Well, I ended up buying another magic carpet spirea. It's nice and moundy shaped like I wanted, but the foliage can't substitute for strawberries, so now the bed is kind of out of whack, all the leaves look the same in that area. On the flip side, having more repetition has tied the two beds on the sides of my patio more together. I think I am almost there though. Just ripping out those strawberries with their copious runners did a world of good, making the whole think look neat, tidy and low maintenance, which I think will be a good selling point. Today back at work I noticed a patch of gorgeous sedums growing with beautiful pink flowers. I'd never seen that variety before. They would have made a good subsitute, with larger leaves. I can never find good sedums at the local nurseries though, and I don't have time or inclination to mail order. Someday if I ever get a house of my own again I definately want a little sedum patch! BTW, I think these "what to plant where" posts are an important part of landscaping, expecially in a small yard like mine. Tiny, micro yard landscaping is a bit like landscaping a japanese garden. Every plant has a specific role and function in the unified whole, and it takes a lot of work to balance color, form, leaf shape, bloom times, etc. to acheive a harmonious whole. I even threw in "something edible" as a function for some of my plants. I can't think it out on paper, I have to experiment. Some areas of my garden look just right, others need some work but sadly I'll never get to them. They look good enough for the average joe. I love these plants like thyme that do double duty, or others that are multiple seasons. You really have to select plants that are versatile in this situation. I took some pics and hopefully will be able to post eventually when I have the time to process them.

Hai, Jasmine lovers. I have about 7 or 8 varities of Jasmines 3 of them in the ground and rest of them in pots. I live in San Antonio, TX which gets enough hot in summer as in India. I take care of them very well by protecting them in winter and all, my problem is that I see cluster of buds but they turn purple or brown and drop off before they bloom. even the flowers which bloom are not healthy. I feed them with slow releasing fertilizer and with super bloom during the blooming season. However, since the soil here is alkaline I add little bit of Miracid once a month.I water them as needed every two days when there is no rain the plants in the ground have automatic sprinkler which is activated 2 times week or when needed. What am I doing wrong so that they are not flowering as they used to. I used to get plenty of flowers. From past two years I am not getting flowers as I used to get. The plants look luscious and healthy. I changed potting soil and all. Some one please please help me with this. These are my babies. I had these plants from so many years.

Thanks, floral_uk. That seems like a strong possibility, though none of the flowers I'm looking at seem to open as much as Cardamine's flowers. Maybe I need to give them a few days. The plants are about 9" tall which is about the same for Cardamine. I see this Cardamine is sometimes called "Sand bittercress" which would accord with these plants growing in virtual gravel. Here are several photos I just took (some of which are virtual duplicates but they look beautiful!) I'll get a good photo of the basal leaves later today.

Suzanne, milkweeds have opposite foliage. Leaf arrangement is a helpful aid for any identification. It eliminates many possibilities with similar foliage. Not sure about E/C canadensis. The flower clusters look looser and the buds much fatter than the ones I see here.