#1 is Beard Tongue. I have that same plant. Very nice.

#2 is Blue Mist Spirea. I have one, but I'm not a fan.

#3 is a Cranesbill aka Hardy Geranium. A great plant. Bees love it.

Popmama, thank you so much for the quick response! Skybird, I've lurked on the Perennials forum, as well as the Shrubs forum. RMG has the warmest, most open feeling by far! Once I have an identification, I begin my research. Yes, I'm one of those! Stacks of garden books and lots of internet research.

I have just 2 more that remain a mystery. Both are woody ornamentals.

Mystery plant #4 - I am so happy to see a broad-leaved shrub. It's the only one here and almost buried underneath overgrown Potentillas. Any idea?

Mystery plant #5 - I'm thinking this might be a Viburnum, but there are so many varieties that I don't know where to begin, especially when it might not be one at all.

Most of the existing shrubs I could identify because the seller left his original landscape plan. However, there was just a notation that 50 perennials would be planted - to be determined! Since all of the shrubs are new to me, imagine my surprise when I researched Potentilla 'Gold Drop' which was supposed to be across the front of the house and in several beds and realized it looked nothing like what was actually there. What I have instead is Fallugia paradoxa, 'Apache Plume' - a very interesting shrub but almost all of them planted in the wrong place.

We live in a firewise community. The first thing we did after moving in was to have a wildfire assessment done on our property by a local Fire Marshall. It was fascinating!

We and 99% of the other homeowners here have a lot of scrub oak groves on our property. We needed to learn how to deal with this very foreign (to us) plant. I'm also learning about firewise landscaping, so as the overgrown shrubs are removed, we put in appropriate plants. That's why perennials are so important and my learning curve is steep. As I understand it, drought and wildfire risk is a recent concern in Colorado (the last 5-6 years?), so the foundation shrubs that were put in 16 years ago were entirely appropriate. Not any more, unfortunately.

Thanks to both of you for your help.

Kaye

Drought and wildfire risk has been a reality in this region since the beginning of time. However, it has been largely ignored by everyone who has arrived here from points east since William Green Russell founded Auraria in 1859. Not to mention our current management practices and attitudes towards fire has turned the entire inter-mountain region into one giant tinderbox. I better stop before I get up on that particular soapbox...

Anyways, I always tell people about historic droughts that were so severe and long lasting that the entire Front Range was nothing but sand dunes. When they talk about fires, I say "Florida has Hurricanes, Kansas has Tornadoes, the West has fires." It's just part of living here. The fact you are choosing to be aware and proactive is commendable. Many people don't, their "view" being more important than mitigating the hazard.

Good luck with the scrub oak, I'm not sure if you've seen the discussion here on RMG about it, but that is something that will require constant effort to keep under control. And I never really liked Apache plume until someone recently posted photos of theirs which they keep trimmed and they look really nice!

Will start this with the disclaimer, again, that I am not a Shrub Person! But in looking at the pics, I'd say the first one could possibly be a plain green Euonymus. I suspect there are lots of different varieties!

http://www.hedgingfromthewholesaler.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/h/hh_euonymus_japonica.jpg

Definitely wait to see what other people think, but if you come to the conclusion that that's what it is, if it's growing against a building you could have a problem! I had an 'Emerald & Gold' Euonymus here at my house when I bought it, and it was growing right against the house. When I moved in it was sprawled all over an area about 5' wide, covering up half of the steps down off of my deck and the sidewalk on the bottom. I wanted to plant perennials in the soil it was hogging--and wanted to be able to walk on the sidewalk!--so I chopped it back to just the parts that were right against the house. It had already started to do this before I moved in here, but after I cut it WAY back it started to rapidly climb up the side of my house--growing UNDER the siding, and under the shingles when it got to the top, and behind the gutters, bending them out, and, and, and.... It wrecked the siding where it was growing, and damaged other things--which really needed to be replaced anyway, but for somebody with good siding and everything else, it can do some serious damage--that you really don't notice when it's happening! So, if it's against a building, I'd recommending getting rid of it! If it's out in the open somewhere, I suspect it's gonna keep getting bigger and bigger and flopping all over the place unless you cut it back severely a couple times a year. Having said that, I don't know if all the varieties act the same or not, so possibly there are "better behaved" ones that don't try to eat houses or completely overgrow anything that's near them! Did I mention that I'm not a Bush Person!?! (But you say you're a Research Person!!!)

I'll be curious to see if somebody else thinks it's something else!

