jannabeen - I got it last spring at the garden sale at the Montreal Botanical Gardens (through these guys (French only)). It's a hard one to find at nurseries! If you have any local ones that have a large selection of shade plants, then they might have it. Mine hasn't flowered yet, but it's only the second year I've had it. I'm hoping for a bloom next year, but even if it doesn't, I really won't mind - I got it for the foliage :-). I have another Rodgersia (R. pinnata 'Die Stolze' - you can see one of its much greener leaves next to the R. podophylla) that has orange-pink blooms, so I'm really hoping to see that one flower. I just got that one this spring though, and it's still small so it'll probably be at least another couple of years before that one sends up a flower. BP

If you want a tree, make sure you get the Tecoma stans and in tree form. There are a number of shorter shrub types (Mayan Gold or Lydia, for example) that only reach 5-6 feet in height after a few years. I had one T. stans I pruned into tree form at a former house, now mine are only shrubs. T. stans in south Orange County has reached 13' in 1.5 years from a 1.5 gal container---with pruning. I consider that quite fast growth. They bloom profusely from spring through November here, but do look ratty in the winter. Summer foliage is attractive. It is best to prune the seed pods off, but I have never had missed ones sprout more than 1-2 seedlings, if that. Goldfinches sometimes pluck the ripe pods clean for me.

I grow annuals every year, but this year summer came during spring and then we had spring! All my annuals perished in the late freezes. I didn't replant because after the reversed spring/summer, it started heating up so fast and was so dry, I was too busy just trying to keep what I had alive. A few of the marigolds made it and one cactus zinnia came back from self-seed. Lots of marigolds came back from self-seed, and the tall cosmos. I did plant Nigella and Pink Tutu. The pink Tut didn't make it. The larkspurs self-seed every years so didn't have to plant them. They were awesome this year. I have salvias - you can't kill salvias unless they are over-watered. They came up everywhere! I sowed Coventry Baby's Breath and it was lovely with the larkspurs and roses in May thru early June. I bought lots of annual seeds in March thru' April, intent on having more annuals for color, but it didn't work out for me. The tall Sensation Mix Cosmos get too tall and then flop over in my gardens. I just pulled them today, even though they were finally beginning to bloom. They were 7 feet tall and all bent over or flopped down and twisted and looked just awful. The newer varieties are shorter and work best for me, but I couldn't find any seed this year for some reason. I too love Sweet Allysum, ever since I was a child. It is like lace on a collar in the garden. The two Pentas I bought did really well. They have bloomed non-stop and still going strong. I hope they make seeds and come back volunteers next year. There are others, too - just not my usual varieties. It would have been a good year for zinnias. They do better when it is dry. I just never got around to sowing them. The garden looks so empty and lonely without them this year. So...I am just enjoying yours!

I'd start with laurels -- Japanese laurel (Aucuba japonica...likely marginally hardy for you) or English/cherry laurel, Prunus laurocerasus. Growth with these is generally fairly rapid, but will be slower in drier conditions, so irrigation to help establishment is suggested. Yews are also extremely shade and drought tolerant but with a relatively slow growth rate.