DH says I'm a collector. In the next breath he says I'm a tryer. The latter is probably closer to the truth because I am always trying the next perennial. Going through the mail order catalogues is like "oh, I want to try that and that and that" on every page. I try a lot of annuals too for color and for the pots. In the favorites categories (the things which I keep and add more of) hydrangeas lilies of any kind daylilies salvias of any kind coneflowers and their relatives lavendar - not the easiest thing to grow in the south hibiscus mallows iris Garden phlox used to be on this list, but they've simply turned black and died since I moved to NC - maybe there is a NC only variety or something. Companion plants for the roses are primarily lilies and Walker's Low, but there are also coneflowers, guaras, veronicas and salvias. I'll plant anything that attracts butterflies and hummers, so there is a big chunk of the garden plantings that are not so much about garden design as about feeding the little beauties. There are the bushes I've planted as habitat and food for the birds - my current enthusiasm is winterberries. Have you ever seen "hearts a burstin'" when it sets seed? I have a big shade garden too: heuchera, hostas, hydrangeas, solomon's seal, various ground covers, tiarellas....the whole shade thing. If it says it will do well in the shade I try one. ceterum - there are lilacs that are said to do well in the south in the US, perhaps they would do well for you. The one I planted is Miss Kim, she was sooo beautiful this spring. harryshoe - that looks like a black and blue salvia, but I've always been told they are only hardy to zone 7b or so. Truly incredible picture with the hummingbird. I grow the salvias as much for the hummers as for myself and I am absolutely in love with the black blue salvias. I'm trying to get one of the so-called hardy fuscias to live long enough to be put in the ground - they delight in dying in the pot to taunt me.

The winter was very cold and long here in Ontario. Here's an update about how things did in my neck of the woods... My two Morden Sunrise died down to the ground, but they're sending out some nice shoots with buds on the ends. (Maybe 6'' long now). My Champlain had a few inches long left alive, it's an own-rooter too... Marie Victorin had quite a bit of dieback, it had gotten about 4' high, now there was maybe 7'' long of green canes left... John Cabot surprisingly died to the snowline, shich we had alot of, so he had about 4' high of cane left. The flower carpets (my first roses, about 9 years old now) died to the ground, as usual, and are sending out good, but short shoots... rosa glauca barely had any dieback, it did awesome... the wild roses - acicularis and virginiana - did really great, no dieback at all. Even, in one exposed spot the other (hardy zone 3) perennials all died completely, except for good ol, acicularis, with again, no dieback. The rugosas had little dieback... Quadra had very little dieback, although it was about 3' high in the Fall, so it was under snow... Martin Frobisher had most of his tall shoots die completely back, now all I have left are two tall 4' high twigs that look like they're gonna look like awkward lollipops! Emily Carr died to the ground, but has nice shoots now, a few inches long...Alexander Mackenzie did well, with a little bit of dieback, but it was a short bush still, as did Morden Snowbeauty. But the rugosas, even the zoned 4 rugosa 'Belle Poitevine' had very little dieback. The potted roses in the shed are long long gone... I gotta say, though, those wild roses did really well! Here I'm days to a week to having some buds open.

TONI rub it in will you? Mine didn't make it and I used the vermiculite and bag trick this time! I did actually manage to get some sedum to finally put on some roots, last year I did my rooting in August with hardwood cuttings I am going to try that again this year and see how it goes. I have a purple butterfly bush, a honeycomb BB and a red bottle brush I wish to try this time. I SOOOOO hope the bottle brush takes it is sooo pretty. I do have a few hardwood cuttings of a smoke tree in water and I thought they were dead so I was going to through them out the other day and noticed some callousing and thought NO WAY is that root starts BUT I honestly THINK it is so I stuck them back in the water! I SOOOO hope those make it and are not just a false start LOL. Toni I think I am gonna send cuttings to you we can share my cuttings LOL. Thanks for the update, you know I really AM glad you are having so much success right? I really am, I think it is wonderful! OHH OHH OHHH, someone TELL ME PLEASE HOW I should do some Weeping Pussy Willow cuttings? Someone sent me a bunch and right now they are just in water is this good? OR what would be the best approch? They are hardwood from the base and from the limbs. ANY advice would be sooo much appreciated PLEASE. :) Fran

Davie, I'm in 10a on the Gulf coast and I love cottage gardens too. Especially the pinks/purples with oranges and yellows. I won't be able to achieve the exact look that I had and loved in Ohio but there are still options. My first couple of years in Florida, I tried my darndest to grow big Dutch iris, lilies of the valley, bleeding hearts, lamb's ear, bee balm, etc. that thrived in Ohio but couldn't handle to overbearing heat and humidity here. So, I finally decided that I needed to work with what would grow here and provide a similar look. I put in a new butterfly/hummingbird garden about a year ago that has been through Irma, our only hard freeze in 8 years and less than 2" of rain this year and is still thriving. It's mostly pink/purple/orange and and yellow with some red thrown in. I don't grow roses out of habit (we had nosey little dogs for years who liked to smell the roses when outside to do their business and always came in scratched up). I planned the plant placement perfectly (or so I thought) before planting. But, I wasn't prepared for how big everything gets here in SW Florida LOL Before you start, the most important thing to do in my mind is to work in tons of good compost and soil. Before I put the plants in this garden in, I rented a roto-tiller and worked up the grass (if you can call anything in Florida grass LOL), raked out the grass, stones and shells, and tilled in 40 bags of compost and as much soil TWICE. Believe me, it paid off. There's a few cottage style plants that I have tried over and over in Florida with little to no success: butterfly bushes and hydrangeas. The BFB looks great for a few months then overnight the nematodes kill them. I am trying one last time to grow one in a huge pot but if it dies, it will be my last. If you're in 9a or cooler and have some shade, oakleaf and lacecap hydrangeas can be grown. I was in 9a for the first 9 years in Florida and had some success with them there under the pine and oak canopy. But, here in 10a they wouldn't survive in my all sun garden. Here's some plants that do great for me and provide a cottage feel and are good nectar plants for hummers and butterflies: Salvias: Amistad (purple), Phyllis' Fancy (pale lilac), Faye Chapel (red) and coccenia (red) Porterweed: purple, red and coral Penta: Lanceolata (tall pink, red and violet) Firespike: red and magenta Misc: Red shrimp plant, lantana (pinks, yellows), Mexican sunflower (orange), Lion's Ear (orange), African Iris (white with pale lilac center), walking iris (purple, whites and yellows) Daisy like flowers: Gerbera daisies (they stop blooming when it gets really hot here but start back up when temps drop a little), osteopurmum (whites, pinks, yellows), cosmos (annual), cape daisy (yellow) Vines: tropical morning glory (on a trellis or arch with big blue blooms all year for me), passion vine (Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing) and Dutchman's pipevine (pipevine and goldrim host plant) What is the exact hardiness zone for your Florida garden? There's a huge difference between what is hardy and reliable in 9a versus 10a. Here's a link to the USDA Interactive Plant Hardiness Zone Map Good luck! We look forward to seeing some of your pics. Rhonda