Most of the Ivy that you find at your Garden Centers will be hardy in Zone 7. Just be sure it is one of the Hedera helix cultivars and is one of the trailing types. Some cultivars form branches(side shoots at nodes), others are clumping types and grow more upright. If you want a variegated one, many have white or yellow spots, streaks, edges or centers in various patterns and leaf shapes. One of the hardiest, trailing, variegated cultivars, is 'Gold Heart'. I have seen it trailing down rock walls in mid-winter in central PA and was in good shape, although most Ivies have slightly different colors in Winter. The stems and often the foliage, will turn a pinkish, rosy hue due to freezing temperatures. Wait until last chance of frost has passed before planting new purchases outdoors, as they have been grown in greenhouses and haven't been acclimated to colder temperatures. After a growing season outdoors, they should be hardened off by first fall or winter freeze and survive the winter OK. If you want to encourage growth, use a water soluble fertilizer formulated for Tomatoes (20-20-18) or similar, at half the recommended strength. Can be applied periodically throughout the summer and early fall. Stop using when temperatures are above 90°F and after Sept., so that new growth can harden off before first frost. When grown outdoors, pests & diseases are usually not a problem on Ivy. Water regularly to prevent the soil from drying out completely. Have fun! Rb

Thanks, everyone. Sorry, I forgot to check this thread. :-) The garden is really wild right now. Tall Sunflowers are prominent. Goldfinches lover them. I have so many bees and butterflies this year. northerner, I got the ideas from some English gardening books. The authors made comments about filling the garden until no mulch is showing. I also have a lot of bulbs in the garden. In fact, each spot is planted 2-3 times. There's a problem with planting in layers, though. My bulbs have multiplied over the years. I have a hard time thinning them out for fear of damaging other plants. multi lili, Larkspur is a beautiful filler. It is a favorite that's been in my garden for over 20 years. I'm glad you like it. Yes, I noticed too that plants do bloom differently in different climate. I tried some combinations I saw in books, they didn't come out at the same time at all. My succession is a result of years of experiment. I have tried to fill in the void and get something interesting to look at 12 months of the year. Columbusgardener, I have seen Monarda volunteers, so I believe it does WS well. Would you like a start, though? I can pull them and send them for postage. I need to thin mine out. I just mailed a box to a gardening friend in Iowa. The plants arrived before the last heat wave. Lucky for her. To a lot of people, red Monarda and yellow Rudbeckia is a no no. Too gaudy for them. I love gaudy plants. lol. A favorite book is 'Flamboyant gardening'. lol. Forgot the name of the author. Another favorite book is Christopher Lloyd's Colors in the Garden or something like that. lime, I am spreading my gardening around my neighborhood now. After all these years, some neighbors have gotten used to my "crazy" gardening. Last year, I helped a neighbor across the street plant her garden. Another one received a lot of my WS seeds. This year, I litterally took over 5 neighbors' yard and gave seedlings to 3 others. I am having great time. :-)

Easy. Set up a bank of a half dozen 40 watt flourescent bulbs with mirror reflectors and gro bulbs and timer for long days.You could in fact grow them forever this way as you harvest seed and sow and restart the whole growth cycle year round. I doubt the seed need any rest period if you provide the light,soil, and water -their off... Would be fun.

Rita, I sure hope my Calif. poppies turn out looking as great as yours do. They did really well in the milk jugs, got so big, I had to open the jugs up, harden them and plant them in flowerbeds..We have had so much rain and expecting more rain at least 2 days this coming week. Today, it started out really breezy but has warmed up and I've been tying up clematis vines, planting dianthus, marigold seeds, digging up a run away ice plant and planting some gladiola bulbs..hoping the Calif. poppy's start showing signs of growing. I think they need some warm sunshine for about a week at least, as I do!