The second one, based on the couple flowers in the pic, looks like some kind of a white Spirea to me!

https://www.google.com/search?q=spirea&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiLrYCsrr_NAhWK5SYKHaCSDD8Q_AUICCgB&biw=1199&bih=815#imgrc=6OkIJf8HEQEPyM%3A

When I was a kid we had a HUGE 'Bridalwreath" Spirea in the middle of our yard, and it was quite impressive in spring! [3rd pic on the images page] That was in Illinois! I also have one (white) one here at this house--was here--and it always looks terrible! Parts are always dead and it's almost impossible to try to prune out all the dead wood! And, if left to grow unfettered, it's WAY too huge for where it was planted. I tried cutting it back "part way" a couple years, and it was always half dead and half alive, and never really bloomed enough to be "pretty!" Got tired of it a couple years ago and cut it down to the ground, thinking, either die or come back looking good! Didn't work. It came back--half dead and half alive! It will be Outta Here at some point--but I'm a perennial person and I don't have time to "bother" with shrubs, so don't know when that might happen! I don't know if the difference in climate/humidity is what makes the difference in the one "back home" and this one, or if it's something else!

For 10 or 15 years back in the 80s/90s Potentilla was THE bush to plant! EVERY new house had some! When I was at Paulino's (late 90's) they were sold to EVERYBODY--and EVERYBODY came in looking for them! Even in the pots I thought they looked half dead most of the time--tho when you found a "good looking" one that was blooming, they could be kind of pretty. But, like my Spirea, they always seemed to have "parts" of them dying off, so very few of them planted in landscapes ever looked very good. For a while they were the Go To plant to plant along medians in roads and such! That didn't last long! Now you don't see them around much anymore! So when you're planning what to put in, I recommend finding something else if you see a list or something that still recommends them. I don't know about "firewise!" I live in a very "urban" house with a very "urban" yard, and that's not something I need to worry about here. If a fire is ever big enough to get thru all the miles of other Urban Houses between me and "the country," no firewise plants are gonna help anything! Marshmallows will be the order of the day!

But it sounds like you have some good resources down there to help find the info you need to fireproof your yard and house as much as possible.

Bring on some more perennial pics!

Skybird

Skybird, you may not be a shrub person, but I think you're correct on both counts.. I didn't even think of spirea, although I did grow some in NC. I think it's Spirea nipponica 'Snowmound', based on my quick research! The other one may, indeed, be Euonymus fortunei. It hasn't spread very much at all, although it is mostly covered by yet another out of control Apache plume and and Calgary Carpet Junipers. Thanks so much!

Zach, when we had our visit form the Fire Marshall, he mentioned that firewise landscaping didn't become a 'thing' ( at least down here) until the Black Forest fire. I guess I took that to mean that wildfires weren't the threat that they are today. Thanks for helping me learn more about my new state!

Kaye

Ok, Skybird, you asked for it!

Mystery plant #1

mystery plant #2

mystery plant #3 - just beginning to bud

Thanks, This is so helpful!

Kaye

Let me give it a shot.... not an expert but my guess is #1 Russian sage #2 phlox and #3 monarda. Now, the real experts can tell me how wrong I am ;)

Does #1 have a "strong scent" when you rub your hands on it? If so I second Zach! Russian sage. If it doesn't "smell like Russian sage" (!!!), wait till it blooms and post another pic!

Does #3 have "square" stems? If so I again agree with Zach! Monarda, Bee Balm. If not, you got it, wait and post a pic of the flowers.

Number 2! Wrong Zach! [Sorry 'bout that!] That one has to be creeping baby's breath, Gypsophila repens 'Rosea'. (There's a white one too, G. r. 'Alba') It's sold as a xeric ground cover, but I don't really agree with that! Mine gets watered fairly often, so I don't really know how xeric it is, but, in my opinion, the only time it "covers any ground" is when it's blooming like yours is in the picture! For something to be a "ground cover," IMO, it needs to "root as it spreads," and the baby's breath doesn't! I've tried everything to get the stems to root (so I could give some away), tacking them down, burying them in the soil, and nothing works. The stems just lay on top of the soil--and look ratty after it's done blooming! When mine finishes blooming I cut it back to about an inch above the soil, and the basic plant hasn't gotten much bigger for me since I put it in either--nowhere near big enough to try to divide. I don't know this for sure, but if it's not cut back I kind of suspect that the stems would just get longer and longer, to the point where, like creeping phlox, you wind up with a lot of bare looking stems, but it's "too late" to try to cut it back to a "good looking" plant anymore without killing it. I love mine and think it's very pretty when it's blooming--and yours is very pretty too, so I'd say it is definitely one of the things you want to hang onto! No problems at all with it except that possibility of its getting long and leggy looking!

