Very pretty.

Karen

Looks great! Love the feverfew.

I didn't know columbines could look like that. Are you sure it was columbine and not a mislabeled seed? It is certainly all very pretty! My maltese cross is about to bloom, and I hope it looks as good as yours.

Pretty blooms Gardenweed. I think the Columbine is some cultivar of Aquilegia vulgaris, with double blooms?

Thanks all. It's definitely Columbine vulgaris, one of the Barlow hybrids. I bought a plant of 'Crista Barlow' that's the same flower form only in blue. There's no mistaking columbine foliage either.

I'm very impressed with the Maltese cross--it's growing in less than full sun and isn't flopping. I didn't realize how important it is to have red in the flowerbeds until it started blooming--it really pops and the flowers appear to last quite awhile.

Holy moley, that lychnis is gorgeous, you're tempting me to sow the seeds I have in my stash.

I think I have 2 sprouts of Montauk Daisy from your seeds. I am going to baby them, for sure.

I too love the feverfew, and I am blown away by the color of your red lupins...I believe I have those seeds too.

Sooty is adorable, what a great color!

Mary

Thanks Mary! This year I'm not whacking my Montauk daisies in June like they say to do, not after them suffering so much in last year's drought they never even bloomed. This year they get to do whatever's natural for them.

I was on the fence about the feverfew last year but have decided they get a second chance while I watch to see how they behave. They're growing beside rose campion so I'm waiting to see the result if they bloom together.

Beautiful Pictures! The colors!

I'm definately, going to have to move the Lupines. I didn't realize they spread!

They are all so pretty -- the photos and the flowers. Your gardens will be so pretty with all the lovely plants you're growing. I was excited to see the columbine. I WSed that variety this year and am hoping it blooms next year. Fingers crossed.

Beautiful! The Lupine is such a beautiful red, and the picture of the Dianthus Sooty is great. Thanks for sharing them.

Wow! They're beautiful! Hmm, I think I might have to try some of those in my garden sometime (hehe)!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

So far the geum has produced a single bloom but if it produces more down the road, I would say it's worth it. The mock orange wasn't WS but the flowers were gorgeous:

Geum 'Mrs. Bradshaw'
{{gwi:397919}}

Philadelphus/mock orange
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Verbascum/mullein 'Milkshake'
{{gwi:199161}}

Wow, your pictures are always inspiring,and I love the fact that your adding pictures of other plants in the background of the shots.Very nice!!

Thanks Tom!! I do enjoy taking close-ups that really show the blooms' intricate designs and having others in the background provides contrasts in color & texture. I also try to avoid including car/truck/pots/tools/buckets, etc. in the background whenever possible!! This morning I shot a few of the gorgeous clematis my mother insisted she couldn't grow. It's covered with blooms.

I had the Clementine Blue and Clementine red columbines, but could never find the seeds..their blooms almost looked like a dahlia bloom. I love that double columbine. I could tell it was a Barlow..they have that distinct look about them. What variety is that beautiful lupine? My Geum "Mrs. Bradshaw" hasn't bloomed yet. I see the Malva "Zebrina" reseeded itself but hasn't bloomed yet. What do you have that Maltese Cross planted near or beside of? That's a beauty! Your pictures are always so clear, they look garden magazine worthy! Now tell us what you do when your daughter brings/or gives her flower pods to you? Do you lay them in a plate outside in the sun to dry before collecting them? I have been watching the seed pods on my Rose Campion and today, I figured out how to collect them. Imagine my excitement! People would mention that they would reseed themselves..I kept looking for sprouts around it, but never found them and today, I noticed some pods more drier than others and I got a paper bowl and cut the pod off, turned it upside over the bowl and out the seeds came! Tomorrow I will look for more..we got some light more of a drizzle of rain tonight and a little thunder and lightning but it was not enough rain. We are so dry. I hooked up soaker hoses yesterday and wound them around the hydrangea bushes and around the plants in the sun room bed. The hydrangea leaves were turned down, wilty stage and after 40 min. of the soaker hose being on, they have perked up.

Beautiful pictures! Love that red lupine. Lupine are one of my favorites.

pippi21 - the Maltese cross is growing in a bed with several dozen other perennials, some WS and others not. I planted it toward the middle of the bed so if it got floppy it would have something to prop it up. There are daylilies, astilbe, 'May Night' salvia, rudbeckia & lupine in close proximity.

My daughter gave me all the stems from her columbines with the green seedpods still attached. I brought them home and stuck them in a collapsible nylon mini-barrel so the pods can finish drying. I'm hoping they turn brown and the seeds ripen fully. They're already open and the seed will spill out but it's brown, not black, so I don't think it's ripe enough yet.

I love those Barlow columbines too, especially the two-toned pink ones that I apparently grew from seed via WS. I just WS columbine seeds without knowing what they were and must say I was very pleasantly surprised when they bloomed this year. We really need columbines' early season color after a long, cold, snowy winter. I bought a couple of 'Songbird' cultivars from a nursery back in April but they died within a week of being planted, so I guess I'll just go back to WS seeds for the stronger plants they produce. Why waste $$ on nursery-grown plants when WS plants are ten times tougher?

The columbine is "Nora Barlow".
I love it!