As a flipperty-gibbet myself (gee, I didn't realize that was a thing, thought it was something created to describe Maria in The Sound of Music!) I must confess I can't pinpoint anything off the top of my head. But because I am anxious to see if I can make Campanula's face become twisted with that constipated look, I am going to vote for 'Hot Lips' Chelone, a plant for which I know she holds deep reverence and respect. Don't let her tell you otherwise...

As said, my most pleasant surprise this growing season has been how well the Echinacea Sombrero series cultivar Adobe Orange has shown.

Planted five Adobe Orange, along with other members of the series in our garden over the last few years; also others of the more recent coneflowers. The three Adobe Orange in optimal growing conditions have provided a mass of consistent colour, some of which is still showing today. Adobe Orange really does seem to have a high bud count, as they claim. Still to see how long-lived they can be.

Last Friday

Ooooh, that is one gorgeous colour..

Think so too, Camp. Only came to orange five to ten years ago. That's after being persuaded to use daylilies. There's also some great pink-orange flowering perennials that have come out too. Currently especially like corals (e.g. some phlox).

One on-line study of colour preferences indicates that neither yellow nor orange are usually preferred colours and preference for yellow (more clearly?) and orange also goes down with peoples' advancing age.

http://www.joehallock.com/edu/COM498/preferences.html

Really! How interesting. My preference for the lurid) has increased. Might be down to my rubbish eyesight but have a horrible suspicion that it is shucking off the requirements for good taste, discretion, modesty, responsibility...now I can be openly eccentric, risky and uncompromising - one of the huge pleasures of aging - being able to embrace the 'mad old bat' syndrome.

I have a garish (yet pleasing) combo of geum Totally Tangerine, with quite literally shocking pink callirhoes and salvia Cerro Potosi...while you are tempting me into insanity. I abandoned the tricky echies after another Tomato Soup vanished, never to return.

I lost 'Tomato Soup' too; never survived into it's second year (late spring/early summer planting).

Please don't be tempted into insanity, Camp. I think you're more of an all-rounder (better balanced?) perennial gardener than me.

Based on this gardenweb thread: can you ID my hardy purple Lantana? I decided to try Lantana 'Mozelle' and 'Chapel Hill Hardy'. They will be impressive if they prove winter hardy, growing faster than most annuals and blooming their proverbial heads off. Only drawback is the nasty odor of the foliage but you don't really notice it unless you brush against them.

Camp, after my children go to college and I retire, I fully intend to go "mad old bar" sounds so freeing!

I need to look up the names of some things and then I will be back to play later!

mmm, that look to be right up my street, David. Unless I am just not noticing, lantana only shows up over here as a tender annual/ temporary bedding plant -certainly not topping out at 3ft+. Not dissimilar to another rather good US plant, ageratum houstonianum (which tends to appear in a dwarf form, often paired with lobelia erinus). The taller, graceful species definitely appeals more to me than a snivelling little 6inch thing.

Campanula carpatica has impressed me, flowering from May and will probably do so until frost. Campanula persicifolia which blooms now also.

Annuals: Larkspur - consolida, definitely, bumblebees seem to like it as well.

Note the tactful silence I was totally unable to keep up, Lalennoxa?

I did see a well grown turtlehead doing well in a fairly dry spot this fall. I'm not a fan but this one gave me second thoughts and I might try a piece next year.

I planted a flat of orange marigolds this spring and now I'm wondering if instead of being a cutting edge designer I've just actually crossed over into the "old" category. I do have a lot more orange than ever before...

I'd have to pick two favorites this year but these were all contenders. Hope people don't mind too many pictures.

A salvia which doesn't mind shade, S. forskaohlei

Lily 'Caravan', not new but finally was around when it bloomed.

Scutellaria alpina has been blooming all summer. I'm trying all the Scutellaria seeds I can get my hands on and haven't found one yet which I dislike.

Number two favorite is a self-sown mullein which has also been flowering all summer. It's mom was white, so I don't know what happened here.

Some interesting plants there, Katob (one of the advantages of growing your own from seed). Forsskaolii has been growing away for me - a late sown handful so expect blooms next year...and yep, skullcaps have a lot to offer (as do teucriums)...and if you have a dampish place, have a look at strobilanthes wallichianum. I think you will enjoy it. I don't grow berkheya...but for a similar silvery grey flower, have a look at arctotis grandis - borderline hardy but swift into bloom - I grow it as an annual. Have you been bitten with the eryngium bug yet?

