at bay. They've also made friends in the neighborhood and, now that they're a little older, mom lets them go to the friends' houses so most of the time they're gone. Peace at last. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions!

Perennial mints used for culinary purposes are pretty much all invasive. We have had success keeping under control by planting it in a plastic tub that is at least 12 inches deep and burying the tub in the ground. We leave 2 inches exposed at the top. I guess you can say that lots of invasive plants can be considered weeds and their purpose as weeds is to help reclaim land. Mint is used for so many things, I can see why it is a good thing that it is invasive even though it drives us gardeners crazy sometimes!

Thanks for the warning, too late I'm afraid. They survived hurricane Ike and the freeze. One has climbed onto the porch. I barely made it out of Lowes the other day, several tried to leap into my cart but I evaded them. Tally HO!

I suspected the first one was Asian honeysuckle. It's a small shrub, and we have honeysuckle elsewhere. This one sprung up in my nursery bed. Trying to determine if the self-sown maple saplings are Norway or sugar maple to be preserved. Clearly the feral descendants of a lawn tree. Unfortunately, these shots are ones I took on a visit to the parental units Mother's Day...since I can't go out and take more until my next visit. Notice the lack of helicopters. There was a teeny, tiny bit of white sap when I pulled off the leaf, but not much. Next time I come down, what should I photograph to identify it?