My experience with Russian Sage was a failure. I started a bunch of plants from seed. I had good germination and planted the seedlings in the garden to start. My garden tends to be very gravelly. They wintered okay. I donâÂÂt remember how long I left them there, but when I attempted to move them about the yard I eventually lost them all. They didnâÂÂt die outright, but took forever to come up in the spring and never reached their potential. I gave up on them. Then I tried the same thing with agastache. Seedlings actually wintered in their little cell packs. I thought that I was going to regret planting this hardy plant in my perennial bed. It was lovely but seemed so hardy. I thought it would seed all over, since it was so easy from seed. None are left! But wait, I think IâÂÂve found something that looks like it in a forgotten corner! I really think it may not be so much a hardiness issue though. If you have the right conditions for the plant, I mean the correct PH and soil type, etc. maybe youâÂÂll have success. However, IâÂÂve had the same experience of having a plant grow successfully for years then upon losing it for some reason or other, having every replacement die immediately or the first winter. Two that come to mind are monarda and sedum âÂÂAutumn JoyâÂÂ. Some of your disappointments are growing successfully in my yard, Donna. I have several clumps of veronicastrum or culverâÂÂs root doing quite well. I started them from seed. Not sure I like them yet. This should be the year to tell. Sea holly thrives in my gravelly garden. I know someone who has turtlehead growing naturally out at the lake here. But the others you mentioned, coreopsis, helenium, tiarella, IâÂÂve tried and failed with. I can add echinacia to that list. I've always wondered about that theory about single specimens being hardier than the rest. I have some plants rated zone 4 growing happily in my yard. Is it a fluke or were they just rated wrong to start with. I guess thatâÂÂs part of what makes gardening such a great hobby though. ThereâÂÂs always surprises to balance out the disappointments.

I don't have this species because I just don't have the space it needs but I would guess that your plant might want more light. The extra energy that is needed to produce such large flowers is probably just not possible in a somewhat shaded position. I don't know the light limit for this one but generally the larger species tend to climb quite high and then flower on the more exposed/brighter portions of the vine, you won't find the peduncles forming down near the base where the plant is shaded. I have read that it can take a few years to flower from a cutting but increasing the light slowly can hasten blooming. Just like orchids in nature you can find beautiful lush plants but without the proper light they may never flower, it's all a waiting game but with Hoyas like this they go to the light and when they get enough the bloom. Mike

Hi Des! This is a subject of great interest and frustration to me. Although my yard is less than 10% St. Augustine grass, that still means about 3500 sq ft. of lawn. The rest of my yard I handle in a completely organic manner. The most pesticides I use elsewhere are Bt, occasional iron phosphate granules for snail control, and recently, a little diatomaceous earth. I've tried to be completely organic with the lawn, and I come close, but fall short. No problem with fertilizers. The grass responds beautifully to once yearly soybean meal or alfalfa pellets (cheap), and a mulching mower is a must to preserve nutrients. In the late winter, early spring I sometimes use corn gluten meal (expensive) as a pre-emergent (only moderately effective IMO), and a potent fertilizer/greening agent (wow, really gets green). Recently, I filled in thin areas with a little compost, but I never have enough and it seems a waste to use it on the lawn. Weeds are not a big issue for us. We are the only ones who take care of our lawn, so our little mower never goes to other lawns to pick up weed seeds. My DH is an avid weed picker in the lawn and has done a great job in ridding almost all weeds. He's developed an incredible eye for any tiny weed that might get going! Chinch bug is where the problem lies for us. Every year around late May or sometime in June we start seeing suspicious areas. I do a chinch bug test (flooding an area with water to see if you see them scampering up the blades). Where I can prove to myself that there is a problem, I spot treat the area with a several foot margin with a product called allectus. This is in no way organic, although it seems one of the less evil choices. It is a combination of imidacloprid (what we put on our dog for flea prevention), and bifenthrin (a synthetic pyrethroid). Both chemicals are toxic to bees (better to apply it in the evening when bees are less active), and bifenthrin is toxic to fish. The application rate is very low (which I like), and the likelihood to get in the ground water is very low (good too). Last year I did well with only spot treating and only once during the summer. This summer I had less area, but ended up doing it twice. I hate using this. I keep thinking of ways I can get rid of more grass (HOA is a factor, but we also like a bit of green for us and the dog, throwing a football, etc.). There are times of the year the lawn looks pretty good (spring and fall), but right now the lawn looks kind of thin and tired. I'm sure I have other problems in it I really don't care to know about because I don't want to treat them (fungus?). It is presentable though. I look at other lawns in the neighborhood that have lawn care/ chemical services treating them on a regular, year-round basis, and some look better than ours, others look worse. I am still learning, and each year I hope I can chip away at more and more lawn. Anna

I, too, grew up in Oregon (Hood River) and feasted on blackberries, wild and domesticated. I bought some plants (Marianberries and Boisenberries) when I was up there a couple of years ago and decided to give it a try. I have not had time to pamper them but they have survived. Last year when I used 16-16-16 fertilizer on them and gave them more water they produced quite well. I have been slacking this year so they probably won't produce as well but they sure look healthy.