I have moth mullein, v.blattaria on my seed ordering list this year...and may add a couple more.

I did see a well grown turtlehead doing well in a fairly dry spot this fall.

It has been my experience that "chelones" dont require lots of mositure.

My White Admiral phlox, it attracts people out walking to come up my driveway for a better look.

Rooguchi clematis, started blooming in April, climbed up to top of 6 ft trellis, still blooming! 2 years old.

Fantasy petunias, came up from seed in one of last years planters I didn't get emptied last fall. Been cut down twice, and still going. I'm saving seed.

Smashing rose, there, Twros.

Sigh, I miss my Rooiguchi. I whipped it out of my little home garden and transplanted it in the woods...where it was bullied to death. Prince Charles, a replacement giftie, always looks palely loitering and wishy-washy by comparison (I would probably think it was much nicer if I had not already been spoilt).

Hardy oreganos such as hopleys are so desirable (in my lusting eyes) but so tricky in pots. I gave up on them but might try again in a sunnier part of the wood.

Prince Charles, a replacement giftie, always looks palely loitering and wishy-washy

So unlike the real PC ;).

Twros, I am intrigued by your oregano. Can you tell us a bit more about its performance for you? Is it grow taller than the advertised 4"? Do you squeeze it in where you can? Clearly it is hardy in your neck of the woods.

(Did you show us your rose when we were out last summer? ;))

Campanula and Rouge, I'm glad you like the look of the rose. It had been tucked in among hundreds of other rose seedlings and doubt it had been noticed upon your visit last summer Rouge. As for the Golden oregano, I now have it in about eight locations around the place and will probably double that, I consider it a top notch five star plant! It grows to a height of about 15 inches and enjoys a full sun exposure, it does not come true from seed, though can produce attractive seedlings similar to 'Hopley's' as mentioned by Campanula.

Another photo with my hand for scale, this plant was a large division this spring

Below is shown the dwarf ground hugging form, it struggles and tends to burn and sulk in the same conditions in which the above plant thrives. Somebody might be able to give official names to these two selections.

Now that it is the last week of October I was thinking that there could be more posts in this thread soon to happen?

Echinacea 'Tangerine Dream':

My morning glories really impressed me this year. I have a raised deck so in order to hide those ugly posts, decided to grow morning glories, took a while to get going but once they did, wow I was really impressed, plan on doing the same next year as well.

Here is a pic from the summer, ignore the blurred clutter in the background:

I planted morning glories nearly 20 years ago to hide a chicken wire fence. They didn't bloom until late summer and then I found seedlings hiding in all the crannies of the garden. Eventually I pulled them out, but even now I find an occasional seedling. That's longevity.

Here are a few that I’ve added to my (favorites) list....

Veronica ‘white wands’

Artemisia Valerie Finnis (grey)

False aster Jim Crockett with Coreopsis creme brûlée

And my all time favorite...Phlox

I normally appreciate those plants that have these features: they bloom for the most of the year and have exceptionally long season of bloom, they are fairly drought tolerant, they are not fussy and difficult to maintain, they are relatively long-lived and that they have as much wildlife interest as possible. Apart from those I already mentioned in this thread, I have my absolute winner of the year.

It's Coreopsis rosea 'Heaven's Gate'.

Although it's not among the most drought tolerant among coreopsis (the most drought tolerant of them are the verticillata or threadleaf species), it has proven to have the longest blooming period among my other corropsis perennials and also the most attractive to pollinators among others. It started to bloom in April and is continuing to November, apparently.

This photo is from 8th of July, it was in full bloom even in extreme heat.

Can't name any perennial of the year in my garden, since I'm starting over and nothing looks particularly good -- the stuff I took from my other house seems to have established, but of course nothing looks very good after surviving spring and a good part of summer in transplant pots. I really enjoyed Trollius "Golden Queen" in the spring, she bloomed her head off in her temporary pot; she went dormant over the summer, probably from lack of water (since I didn't keep up watering the pot ghetto), hopefully she's alright under there in the ground and will return vigorously next year. "Golden Alexandria" fragaria is a stellar groundcover and looked good all season, but she's not really a showy plant.

