I was on vacation, returned yesterday, happy to get so many responses to my post, and wonderful feedback. Coolplantsguy - yes, I do love peonies and heirloom plants for that matter, I just don't have the room though I admire them in my neighbors yard. The one we had toppled from the weight of the blooms, I don't know the variety, they were here when we purchased. Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider if I ever find the space again...my lawn gets smaller with each passing year. LOL. Pat, you make me chuckle. I'm like you. I spend so much time planning and thinking things through over the winter, only to find later that I don't like the combos or placement, so I plan again for next year. Some of my plant combos happened by accident & some I've followed suggestions when researching companion plants. I'm still learning how textures compliment eachother, and other things I didn't know to think about a few years back, but it's fun to learn. Summer is too short though. Prairiemoon, I also have Astilbe planted next to my Annabelle, and I enjoy the contrast of the red plumes and darker foliage with the brighter green backdrop of Annabelle. I've learned it's best to NOT fertilize it once it's established, it makes the blooms too heavy and they'll topple. Still, the rain does make them flop, but mine usually bounce back, I have one staked with a support, but it was just planted this year. I also cut my dianthus blooms back before I left for vacation, and returned to a new flush of blooms, the foliage tends to yellow on me though, I need to stop watering, I didn't realize they're drought tolerant. I forget the variety, it's got blue spiky foliage and red flowers. I will have to do more research on hellebores...we added a raised planting bed/retaining wall with a row of purple leaf sandcherries on top, and I'm looking for an underplanting in full sun; the sandcherries will be trimmed into a tree form once established. For now, I planted yellowish hostas at the base for contrast, but I know they won't do well in full sun. I'm glad to hear about Sedum Angelina, mine will be delivered some time this week, now I'm really looking forward to growing them, I just worry about our new dog, she's so rambunctious - she's a chihuahua boston terrier mix, the cutest thing, she likes to grab my plants and tug on them..I'll have to get her some more toys. I was thinking of amending my soil for the iris, adding more grit for drainage, we'll see if that works. I had one aster that bloomed for me, but it was spindly, a combo of dry soil in this area and minimal sun, but my campanula that I moved not too long ago is doing much better, must be the sun. I have to move the asters, just trying to find a location. It's funny about the Autumn Joy Sedum, my husband keeps telling me to pot them up since I can't find the 'right' place for them, I'll have to try that. I do like the blooms, very pretty, and they grow amazingly large after transplanting a single stalk, very impressive. I will try to post a pic of William Baffin rose when I have a chance..the pic is not mine as mine is only a few months new and I'm still learning how to prune them to shape, but my friend has one along their property and it's a stunner, grows upright almost like a tree canopy, and does well in our zone without protection and is disease resistant, with prolific blooms, but I know they have to trim it back regularly, it's a monster. Give me a couple of days and I'll try to post here if I can figure out photobucket. Of the climbers, I have Don Juan and Sombreuil. They died back almost to the ground, but new growth emerged in the spring, so they're still puny and it's the end of July, though I also transplanted them in early spring. We'll see next year if they do better. I purchased Smokebush 'Grace' and 'Golden Spirit' - I've read there's some potential winter die back, mine is only a month new, but I've also heard that they grow like weeds once established, so even with winter die back they'll grow like crazy. 'Golden Spirit' has new growth in a pretty lime green color and grows more upright in form whereas 'Grace' fans out. 'Grace' grows at a house up the street from us and it's just beautiful, especially with the smokey plumes. I ask my husband to slow down every time we drive by. :) Phyl in Chicagoland, I'm embarrassed to post pics. I still consider my landscaping in the beginning stages, most plants aren't mature or established yet, I've moved a lot around, still a work in progress. I had problems with photobucket last time I tried, but I'll see what I can do. I'll tell you though, do an internet search on 'Nancy J. Ondra', I came across her website when researching plants (that's where I got my iris and lemonbalm combo inspiration from) - her garden is to die for, absolutely STUNNING!!! I peruse her garden pics whenever I get the winter blues. Mxk, I was also looking at the Iris pallida but wasn't sure if it would look odd to mix these with the non variegated type. If you like the look of Jacobs Ladder, it reminds me of a shrub, Carol Mackie Daphne. Same variegated foliage, with pretty spring flowers. Connie, this is also my first year with wave petunias and I love them, I have them in hanging baskets. I've read they are self-cleaning, unlike the regular petunias, but I still deadhead here and there. I'd do them again, definitely. The foliage is also very pretty. Gabby, I used to throw tags away, but as the gardening world became more intriguing to me, I've learned to write down the names of my plants on a 'map' of my yard...LOL. Mostly in an attempt to overcome winter blahs, I also compiled a list of plants that need deadheading, cutting back, dividing, etc. so I know what to do come spring. Daylilyluvr, ok, like I said I'm an 'advanced' beginner in the gardening world, still in my learning curve. LOL. I had no idea Sweet William was a biennial. I've had it for two years now, the blooms are stunning, but this year it got all brown and ratty after blooms were spent, I chalked that up to too much watering. I cut it back and it looks like a few blooms are starting to come in again, but I had to remove old dried stems. Web says if you don't let it self seed it will shoot up more stems and act as a perennial...looks like that's what's happening for me as I likely cut back the spent blooms last year too. Crunchpa, my favorite person from the container gardening forum. LOL. I have a TON of containers this year, maybe too many. It takes me over an hour just to water everything, and that's just the containers, but I think I got overzealous and overstuffed them this time around...still, I wouldn't go without my containers, I'm hooked. I love that moss sedum, I'll have to try it. You always have the best pics. I still have dirt to cover until everything is established, I'm waiting patiently though my transplanting doesn't help either. I was looking into that red hot poker at one point, if I remember correctly I think it goes dormant mid season and then comes back again later?? Or am I thinking of something else? Pretty. I'll have to research more of the suggestions here, though I'll probably be losing more lawn in the process. :)

