I suppose I should be considered a perennial weed on the forum, I often feel that way among all the fancy plants I see but a perennial is a perennial is a..... Same here woodstea except I am more shortgrass prairie oriented, however there are a lot of native perennials involved with either situation. Maybe you are a weed too but I like that I can meet a few people every now and then with similar interests and goals. Flowers are rather lower down on my list of interest when I am choosing plants, I am more inclined to choose plants with foliage color or texture based on how they look out of bloom because my space is limited & it gives interest in all seasons, including winter which is always a factor. If I had an acreage it would be different. I also tend to choose plants that have a long bloom time, a second bloom time or those that will bloom opportunistically with rain but which still look good out of bloom which includes several along with lots of grasses which always look good. As a result, I have some short lived perennials, annuals and biennials among the long lived perennials that I let naturalize here which keeps them going year after year. Evergreen or 'Eversilver' often makes a plant desirable to me, no matter the bloom. Our regional forum is devoted mostly to vegetables. Thats all fine and well but I don't find much to read or post about.

RONDEL FOR SEPTEMBER You thought it was a falling leaf we heard: I knew it was the Summer's gypsy feet, A sound so reticent it scarcely stirred The ear, so still a message to repeat, "I go, and lo, I make my going sweet." What wonder you should miss so soft a word? You thought it was a falling leaf we heard: I knew it was the Summer's gypsy feet. With slender torches for her service meet The golden-rod is coming; softer slurred Midsummer noises take a note replete With hint of change; who told the mocking-bird? I knew it was the Summer's gypsy feet You thought it was a falling leaf we heard. Karle Wilson Baker

Absolutely lovely! I covet the brick walls; what a great backdrop for the plants. I can only imagine keeping that much gravel weed-free and out of the grass, however. I hope that someone has an idea of an ID for the creamy yellow spikes of flowers with iris-like foliage that are in the fifth photo as well as several others.

I went there once years ago but don't remember much about it. The grounds had been neglected and gotten very run down, and I think that at that time a group was still in the early stages of rehabilitating it. I do recall seeing R. banksiae 'Lutescens', which as I understand Sir Thomas Hanbury introduced from his Italian garden to England, and a lovely plant of 'General Schablikine'. In addition to his activities relating to gardening and botany, Sir Thomas was apparently a notable local philanthropist. My tremendously thorny 'La Mortola', a form or sport or hybrid of R. brunonii, originated there. These pergolas in the photos are lovely. Ours, made of rebar and bamboo, aren't, but they're respectable, in my eyes, and they hold up the roses just fine. We're in a period of pergola expansion right now, the effect of the still unrelenting sun. However, today's forecast finally includes a possibility of rain!! for two days! less than a week away! When I see such signs of commitment on the part of the weather service, I begin to hope. I was down in the big garden early this morning, and it looks like quite a few roses are in a state of extreme suffering. If they get killed in places, I'm not going to try to replace them with more roses, but will look for the kinds of plants that grow in the same condiitons as Italian cypresses and olives. The cypresses are among the very few plants that are happy down there. I'll take a survey once the weather allows me to get down there without my having to worry about heatstroke. I'm taking notes from people's suggestions. Thanks for all the ideas!