For annuals, hands down winner this year (as most years) is Salvia "Mystic Spires". I need to take cuttings today or tomorrow so I can at least get a mother plant going under the lights in the house, only one nursery around here carries this one that I'm aware of, and when they're out they're out. This salvia blooms its ever-lovin' head off all season in a gorgeous shade of rich deep purple. I just love this plant!

Second place goes to "Benary's Giant" zinnia - planted these in the vegetable garden in mixed colors (purple, scarlet, and orange), and they made me happy every time I looked at them, such a bright, uplifting, colorful display that lasted all season.

I went out to admire my 'Hot Lips' Chelone - it's one of the perennials that I have left standing because it remains so strong through the season. In fact, that is one of the reasons it ranked so highly in my "plant of the season".

It has produced copious amounts of seeds, which I am tempted to send over to Campanula to get her started on what I am sure will be her choice for plant of the season 2018...

I am hoping we can get more action in this thread now that we are in the depths of winter. I love reading about fave perennials from the most recent season.

I may have mentioned salvia 'Amistad further up thread...but looking outside my kitchen window, a single plant has been blooming continually since planting (sometime in the middle of August).

Campanula I'm excited to see you putting up pictures, next thing you know you'll be blogging.

The year wound up with the aster 'Raydon's Favorite' doing much better in its new spot

And my cardoon looking better than ever just before the freezes came and wiped it out (I don't think it will be hardy here). It was a favorite because I got to watch this guy's seed spout, the sprout take off, and then each leaf came out bigger than the last.

I'm irrationally jealous of that cardoon because I had several growing from seed two summers ago. They were doing nicely, getting freakishly big when the deer found them. Artichokes are great too, you get those weird sea anemone flowers in glow-in-the-dark purple. Alas, deer like them as much as I do.

campanula, I always love the way you "talk". It's so spirit lifting. Now then, the whole year? Never. I'd sooner tell my son I love the cat more than him. Every child is important in my garden. So how about for the last month (and that's saying something since it's a flower desert right now)? My vote for favorite--Matthiola incana, 'Katz Pink'. So simple, yet beautiful. The grey green fuzzy foliage! The fragrance! The flowers! The trifecta! But that it does this just as everything else is going to bed? She my wild after hours gal. Everyone wants to extend the seasons, but this beauty gets overlooked to fill that roll. Why? Dunno! I've been trying not to buy seeds for more since the deer fancy it as their late night snack. Grr. Can I move it to my porch and it survive? Not enough sun. Drat!

I love that colour combo - Katob - deep plum and glaucous greeny blue - it is one of my all time favourites, never fail choices - cotinus or even the dread berberis, with Jackmans rue or artemisia. The canna and perovskia make a glrious textural contrast too. Right up my street.

Oooh yes, matthiola - such an old-fashioned charmer...but will always be a timeless classic in any cottage garden, along with wallflowers..

I've been scratching my head over this topic, trying to choose a plant of the year for my garden. I think a plant of the year should be a new find, something trendy and spendy. I have no new plants. I'm old and my plants are old LOL. The new additions this year were peonies from the 1930's and Wabash iris.

The plant which was most eye catching was Sheffield, an antique mum. I have a large patch of it at the public garden and it blooms splendidly with utterly no care. 2017 was an especially good year for monarch and painted lady butterflies (and all sorts of little brown, blue and gray butterflies whom I can't name). The butterfly population peak in early fall coincided with Sheffield's bloom. The resulting butterfly cloud around Sheffield entertained garden visitors who kept asking the name of "that butterfly plant". The ones who are gardeners insisted that butterflies don't like mums so Sheffield can't be a mum.

I've been thinking of this and I really enjoyed Frit. Persica in my garden last year. I even threw good sense to the wind and bought 5 more bulbs before seeing the second year return and performance. Hope it likes to super chill.

Frit. Persica are the 3 tall purple guys below.

My plant of the year is also Salvia Amistad. Like you Suzy, it is also the first year for mine. It was in a pot but I have since planted it out. It just flowered non stop all summer and autumn, in spite of the heat waves which came one after another.

I have to give an honourable mention to Aeonium Sunburst I potted them on from their little pots into big ones and they just went POW!

....and my new Canna erebus, which flowered non stop and clashed with everything.

Daisy

Fancy that! I am not a canna fan...but found myself looking at exactly that one - 'Erebus' and thinking 'why not'? Mind, I also considered a giant C. tuerkheimii..and c.coccinea...