Didn't think of this above with #1! Russian sage, Perovskia, is also in the mint family, and also has "square" stems. One more thing to check to be sure--but the strong scent is usually the quickest and easiest thing to identify!

Also! #3! If it does turn out to be Monarda, that stuff can have a BIG problem with mildew, so that would be something for you to watch for to decide if you want to keep it or not! Can also become invasive! Something else to keep an eye on! But very unique flowers!

More???!

Skybird

2/3 aint bad, I guess LOL!

Growing monarda in full sun helps with the mildew. I have a red flowered one, Jacob Cline, that is SUPPOSEDLY somewhat resistant to PM, and last year it didn't seem to be too bad. The hummingbirds loved it last year, and I call it my "truffula" trees, so far, no lorax has appeared to speak for them, however. Anyways, it is NOT a xeric plant, it likes it's water on the regular. It has a spicy scent if you rub the leaves.

For a Non-Perennial-Person (Mr. Penstemon Person!), I think 2 out of 3 is pretty good!

And, yes, what Zach says! Bee Balm LOVES water!

Thank you both, Zach and Skybird!

Yes, #3 is definitely monarda. At the first sign of mildew, it's out of here, pretty flowers or no.

My expectations for each thing I plant are pretty high. Gardening is hard work and I expect each plant to make that effort worthwhile! So, Skybird, my Gypsophila repens may not make the cut either. It's a sweet little thing, but I either want a lot or none at all! Currently, there are 2 tiny patches of it. I've learned over the years to be somewhat ruthless in the garden!

A few things that I've identified:

Shasta daisies (don't know which cultivar)

Lavender, my guess is English lavender. It's currently getting too little sun.

Daylily Stella D'Oro, several healthy clumps

So, as all of our beds are being renovated over the next month or so, I need to move some things to a 'holding area' - 2 large stone planters on the patio. These are the ones that have to move temporarily:

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'

Lavender

Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red'

Salvia 'May Night'

Shasta daisy

Centranthus ruber, 'Jupiter's Beard' - just a couple

Can I expect failure moving any of these during the summer? I know the timing is not ideal but it has to be done. Helpful hints?

Kaye

Ok! Now I have a
whole buncha questions! This is how I
usually start out, but you were only asking what they were, nothing about
growing them until now!

Just for basic info, why are you moving them? Are you just getting them out of there so you
can “do something” to the “whole bed,” or are you changing the beds all around
and putting them in different places?
Something else?

What are your basic growing conditions? In this case this turns out to be a multiple
part question!

- What are the conditions where they are now?

- What are the conditions where they’re going to be,
eventually, replanted?

- What are the conditions in your “temporary stone planters?”

By “conditions” I mean:

- How much direct sun/bright light/shade are they getting?

- How much water are they getting, how often?

- What are the soil conditions?

- Is there mulch now—and are you planning to mulch in the
temporary or permanent locations? With
what?

Will you have full sun areas to plant in in the permanent
places? How about some shade? (so far the Geranium is the only thing you
have that prefers some shade.)

Are you hoping to make one area for all xeric things, or are
you gonna mix xeric and non-xeric together?
(Your lavender and Russian sage are definitely xeric and will do better
with very little water—tho lavender seems to be pretty adaptable.)

The most immediate question!
How “big” are your “large” stone planters? And are they in full sun, or what light
conditions do they have? As a temporary
“storage” place for in the middle of summer, that’s VERY important. “Stone” will get VERY hot in the sun, so if
it is in sun, is there any way you can shade the area to keep it, the soil, and
the plants cooler? (And if the planters are on, or surrounded by, concrete, that'll make them/the soil even hotter.)

How long are you expecting them to stay in their temporary
homes?

AND, are you willing to cut down—all the way down—things
like the Shasta daisies that will be blooming soon, if not already?

Is there a possibility you could dig them and pot them in
“large” (depending on the plant) size pots—which you could move around to
different light/heat locations as the individual plants seem to need?

