Primula:

Old hybrids.

'Kinlough Beauty'.

'Perth Sunset'.

'Wanda'

Oh my sunnyborders so many more lovely Pulmonaria! They are all wonderful but the foliage of Northern Lights really stands out. Angustifolia & 'Bertram Anderson' are so blue!

They really are promiscuous aren't they? I understand you pulling seedling to keep purity but on the other hand you could end up with some very interesting crosses.

I had ordered 'David Ward' a few years ago but they had a crop failure. I really should get more as I have only 'Mrs. Moon'. I will post it later. You & north53 have inspired me!

Edited to add: Those are beautiful Primula! I am a fan. Do yours rebloom again in the fall?

True, peren.all; I'd guess that past named cultivars typically arose as chance seedlings.

Re fall blooming with primulas: not generally. I find most evidently that Crescendo Series primulas do tend to have a minor fall reblooming. Personally, I'd rather that they not waste their energy at that late time. With continually cutting back taller perennials that have bloomed, I do keep the primulas in the low intensity fall sunlight and exposed to the fall rain.

A few more primulas.

A English type cowslip.

A Siberian cowslip.

I don't find some of the fancier types (double, 'April Rose' below) last many years.

Only have 'Miller's Crimson', (below) but the Japanese primulas bloom a bit later (late May/early June). They're candelabra types and one of the very few perennials I let seed around the garden.

The real connoisseur of Primulas is David Tomlinson (Merlin's Hollow) in Aurora, On (viz. here).

Below, Primula aurantiaca in a bog bed (which is a buried kid's paddling pool, filled with muck and water added at the beginning off the season). And it's all set in scree.

Thank you sandyslopes! You really do need Persicaria p., it makes a statement and is super low maintenance. The Platycodon are very carefree plants also.

Few things are more cheerful than a pansy! What a great mix of colours. Are they in a pot?

Your Perovskia looks deliriously happy. I am going to show mine a picture of yours and tell them to shape up lol!

Love your Abies and the Hosta (Dawn's Early Light?) is such a perfect foil for the Polemonium!

I had Pyrethrum years ago and it died out. Yours makes me want to try again. You have such a great eye for putting together the most wonderful plant combinations. I adore your garden and look forward to your Poppies, Phlox & Peonies. Phlox & Peonies could have been a separate category all on their own!

Two more beauties sunnyborders! I find that English cowslip particularly appealing. The reason I asked about fall rebloom was because I have an old Polyanthus that is covered with blooms in spring and then reblooms in fall. It is such a reliable plant.

Sometimes do see that with individual plants. I have also planted out (about May) the indoor Polyanthus primulas that they sell here at this time of year. Most don't survive, but a few do.

My experience is the same as David's (Merlin's Hollow). The survivors are overwhelmingly the white or blue flowering ones. I've seen a few of these subsequently blooming through the snow in the frozen ground in March, even before the first spring bulbs.

I particularly like the balloon flowers, Peren.all, especially the double-flowered Hakone series ones. Many herbaceous plants only last 3 to 5 years in gardens here, but I have a Fuji, in one garden, which I planted almost twenty years ago. David has still older ones at Merlin's Hollow.

Also really like the Pyrethrum (Tanacetum), Sandyslopes. In the right location they do very well here, though I've never grown them from seed. The bifid deformed flowers are quite common on mine.

I can’t wait for spring!!!!!! I love everyone’s pictures!

Phygelius

Penstemon

sunnyborders you have a lot of primula! Mine never stick around. Maybe I've tried the too fancy kind.

Thanks peren.all! That's very nice of you to say about my combinations. Coming from you that's a wonderful compliment! ...The Pansies are the first annuals I pot up for the deck while it's still cool, so for me they're a joyful reminder that spring is finally here! ....Good eye on spotting hosta DEL as a backdrop for the Polemonium.

On to the Poppies....

I have been babying a pink poppy forever but no pics yet, and I lost my white one to too much shade. But I like these frilly red-orange ones....

Papaver orientale 'Turkenlouis' (Oriental Poppy)

I've collected the seeds and started new poppies from the 'Turkenlouis', but they always turn out to be the average orange poppies. Still pretty for a bold pop of color.