Lewisia 'Elise' was another fav last summer, most of these plants had given two long lasting bloom cycles. I really should get them in the ground, though they're easy to keep in a shallow container and hold over the winter in the garage and thus not be concerned about possible loses due to outdoor conditions. I ordered the seeds from the US, as it's not always easy to obtain certain things in Canada.

BullsEye Salmon geraniums were outstanding for both foliage and very long lasting individual flower heads. I've read some trial reports and grower comments that rank these among the best of all seed grown geraniums, I would tend have to agree!

I was into cannas a few years ago (again, the large foliage thing). Wondering what makes Canna erebus unique? I guess after a while the may different varieties begin to blur together for me. I actually started concentrating on ones which had unique foliage - usually variegated, or dark.

So much inspiration here. Love the aeonium. I've had that one on my Annies Annuals wishlist for at least two years and even though I don't think I'll ever splurge on the cross country postage it's always nice to dream.

I would never guess the geranium is seed grown. Nice leaves, and it looks great overall. Were the lewisia difficult from seed? I always just assumed they would be something I'd immediately kill so never even considered trying them....

Katob, the geranium had actually looked even better in person and blooms had improved rain tolerance in comparison to many of the named cutting grown varieties I've tried. As for sowing lewisia seeds, they are particular as to their needs, though are not terribly difficult. I just snapped this photo of some little guys I had started about two weeks ago, they were up and running within days! Lewisia require a sandy and lean starting mix, a rich or highly peaty medium can quickly spell the death of them and I think this is where many folks go wrong with their culture ... oh, cause this is how I had killed tons of them a few years ago and those seeds certainly hadn't been cheap either!

Oh great, now I'm looking up lewisia seeds and considering a few others to round out the order. Thanks for the info!

Yes, me too - just ordered some first year flowering Elise mix and some white lewisia tweedyii.

Grief, us gardeners are predictable!

Campanula, another Canadian garden writer was going on about her best of 2017, and she mentioned Rockin' Deep Purple Salvia. Do you know how this compares to your Amistad?

Hard to say, LaLennoxa. 'Amistad is a hybrid of guarantica(possibly) and some unknown (gesnerifolia?),and is relatively frost hardy and reliably perennial, up to Z7-8...whereas Rockin' Deep Purple is classed as annual (although that might easily mean tender perennial). Size is an issue - Amistad romped away to 4feet hogh and wide in one season whereas RDP is classed as around 2feet (60cm).

I will say that salvias are almost infallible for propagation purposes - I have yet to come across one which does not enthusiastically break from axial nodes into new roots - with no extra heat or hormones...so maybe buy one and split them for around the garden. They also look to be good container specimens...whereas Amistad would rapidly outgrow all but the biggest pots.

Amistad caused quite a stir when it was 'discovered' so, given its willingness to root, I find it hard to believe it has not made it's way into either the US or Canada. Worth looking out for.

I'd have to say that my plant of the season this year was Cuphea 'Vermillionaire'. Purchased as a small start in April, it has grown into a large specimen and has been in bloom constantly since that time. Although not looking quite as robust now as it did in August or September, it is still in bloom here in the middle of January (I'd take a pic but it is pouring down rain and I am a rain wimp!!), which impresses me no end!! And is still impressing my resident hummers as well :-))

I'd add Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow' as a runner up.........looks virtually the same 365 days of the year!!

There are many of them this year but without a doubt my award goes to the beautiful autumn perennial and in my opinion one of the most spectacular and mysterious autumn plants - Aconitum carmichaelii Arendsii.

It has been her third year in my garden and it only gets more stunning each year. It's almost 2 metres or well above 6 feet high. This year it's been flowering since the end of September and will continue to do so at least well into November as it has bunches of buds in every leaf axil all the way down. It flowers in succession so you sure have a nice display all autumn. And that is just one plant! Not only that it's elegant and trouble free all the other months out of flower with its deeply lobed dark green leaves and firmly upright and compact stem but it resists drought like nothing (never ever watered it, except when planting it) and is never bothered by any pests and diseases.

The picture can't really capture the gracefulness and elegance this plant adds to the garden. You simply must experience it. I found the tag at the base of the plant and found out it had been really costly but looking back it's worth every single pound I gave for it.

Definitely arisaema serratum var. mayebarae and dracocephalum argunense

One week later and my Aconitum is better than ever. (Still many buds left to open downside.)