You might want to consider keeping the creeping baby’s
breath for a whole year to see what you think of it for sure before you decide
to deep-six it! You’re going to want
“smaller” things in among the “bigger” things, and the baby’s breath is, in my
experience, one of the easier “low” things to grow and take care of. When it finishes blooming just gather all the
“stems” up in your hand and cut them off 1-2” above the ground. By then you’ll probably already be able to
see new growth starting in the crown of the plant. Depending on the summer, sometimes it’s
possible to get a second bloom out of it, and if that doesn’t happen, it’ll at
least grow new foliage that’ll look good the rest of the summer—to “fill in”
between some of the other plants.

Don’t know if you’ll ever plan to come to any of the swaps
or not, but if there are things you do decide to get rid of, you can stick them
in pots and hang onto them till the next swap—which is also a great place to
pick up a few new things—free—to try for yourself! There’s always somebody at the swaps who will
take almost anything—including the bee balm!
Sorry, Zach, but I agree that that’s one of the things that’s not worth
keeping if it’s getting mildew! But somebody will be glad to have it! Zack, want a new Monarda?

No way to identify the Shasta daisy for sure! Assuming it’s one of the tall ones, it’s most
likely ‘Alaska’ or ‘Becky’. ‘Alaska’ was
the “old go-to” variety of tall Shasta, and ‘Becky’ is the “newer go-to”
variety! ‘Becky’, in my experience (and
a lot of folks online agree!), has stronger stems and larger, “more perfect
looking” flowers. But I’ve seen ‘Alaska’
looking pretty good too! As always, part
of how well any individual plant does is the soil/sun/water conditions.

So! The questions
have been for us so far! Now they’re for
you!

Skybird

Wow, Skybird! Ok, here goes - by the way, except for the lavender which is being overtaken by Calgary Carpet Juniper and shaded by a plum tree (both of which are being ripped out), all of the perennials are healthy and happy.

1. The existing shrubs are being ripped out of the beds. Many of the perennials will be destroyed in the process if I don't move them temporarily. In addition to that, Rosa woodsii has suckered throughout one of the beds and is coming up in the middle of everything! There are also a few trees that were planted in the beds and removing those will certainly do some damage.

2. There is existing shredded wood mulch next to the house - definitely not firewise. This has to be removed and replaced with river rock. I can certainly use the wood mulch in the temporary planters.

3. The planting area inside the stone planters is 2ft deep by 2ft wide x 8 ft long. The walls are about 8in thick all around. They are in full sun about 6-8 hours a day. I also have a couple of large 24in square planters that can be placed in shadier areas. I will most likely be able to replant things in August.

4. The sweet little creeping baby's breath will be trampled to death if I don't remove it during this renovation. I'll try to save it!

5. I will have plenty of full sun, part sun, light shade areas to satisfy everybody. That part I'm not too concerned about. I just don't have enough experience dealing with perennials. They are a lot more trouble than shrubs!

This was my side garden in NC last June. The only perennials that I grew were peonies, hosta, liriope, and Russian sage (I should have been able to ID that!). Shrubs don't scare me at all, but I think I'm allowing Colorado gardening to scare me just a bit! So, in addition to learning about completely different shrubs, I have to incorporate many more perennials than ever before. It's going to be an exciting, educational new way to garden for me. Thank you so much for your guidance!

I definitely want to attend the fall swap. I'll be sure to pot up some bee balm!

Kaye

That helps! Now I
have a feel for what you’re doing!

I love the “irregular” pattern of how you did your NC
garden! Looks great! But you NEED more color, and when you’re able
to Make Friends with perennials, you're gonna love them too! Some people want annuals for color “because
they bloom all summer,” which perennials don’t do, but the great thing about
something that DOESN’T bloom all summer is the constantly changing patterns and
colors in your garden. There’s always
“something new” to be looking at—or anxiously waiting for! With annuals, they look the same all summer,
and after a while you don’t even “see” them anymore. Hang in there! We’ll get you hooked on perennials!

You didn’t say if you’re willing to cut everything
down—blooming or not! I’m assuming
that’s something you can do—if not, chances of digging up and transplanting
large, blooming plants at this time of the year and having them survive are
pretty low. If they’re cut down, the
“disturbed” roots don’t have so much to support, and they’re much more likely
to make it.

With your planter in full sun I would HIGHLY recommend you
get some big pots to plant things in.
Even plants that “like” full sun will struggle in the heat if they’re
dug and transplanted in the sun at this time of the year. Otherwise the size and thick walls of the
planter sound really good, but our “high altitude sun,” something you’re not
really used to yet, can do a real number on plants—AND people! With as hot and sunny as it’s been this
summer, I do think your chances of them all surviving will be less if they get
put in full sun. And even if they
survive the first move, keep in mind that just about as they’re starting to
“settle in” in the planter they’re going to be dug and moved again, and need to
survive the second move too. If they’re
already struggling from the sun/heat in the planter, that will make the second
move much more difficult to survive.

