Couldn't tell much about the bud details from the photos, but could be more like hibiscus. Second GUESS would be halberdleaf hibiscus (Hibiscus laevis) or similar rose mallow. The following link describes how to sort between the Pavonia and Hibiscus genera based on stigma count should it actually be one of these. Here's a photo of Pavonia braziliensis (hastata?) that includes a couple of the flowering buds. Initial buds produce seed without open flower (cleistogamous). Here is a link that might be useful: Distinguishing Hibiscus laevis from Pavonia braziliensis

Hi - I am originally from and moving back to central Maine - Skowhegan area. Yes - since it is lovely sunny if cool and the first blooms are blooming down here in NJ/Pa -I sometimes think it's abit nuts to head north to garden. Schneekoppe is a rugosa with white/lavender blooms - like a white flower in a shadow - lovely - also called snow pavement. I love perennials - many kinds. I love natives - and I photographed alot in my dad's woods last spring - and donated lots of food to the local mosquitos. I've also really been enjoying the tender perennials for the last few years - plants that are perennial and need to be grown for a longer period - and are of course more expensive. I often use them in the jungles I call containers. Some I've grown from seed - lots are available at nurseries (which is often where I work). Here's a list of some of my favorites plants - heavily influenced by the flower show I went to this week - my lists change daily: Peonies - I love peonies - It's the only thing I've planted in Maine so far - bought some pale singles at the CG fair last year. I will miss tree peonies! Phormium - great spikey foliage - good colors Melianthus - also great foliage - lovely serrated edges - stinky though. Coleus - I didn't like these for many years - but now I love them. Unfortunately I didn't keep my favorites over the winter this year. Clivia - I know it's not a garden plant but my orange ones are in bloom right now. I took a photo of an absolutely magnificient yellow one at the flower show to inspire my tiny little hopefully yellow one. Poppies and Irises - Almost any kind. Brunnnera, mysotis, pulmonaria - all these blue for-get-me-not relatives are lovely. I like the pink ones too. Helleborus, Hepatica, Columbines, Thalictrum, Aconitum - hmmm the whole ranunculus clan including of course Delphiniums. The blues are wonderful - and they don't love NJ at all - so I'm looking forward to having happy Delphiniums again. All right that's enough for today. What kind of gardens do you have - what colors do you like? I'm having lots of fantasies - and I have a small field and a large pile of manure - but I have to keep myself in check until I get practical things like walls and floors in my house. bye now agmss

Voodoobrew, this is the strangest Salvia. I am now getting the same kind of blooms you mention....a mix of all white, white with just a tiny spot of red on the lip, red, bicolor, what next? Maybe it will have stripes. It certainly is not consistent, is it? I am wondering if it is a seedling variation? I know it is supposed to sport some solid red and solid white when the weather heats up, but while this is interesting to say the least, it is certainly not what I expected. Susan

It's sometimes a process, rehabber46, just learning (sometimes the hard way) what to do or not do. I see it all around me, the destruction of habitat as the city encroaches on the more 'wild' part of a county. People fleeing the 'city' move into portions of the county that were basically flattened and stripped of trees and shrubs, acres of it. Makes no sense to me, to be honest. Those bare and manicured yards are often kept that way with pesticides. Heck, we don't even spray for mosquitos. We just let the bats do the job for us. Right now, my yard is covered in tons of leaves. Many people don't know this, but some 300 species of insects (butterflies, moths, native bees, etc) overwinter in leaves, many of them attached to the very things most rake, mulch, mow, and clip away. Leaving leaves on the lawn, undisturbed, means far more beautiful and beneficial insects in the coming spring, and it also means more food for the birds as well. We've planted 2 plots of garden for hummingbirds and butterflies (and bees of course), and we've also planted native shrubs (additional ones to those already out there) for birds. American Beautyberry was our most recent. We have oaks that drop an abundance of acorns, several black cherry trees, maples, pine, and tons more. Even holly is beneficial to birds. As long as it's native, it's beneficial. As they say... fresh food, water sources, and shelter (for protection against predators and nesting), and you'll be helping nature thrive. Honestly, it's a lot less yard work when the shrubs are left 'scrubby' and the leaves are left until the temps are back into the 50's consistently, when raking is less harmful to what's overwintering in those leaves. I see more and more people going for the 'cottage garden' or 'wild garden' look for both just landscape.. and even vegetable gardens. I prefer the more messy and wild gardens than the sterile landscapes of most suburbs.