Hi Smives, where did you get the list? I need more sources before I just plant redbuds and dogwoods the rest of my life. Thanks for giving me some domestic choices. Hamamelis virginiana - witch hazel blooms in the winter here if I recall. Perhaps I actually need one because of that. Thanks for bringing it up. Anyone know if any of the cultivars bloom in July or August? Aesculus parviflora & Cephalanthus occidentalis are more bushes to me but that is too fine a line to cross them off. Perhaps I can prune a parviflora into a vase shape. Cotinus obovatus is on my list for this spring. Does it bloom later up north? I am expecting spring flowers out of it and that EXCELLENT fall color. There must be cultivars I just know nothing about. Rhus typhina! I am actually growing two which are turning into a half dozen. They're different. Totally forgot that someday they might flower with all that suckering going on. Thanks. Aralia spinosa, Devils Walkingstick fits perfectly. Does Franklinia alatamaha bloom most of the summer? I have been considering trying one for some time. Another good choice. Oxydendrum arboreum, Sourwood. After killing a couple I must have blocked it from memory. Gordonia lasianthus just isn't cold hardy here. Magnolia virginiana, Sweetbay Magnolia totally counts. I just don't like it.

Thanks for the other tips! I hardly have any shade in my garden, so I'm not sure that the Inside Out Flower or False Solomon's Seal would do so well. Thanks for reminding me about Farewell to Spring. In the Pojar/MacKinnon book they've got a lovely photo of it that I've enjoyed on many ocassion. More penstemons and shrubby cinqefoil are good ideas! Bosky Dell has a seemingly definitive listing of native penstemons: http://www.boskydellnatives.com/description_page%5CPenstemon_spp..htm I get persnickety because they're a bit more loose w/ their native description (geographically) than my anal-retentive aura can embrace. My friend has something with itty bitty pink flowers (clusters) that we've been unable to identify that is in bloom today. We also saw a white single petaled rose in bloom that looked similar to rosa nutkana, but I didn't think we hadn't in Willamette Valley native roses w/ white flowers. Plus, these flowers seemed a bit big, around 3-4" across. And finally, I have to give a shout-out to ceanothus velutinus/snowbrush ceanothus. Fixes nitrogen, fun shiny evergreen leaves: http://www.swsbm.com/Images/C/Ceanothus_velutinus.jpg

Since I do not plant blueberries in the ground, I referred to William D Adams book Growing Fruits and Nuts in the South. He was a county extension specialist I believe from Houston. He suggested putting out 1 oz per plant of 13-13-13 in March with 1 oz of Ammonium Sulfate(21-0-0) in April, May, and Sept. the first year. As long as you are using fertilizer that is for acid loving plants (ammonium sulfate) it should keep the pH down in our area unless you are using well water. In Beaumont the bicarbonates, which can bring pH up, is low. Anything less than 92 ppm of bicarbonates is considered low, and anything over 153 is not recommended. Well water may be higher in bicarbonates. I like to add a little fertilizer once a week. I use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water. I now use Peters Professional 21-7-7 for acid special. I got it for about $40 for a 25 gallon bag. It is expensive but less than Miracle gro Miracid. The reason your blueberries may not be growing well could be aged pine bark fines could have taken some of the nitrogen out of the soil. That should not be a problem this year. Since your plant have either been in the ground for over 12 months or were from 3 gallon pots, they are going to need nitrogen this year. Usually with bare root fruit trees it is suggested not to fertilize the first year. But with these already being in the ground for 6 months, they will need a little fertilizer. I know with container blueberries it is recommended to apply ammonium sulfate with water and on the plants when they are moist. Putting the fertilizer out in a dry container can burn the roots.

Jim, all your plants look so rounded and thick, neat and tidy. How do you do it? This time of the season everything of mine is scraggly and overgrown. We had just two days of cooler temps and a whole .09 inch of rain (as I've said, we measure our rainfall in hundredths of an inch around here. Yesterday, the heat came back and it will be very hot for the rest of the week. I love your zinnias and the melampodium daisies. I want to grow them, but I'm sure mine will not be nice and rounded like yours. Your sky shot is interesting--you are so much closer to nightfall than we are. Lisa, I am so sorry about your nasty fall. But glad it wasn't worse. Be careful. I have the same problem with a steep slope from our back yard, down to the gully below. I've had some close calls on that slope. Your bouquet is just luscious. How can you give it up? I wish my Evelyns were blooming like yours. They are exquisite. Thank you for posting the Lovely Fairy photo. I checked it out on HMF, too, and was surprised it varies from quite dark to light pink. Blondie, I am amazed and impressed with the variety of plants you grow and so well, too. Everything looks so healthy and robust. I love the dahlia you posted up the thread, and your Raold Dahl rose photos are my favorites. I can't believe those peas so late in the season--here they would be pods of little rocks. I also love that coneflower(?). I've never seen one like it. What is this hybrid called? I want one. Kristine, your white rose in the pot is lovely--what is it? Kaye, you have had the seven plagues with your weather (hurricane season?!!) and those !@#$ JBs. I think I would just throw in the towel. I admire your persistence. I hope everything perks up in the coming weeks so you have a nice gardening season to remember. Sheila, that's an interesting hollyhock--didn't know there were perennial hollyhocks, though mine reseed so much, they might as well be perennials. I'm slowly letting mine die out (it takes a while) because, though at their best they are gorgeous, when they start lengthening and that tall stalk of seed cases dries out, they look bad, I think. At that point, the leaves dry out and look mangy, too. We have no rust or other fungal problems on them. So yes, there are areas that don't have to worry about rust. Just remember how godawful dry it is here. I get sick of it. More later....Diane