If you can put them in pots (your “couple square planters”
sound good for a couple of them), you can keep them all in part shade—out of
the hottest midday sun, and when you replant them in a couple months, they can
just be knocked out of the pots without disturbing the roots much and plopped
into the prepared hole in the ground. A
much better scenario for keeping them alive.
Without seeing them, I can’t tell, but I suspect most of them could go
in 1 or 2 gallon size pots. Some might
need something bigger, but you could also consider dividing them when you dig
them up and putting them in more than one pot—so you’d have “extra” plants to
put back in the ground when you’re ready to do it. That would keep more of them in smaller pots,
rather than possibly needing to go up to something as big as a 5-gallon if you
have some really big plants.

I’ll bring this up now—just as a heads up! Not being used to our high altitude sun, I
suspect you’re going to be inclined to overwater everything—whether you decide
to try the big planter, or in pots. You’re
going to need to tie your hands behind your back and keep them there until the
soil is AT LEAST half dry. When plants
are cut down they use far, far less water than when they have a lot of foliage,
so, even with the heat, it will probably take them a while to get sufficiently
dry to need more water. Watering in
containers is considerably more difficult than watering in the ground. A quick version of the blurb I post around
here all the time! The roots are the
most important part of the plant! Roots
need both moisture and oxygen. When the
soil is saturated, there’s no oxygen in it.
As the soil starts to dry, oxygen moves back into it, so, when it’s
“wet” there’s some, but not much, and when it half dry, there’s much more. Soil that’s “saturated” will kill (most/many)
plants very quickly. Soil that’s “wet” all the time will kill them—more slowly! When there’s no, or not enough, oxygen in the
soil the roots rot, and there is often no visible problem “above the soil”
until it’s too late! So ere on the side
of too dry! Dry plants will be very
unhappy—but they won’t die (unless you leave them get ALL the way dry—and stay
that way!) It’s important with (most)
potted plants to saturate them completely when you water them, and then not
water again until the soil is half—or more—dry.
If a plant is wilting in the heat/sun, but perks back up and looks ok
when it’s in the shade again, it’s still wet enough. (We also have plants out here, especially
some of the xeric ones, that wilt in the heat—every day—because that’s how they
“conserve moisture,” and it’s part of what makes them “xeric.” If in doubt, ask! (But if you’re asking something specific like
that, start a separate thread—which helps other people find the answers they’re
looking for.)

If any of that doesn’t make sense to you, or you need
clarification on some of it, just say so!

Try to keep as much soil attached to the roots as possible
when you dig the lavender (and the others too).
My impression is that they don’t like “being ripped out of the ground”
(dug up!) very much, and the more soil you can keep on the roots, the more
likely it is that they’ll survive. It
sounds like you have more than one plant, and if you do, the good news is that
as long as even one of them survives the double move, as soon as it blooms
again it’ll be dropping seeds all over the place and you’ll have lots more of
them!

There was one lavender plant that had already died when I
bought this house, but it had already reseeded a couple others, and here, 9
years after I bought it, you can see there are a whole bunch of them! There are even more small seedlings coming up
all over the place this year—and some of the older plants have died off, which
seems to be pretty normal for English lavender!
[My “embed” links don’t work anymore to post the actual pics since houzz
took over the forums, so you need to click on the links now to see my pics!]

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0C3JAK73XCmpHKk8L5iAysMrkJwdU94FGuazjag0pjo?feat=directlink

You didn’t mention anything about possibly having a separate
xeric area, but I highly recommend you plan to do that! Pick the hottest, sunniest spot you have, and
put your Russian sage there, and then add other xeric things that you
like. Most of my xeric plants fail
because they get watered too much—along with the other things that need more
water, and my yard doesn’t’ really have enough sun for xeric things either! [BTW, Russian sage is at least partially tap
rooted, and tap rooted plants are hard to dig up after they’re established, so
that one could be hard to successfully move.]

One other thing! When
you’re planning to start digging up the plants, water the area very well (that
means doing it slowly with our soil
out here!), and deeply enough to get to the bottom of the roots of what you’re
gonna dig up. Do it at least 24 hours
before you’re gonna be digging, so the water can completely soak in before you
start. You didn’t mention your soil,
but, assuming you have our “normal” clay, trying to dig anything up when it’s
dry or mostly dry will be almost impossible.