I'm not sure what causes this, or what it is... I noticed a few tiny red spots just like this on one of my Red Lions' older leaves... other than looking ugly, the spots on my leaf don't appear to be spreading or causing any kind of problem... but since I don't know what it is, I'm keeping it separate from my other bulbs. It almost looks like it might be slight damage from a chemical spray... and since I have sprayed them with a preparation of insecticide, miticide and fungicide, I'm wondering if it's from that. On the other hand, red streaking can be indicative of mites... I'm just not sure... has anyone else had experience with this? Any educated guesses as to what it might be?

I had the same problem with my Hansgrohe polished nickle shower fittings. After forgetting to wipe the water dry after one use, the stubborn stains would not go away. I called the manufacturer several times and everytimes I had a different advise. First I tried blue original windex. Apprently Hansgrohe approves that product. it did not work. I also tried diluted vinegar, WD-40, as well as CLR (in diffent concentrations) none of them worked. I finally got a hold of Flitz multi purpose metal polish (in a tooth paste form) and it worked like a magic! Eventhough polished nickle was not one of the metals listed, but I decided to give it a try, since I was running out of options. Flitz is hard to find unless you buy it on line. I found mine in a kitchen and bath fixture shop. To prevent from happening the company recomands NuFinish (orange bottle only) . here is what hansgrohe sent me: To prolong the lifespan of your unit and keep it looking new we recommend the following care tips: 1. Regularly massage/rub the nodules on your hand shower/overhead shower/hand sprayer to keep water debris from accumulating on your water spouts. 2. Periodically soaking your unit in a 50/50 solution of warm water and CLR (Calcium, Lime, & Rust remover) for no longer than 10 minutes and then rinsing with fresh water. (this didnt work, But Flitz did) 3. Polish your unit with Flitz or NuFinish (only orange bottle). 4. Clean your unit with mild soap and water. Refrain from cleaning your products with any of the following: 1. Vinegar 2. Anything acidic (even organic products that have acidic ingredients) 3. Anything "no rinse"

bottom plant looks like a stanhopea, when it blooms, we can easily identify the species. I would soak the stanhopea and ease it off the mount and get a wire basket with coco fiber liner and filled with sphagnum moss. Stanhopea do so much better in baskets. By the size of their leaves they go through a lot of transpiration and need a lot of moisture to compensate for it. Leaving in the mount will require constant watering and not grow nearly as well. A cool thing about stanhopea is that they will bloom pointing downward from bottom of basket, so basket needs to have many openings for flower spike to push through. They are heavy feeders when in active growth and although the flowers last only a few days, a well grown plant (n a basket) can be blooming for quite a while and finally they are incredibly fragrant. I mean knock your socks off 50 feet away fragrant.... in case anyone there is allergic to plants (like I am) Pic is of a stahopea candida in basket with flower spike hanging below it, just to show how much better they do in a basket. To remove the mount, I would soak it for an hour or so, cut any retaining string or rope, then grab all the bulbs together and gently wiggle them side to side as a unit until the roots loosen off the mount. Then the bulbs can be placed on top of the sphagnum filled basket and tied with a wire through the bottom to keep it steady until it roots into the medium, then wire can be removed as plant is established into new medium.