Where did the garden forums list go? I clicked on my normal favorites link, but it took me to a list entitled “Explore topics” that isn’t any of the forums I normally frequent. I found this thread by doing some random searching of phrases I knew to have been recently used. Anybody know what’s going on?

Martha

Phlox

Phlox (and Roo)

Coral Sunset Peony on different days

More peonies

sunnyborders you added more lovely Primula to your post! I really like the candelabra type since the flowers stand taller. I have shied away from exploring the many species within the genus and now I truly wonder why. I could fill volumes with what I do not know about them.

Plants in general do some odd things. Your Pyrethrum is no exception. I did a cursory search but found nothing specific on the bifid deformed flowers. I sometimes see fasciated flowers & stems, mostly on dandelions and once on a Hosta.

Yes, the longevity of Platycodon is another bonus. There are short lived plants such as Delphinium that I would never be without, but the ones that last for decades are very desirable.

oursteelers you will see spring long before most of us. The snow here is well past my knees in places.

Your Phygelius is wonderful! I read that it is not seen much outside of the PNW. Lucky you to be able to grow plants that many of us can only dream about.

That Penstemon is gorgeous! Most of the western Penstemon do not do well in the east. I try very hard not to have zone envy lol!

sandyslopes 'Turkenlouis' is very beautiful and interesting! It is a deeper orange/red than the average and your seedlings. Unlike many, orange is one of my favorite colours in the garden. I especially like it with purple or blue as you have done.

I hope your pink poppy gains strength this year. What a shame you lost the white.

Martha sorry you are having trouble. Do you mean the your topics list that is normally on the left side of every Forum page? If so I can still see it. I hope someone can be of more help.

Wow oursteelers very nice selection of Phlox & Peonies! Roo looks so regal sitting in the garden. It is hard to imagine not having a garden buddy. My dog seldom misses a photo op and I believe you have another golden as well. I am sure you have had many times where a nose or tail pokes into a pic!

Great first shot of the Phlox with the dew/raindrops. All are lovely!

Coral Sunset has such delicate colouring, I really like it. The 2nd looks something like 'Do Tell' but there are so many. Whatever it is it's wonderful! All of them are. There are so many shades of pink I don't think they could ever run out of colour combos.

Peren, I did not know that about the phygelius. Both it and the penstemon can have a tendency to spread out and get big here-I was out trimming them this week.

It‘s funny about zone envy. I think everyone gets it about something.

I always wish for your snow (We get some but I would like a blizzard)all November and December long and then come January I wish for Cali heat for my roses andn tomatoes. Then come the dead of summer I wish for rain from....anywhere!!!!

Lol oursteelers I would be more than happy to send you some of our snow in Nov. Dec. Many years we do not have snow in Nov. but last year was brutal, it snowed in Oct. and stayed on the ground for a few days and that had never happened in my long memory. In early Nov. the snow came and stayed until April.

Thankfully this winter's snow started in mid Dec. I have always wished for snow to come Christmas Eve and go away just after the New Year. That is never going to happen here! There are few places on earth that are ideal.

Wishing for spring.

Some more garden phlox (Phlox paniculata): My favourite herbaceous perennial.

'Peppermint Twist' with branch mutations (right side) back to the parent 'Candy Floss'.

'Twister'

'Pink Lady' and Flame Coral.

'Delilah,

'Bright Eyes' and 'Glamour Girl' (behind).

'Watermelon Punch' and 'Pina Colada' (latter white).

Flame Purple.

'Starfire'

'Younique Old Blue'

'Nora Leigh' (variegated leaf) and 'Baby Face' (latter apparently an Arend's hybrid).

Very nice Harold, I am very fond of 'Vivid'! It is great having that shot of bright pink so late in the season when most everything else blooming has autumnal colours. It is a good one for pollinators too. If it starts taking up too much room I shovel prune it. Yours seems pretty well hemmed in at least on two sides.

It is difficult to imagine there is any foliage beneath the flowers when the Phlox blooms isn't it?

Beautiful phlox everyone! I’ve slowly been finding more hardy ones to add to my garden.

The red one is Miss Mary. I like that it is a shorter variety.

another short one is Flame Blue.

sunnyborders you have such a great collection of Phlox p.! They really are the star of the mid summer garden. You are clearly very nice to yours. I on the other hand have been rather cruel to some of mine. 'David' is perched too high on a rise with no supplemental water, it shows it's displeasure by getting powdery mildew. 'Starfire' which is another one of my favorites has had to endure Macleaya encroaching on it. I will try to get to those areas this year.

The foliage of 'Nora Leigh' is outstanding and I would want it for that reason alone.

Beautiful north53, I had not heard of 'Miss Mary' and it is very nice! I am so happy to see I am not the only one to appreciate Anaphalis. Is Anaphalis to the left of 'Miss Mary'?

What a lovely vignette your 2nd pic is! Just so attractive. I got my first shorter Phlox p. this year 'Red Riding Hood'. I hope it turns out as well as yours have!

Have said it before, but find Phlox 'Nora Leigh' the best of the variegated-leaf garden phlox that I've tried; very mildew resistant, statuesque plant and the foliage looks great for a very long time (long after our all of our other garden phlox are done for the season).

Don't see Polemonium (Jacob's ladder) above.

Polemonium reptans 'Touch of Class'.

Polemonium caeruleum 'Brise d'Anjou'.

Peony and a Pulsatilla.

sunnyborders I had a poor pic of Polemonium c. so I did not post it but sandyslopes did.

They are so exquisitely beautiful! I will simply have to admire yours but colour me green with envy.

We are only a few hundred miles apart but this illustrates the reason zone 5 is broken up into a & b. I am almost at the edge of 4b and I tried to grow 'Stairway to Heaven' I believe years ago. It struggled badly so I kept giving it a light covering of leaves & twigs before winter, one fall I just left it alone. It did not come up the following spring. No point in having a sad, straggly plant.

Peren.all, haven't had great success (if measured by longevity). with Jacob's ladder. A few individual plants survived five to ten years. An assuming that those ones particularly liked the locations in which they were planted.

Ah but what a glorious 5-10 years! I am just happy that you can grow them and share them with us.

Peren.all, yes that is anaphalis next to the phlox, though I had forgotten its name. I just call it pearly everlasting. But I’ve never been able to figure out the right time to pick them to have as an everlasting. They puff like a dandelion when they’re done blooming. I worried I’d have them growing everywhere, but that didn’t happen. They’re supposed to like sandy soil, but my clump is growing in heavy clay. Go figure.

Some Peonies

Bowl of Beauty

Duchess de Nemours

Coral Sunset - another great coral peony

???

Tom Eckhardt

north53 yes, mine are in fairly rich soil and seem fine with it. On a really dry year (because I do not water) the foliage will get a bit crispy at the base. I think good drainage helps them no matter the soil.

To dry the Anaphalis - Pearly Everlasting cut the stems before the flowers open as in the outer fully white ones in this pic. Sometimes too you can take them with the yellow showing as the centre ones are. It is a fine line but you can try some of each. You do not want too much of the yellow showing. I have taken them too late in the past and as you say they will turn into a puff. They always open a bit more after drying. Any flower for drying is best cut on a dry day around noon or early afternoon.

Sherry

Oh sandyslopes more fantastic Peonies! They are all terrific. Bowl of Beauty, another great Coral Sunset -really like that colour, Tom Eckhardt is one I don't think I have seen before and I like it very much too. You already know I like Duchesse de Nemours. I have a NOID very similar to yours that I very much enjoy.

I had thought there could not be a Peony I did not like until I saw this one Peony Peppermint Patti Is it interesting or do I dislike it. I would probably like it until it opened. Since my first reaction was ewww I am going with not liking it.

I would be curious what you all think of it

Sherry such a nice Platycodon! It seems like one of the shorter varieties. I think it looks great at the edge!

The Phlox has a really deep rich colour. It is always nice to have a name but it certainly does not diminish it's beauty. That combo is beautiful with the Daylily picking up the colour of the Phlox. Is the pink behind a Lilium? Whatever it is it is gorgeous.

I was hoping you would stop in and post your 'Painter's Pallette' in addition to these beauties. I was quite sure you had a lovely specimen!

Laurie, sadly no photos of my Painters Pallette this year, the hail storm we had here really put me off photos of my plants in the shade, so much destruction. I’m hoping for a better attitude on my part and more photos this coming season. All of the hosta pictures I have from last season were pre-hail.

I checked out Peony Peppermint Patty, looked at several photo of it. The red markings varied so much from bloom to bloom that I didn’t like it. I would prefer very bloom to have the same amount of red in each bloom, wouldn’t have it here.

Sherry

Polemonium boreal 'Heavenly Habit'

Sherry hail is about the worst thing that can happen to a garden. Thank goodness your Daylilies were unaffected! Every time you were able to post on the Hosta Alphabet I felt elated that the tree(s) spared some and when you missed letters it made me so sad thinking of the devastation.

If you wanted to post an older pic of your 'Painters Pallette' or anything else please do.

Glad to know I am not the only one to find that Peony a bit disturbing lol!

Jenn I knew you would have a glorious array of P's! Your peonies are lovely. I especially like Bartzella and was very excited to get it last year. I have admired it for years.

It is frustrating to receive the wrong colour but being an orange fan I would not have been too upset. Well actually I was upset when P. o. 'Beauty of Livermere' turned out to be orange since I had plenty.

If you have grown other Penstemon d. such as 'Husker Red' have you found it much different?

Your P. d. 'Blue Moon' looks very happy indeed and 'Peacock Cherry Red' is a standout!

Nice Pieris, is it new to your garden? Great shot of the Polemonium. I am a huge fan of all Polygonatum. They have such a quiet elegance.

'Raspberry Splash' is very attractive!

I adore the colouring of the Puschkinia. Have you found it to be aggressive so far?

Thanks, peren.all! That's a nice way of saying I'm a hopeless plant collector! ;-)

I only got one bloom on my Bartzella last year, but I am hopeful it will continue to get better each year. I love orange, too, but only have one spot in the garden where it really fits in, especially in spring, when nearly everything is pastel.

I have found Mystica much hardier and more vigorous than Penstemon 'Red Rocks' but those are the only two varieties I have tried. I just love how the bees climb right into the flowers until only their wiggly fuzzy rear ends are sticking out, honestly.

I adore Blue Moon. It may be my favorite perennial - if it would just bloom a bit longer! I have huge clumps all over from the one I started with a few years ago. The Pieris is new, but then again, so is pretty much everything in my garden!

The puschkinia was new last year, and I am rather hoping it is aggressive, since I have a huge woodland garden to fill and a small budget to do it! I suspect my squirrels will keep it in check though, as I keep catching them digging up the bulbs. Not eating them, mind. Just digging them up and leaving them to get frozen and mushy overnight.

I admit... I have been "cheating" on this alphabet thing by sorting my garden spreadsheet alphabetically. Makes it easier to search once I remember I have something. Thanks for continuing to start threads. (Although GardenHo, I hope we see you back soon!)

Lol Jenn yes it is! I can recall back when you started a relatively short time ago and you have beyond impressed us all. Gardening is clearly in the blood and you are truly gifted! We all love other hopeless plant collectors.

Good things come to those who wait they say and Peonies are a testament to that. It makes sense that they take a while to establish/bloom since they are so long lived. You must have been very excited to get your first bloom,I know I will be!

Good to hear Mystica has performed well, I have had Husker Red for years and it is very dependable.

I had a P. d. years ago and it got overrun and petered out. I feel some shame over that. It might be time to try another! I will research 'Blue Moon' since you recommend it so highly.

I always organize my pics alphabetically otherwise I could never find anything!

Thanks Jenn. Yes, I miss GardenHo and wish she had been able to finish up. It would have been too sad to see her hard work not completed. I was more than happy to step in until she hopefully returns and boots me out!

'Goldmine Improved'; have high hopes for this garden phlox, obtained and planted last June.

Have a few to contribute.

Penstemon

Platycodon

Phlox (pink in front and white David in the back)

Phlox and hummingbird moth

sunnyborders I see why you have high hopes for it! It looks like it was planted the fall before and had come up raring to go in the following spring.

Emily those are lovely Penstemon & Platycodon! After having them for so many years I can't imagine the garden without them.

'David' is so bright contrasted with the Pennisetum. That is a nice bed you have put together!

More beautiful Phlox with the added bonus of the hummingbird moth. They are certainly drawn to all the Phlox! How quiet the garden would be without these and all the other good visitors.

Thank you peren. I just love phlox and they have a gorgeous scent. I’m making some needed adjustments to that bed this year. Too many tall plants in front but I loved this view last year from our patio.