There are LOTS of wonderful perennials you can think about
planting! Here are just a few examples!

Black-eyed Susan

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UoPB8Du2lGbCBdBTkTaB6Q6vb2FQp28JjCT4rlaJfOg?feat=directlink

Balloon flower – the (only) short one!

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wa0kgFNoqJygVcDgNc1rjMMrkJwdU94FGuazjag0pjo?feat=directlink

Coreopsis

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/TVH02YtIyBlOqyk_CtBAXw6vb2FQp28JjCT4rlaJfOg?feat=directlink

Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Penstemon strictus

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vEfKOUo7850lTn1NWVM3aw6vb2FQp28JjCT4rlaJfOg?feat=directlink

This is ‘Becky’ Shasta daisy – two months after digging up
most of the plant, ‘cause it was getting too big, and giving a bunch of them
away at a swap!

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/YCHvrhE-Wls2BSm1Tz0PPxdSjuQv704GFYbu_rm7VB4?feat=directlink

Goldenrod (yellow) and ‘Royal Candles’ spike Veronica
(purple)

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/rIUZMmLl6sE0fwCtYTbyzwX9MxwOZmSrWFKwU5Jr3u8?feat=directlink

Here’s one of my (2) creeping baby’s breath—but, actually,
this one died a couple years back, so now I only have one! But they really are pretty little things! [Yes!
Plants die on me too—and I’ve been doing this for close to 70 years!]

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/W529oOcN1Wt5Ej99a1rdxAX9MxwOZmSrWFKwU5Jr3u8?feat=directlink

Just something to get you salivating—and wanting them enough
to knock some of the fear out of it! A
perennial garden isn’t something you put in—PERIOD! It’s an “evolution!” You try things, and if they don’t turn out
the way you expected, you either dig them up and move them, or dig them up and
give them away and try something different!
And, thru the summer, there’s always something new to catch your eye, as
other things are finishing blooming.
It’s a succession of different shapes and colors and forms—that almost
seem to have no end! Some will die! Most will make it! If something dies that you really like, you
try it again. If something dies that you
didn’t care that much about, it gives you room to try something else!

And, above all else, gardening should be fun—so relax and
enjoy it! [After you get all the hard
work you’re describing right now done!]
And don’t let “Rocky Mountain Gardening” intimidate you! Many/most of us “started” somewhere
else! I grew up in HUMID Illinois! Wouldn’t go back there for all the money in
the world! Gardening out here isn’t
“harder,” it’s just different! Just
takes a little bit of time to get your Sea Legs and get a feel for what you’re
doing. If we all can do it, YOU can do
it!

Skybird

Thank you, Skybird. I'm taking ALL of your advice. Your pictures are wonderful, by the way. I'm pretty sure my daisy is Shasta. And, I've already hit the 70 mark! Gardening keeps us young!

Kaye

LOL! I've already "hit that mark" too--but I don't think I was "productively" digging in the dirt for the first couple years! I know by the time I was 3 I was already helping to plant "the big seeds," and that was the year that, when the peas started producing, I sat down on the grass next to the "pea row" in the garden to pick and eat some--and sat on a bee! That's the first thing I remember for sure! Kind of hard to forget!!! In two weeks I'll be 73--and life keeps getting better! And gardening is definitely a big part of that!

As I said to a Ute friend--MUCH younger than me, who's just getting started veggie and perennial gardening, gardening is good for the body, it's good for the mind, and it's good for the Spirit!

Let us know when you have more questions!

Skybird

I use some annuals. I love poppies (though I can't grow them for some reason...I have a list of things that simply just don't work for me, beets, dill, poppies....) And many of the salvia's are annuals. I love salvias... Well, I love anything that does well when when grown on drought, heat, and neglect.

I would give the monarda shot, it's definitely worth it I think if it does fine for you, and it really does depend on the situation. They are really unique flowers, bumble bees like the purple/lavender colored M. fistulosa, although I have to admit, even growing in nature these plants are typically completely covered in mildew. But, I did plant two of them this year (I have a compulsion when I find native plants, especially species/"wild type"). One died, but the other one is doing well. The lady hummingbird, who is typically intermittent, is here every morning now that my Jacob Cline is blooming. Of course, she'll do the same once the Agastache's have flowered as well.

This photo is from last summer: