For my containers, I kind of stick to a color theme: scarlet, black-burgundy-purple, yellow-green and medium leaf green. All bets are off in the Fall, though, because I like every Chrysanthemum I see, and I am very arbitrary in my Dahlia choices. For the front yard (in-ground), the theme is dryland abandoned California Gold Country. Or well, sort of. It's definitely dryland, because of the sun and the dry soil. There's also dry shade to put some things in, and I do. Over the years, I've ended up with some great perennial vignettes--one part of a low berm has yellow Achillea (Moonbeam?), Eremurus stenophylla, Phlomis (the yellow one) some bright orange-and-yellow snapdragons (perennial here, if given a dry winter) and golden hops. The next, shadier part of the low berm has a mauvey-pink flowered Phlomis, Digitalis thapsi (lovely pink flowers), Scabiosa, Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Saponaria ocymoides, some assorted pink-flowered Allium varieties (senescens is one) and some Campanulas. The back garden has a vague theme, too: woodland. It's shady, so I grow shade-loving and shade-tolerant plants there: Epimediums, Lilies, ferns (yes, ferns in Nevada), Peonies, Clematis, Honeysuckle, Daffodils, Daylilies and Japanese Maples. Other things, too, of course. To be honest, though, my chief plan is "Oooh! I have to have that plant!". I buy or order the plant, then worry about where to put it once I get it home. I do take all kinds of pictures of my garden and put them in a ring binder full of photo pages and sheet protectors--and that's what I use to do what little planning I can tolerate. I look for bare spots, spots that need a little accent, stuff like that.

I have Pink Lily Bulbs (hardy, no name) and would like ornamental Allium bulbs. I just posted in Plant Exchange & realized this should be in Bulbs. If you have no feedback in rate & review, I must receive yours before I'll send mine. I've gotten burnt too many times. I quit trading years ago because of it, but would like to try again. Thank you.

Which of these Allium have the biggest flower (not which one is the tallest)? I seem to get mixed opinions. - Allium Globemaster - Allium Giganteum - Allium Ambassador - Allium Gladiator Thanks.

A few years ago (2016) I planted some allium bulbs. They were allium Giganteum, allium Gladiator, allium Purple sensation, alllium Mount Everest and allium sphaerocephalon. I planted them in October. The next year all of them flowered except for a. sphaerocephalon. I thought it needed some time to establish. I let them go to seed. This year, only a few Purple sensation flowered, no signs of any white Mount Everest, no signs of Giganteum nor Gladiator. Sphaerocephalon hasn't flowered yet. I fear they are lost. Could it be they are dormant this year? Did they die off? I also bought a. moly, a. caeruleum and a. oreophilum last year and planted them in late fall (December) as the soil was workable and no freezing temperatures. This spring only a few of them flowered although I planted 10 of each. As with my alliums I always leave leaves on, never tear them off. I live in a city so no special animals. No voles nor mice. There are a lot of slugs, though. I have a sandy loam, neutral soil. Climate is something between oceanic and Mediterranean with hot (sometimes dry sometimes humid) summers and dry winters with the lowest temp. - 12 degrees C (around 11 F). (I won't post any photos because this is the third time I am posting this so something is apparently glitched.) Thanks for replies in advance