So which perennial did you start in 2009 will you be watching the most in 2010 which did not bloom and stayed 'low' concentrating on it's roots?

Oh the anticipation... (Singing Carly Simon's tune here. LOL!)

Mary

I am most waiting on 3 perenniels I got in trade:
milkweed - which did bloom a little this year (surprised me).
soapwort
and esp. Lance Corporeal. This year it grew a couple of long single stems, and along the stems were teeny red blooms. I don't know what it is supposed to look like, so I am also in anticipation.

ellen

-StLGirl

Token, I now know why my Jacob won't give me seeds. I've been trying to collect from this plant and it now makes a lot of sense. I do get seeds from a pink one which I've had for some time, but never collected this year. It's smaller but just as beautiful as JC. Oh, and you will love the reseeds of the BES. Get ready for a wonderful show with those!!

Drippy,
I know I got the seeds from your side of the border, and if you say I'm going to love it, then I am assured that I will. :O)

Mary and Ellen,
You will enjoy the Milkweed. Did you sow the pink or the white?

Piti,
The Epimedium sound interesting - maybe another alternative for my Hostas? I am replacing most of them and like the foliage of the E.

Northerner,
Be patient with the Buddleia in the spring. Sometimes mine don't show any signs of life until mid-June and then off they go!! My Siberian Wallflowers now reseed in the gardens. They are usually 50/50 on whether they are going to act in a biennial way.

StLGirl,
Ooooh, a Clematis. Now that will be special. :O)

I wished I could bring those beautiful large hostas back to Chicago. :-D Are you replacing them with deer resistant plants?

Here's Epimedium rubrum.

This one is between a pink Bleeding Heart and a white Bleeding Heart. The leaves are very pretty year round. It blooms in late spring-early summer. Great for bridging spring bulbs and summer perennials. I have been adding it to the garden for the past few years, putting it any where I can fit it in. I have one next to a large clump of Hosta plantaginea, another next to Hosta 'Halcyon'.

Another recent addition to my garden is Mertensia virginica. I got some from a friend last year and begged her for several more this year. Got several seedlings from our spring plant swap too. Can't wait to see how many will make it past this winter. :-D

The Montauk daisy chunk I brought with me DID bloom - so did my Magpie aquilegia.

I had started some in SC that I couldn't bring with me, so some good friends of mine are looking forward to new perennial blooms. :)

Tiffy -
My milkweed bloomed in yellow.

ellen

I also missed some FYF Hollyhocks this year, but they'll be established next year, so I'll pay attention and probably move them to a better spot. (I need more space...)

Tokajer- have wanted that one since I started WSing, but have never gotten around to getting seed. Will live vicariously through drippy on that one :)

This year was such a weird gardening year, with tendonitis that kept me from digging for FIVE months, that I don't know what to expect next year! I am looking forward to seeing how a lot of plants grow, most of them are not WS, but I finally got them planted in the ground this fall. For winter-sown, I will be watching Heliopsis, Guara (if it makes it through the winter), Mountain mint, and several different Asclepias.

I love the red Monarda too! (So do the hummingbirds.) It is a very vigorous grower so you should see a lot more blooms next year Token. This patch is trying to take over the hummingbird garden and the adjacent pathway -

Once the red Monarda blooms, the hummingbirds start coming around a lot (multiple x per day), and they also go crazy over the Lobelia cardinalis which blooms about a month later, and then the Salvia - Yvonnes and Lady in Red.

Piti you are right about replacing the hostas. I may actually place them around the entrance to the house where the deers don't touch them until late in the season. Many will have to go since there is quite the spread. I do like the foliage of the E. The Mertensia sound familiar. I'll have to look it up.

Lois... Himalayans adorn my backyard garden. :O) They are truly beautiful! I hope they do return for you and bloom their beautiful sky blue.

Wow Kimka, just WOW!!

Drippy, I'll have to get your new address. We have to get those gardens going. :O) I LOVE mystic Merlin and grow it in my mother's gardens 3 hours away.

Ellen, Sounds like you may have gotten lucky with the Yellow Asclepias. I'm having a hard time establishing the orange, but it is coming along. :O)

I bought three bareroot of Gay Butterflies mix. One grew like crazy to around 2 1/2 feet, and bloomed lightly in boring white. The other two grew to around 8" tall, and bloomed in the orange. I'm thinking that the two orange ones were the "plain" butterfly weed, and not the gay butterflies I was supposed to be sent.

I was less than impressed with them, and would even think of ripping them out. I had them in a group on one side of my bird feeder, and planted a Black Knight Butterfly Bush on the other side. DH ran over the Black Knight with the lawnmower so it didnt even get a chance to grow :(

Does the butterfly weed get better once its established?

Is the orange kind slow growing?

Danielle

If the Gay Butterflies are solid orange only, then they don't sound like the true cultivar, which is supposedly a mix of orange, red, and yellow. Yes they get better if they are happy - both of these plants in full bloom are lovely. Not to mention, they are fantastic nectar plants, and Monarch host plants, and attract lots of butterflies and pollinators.

Ice ballet -

Gay butterflies, which is a mix of light/dark orange for me -

The Tuberosa pictured by Terrene is wonderful. Again, in my gardens it took a couple of years to get established, but I'm quite happy with it.

In essence I think that in regards to these plants you have to let them go a couple of years to see the true potential. I have another few clumps of Cinderella which hit their fourth year this past summer and I was awed by them straight through 'til frost. :O)

The other two bloomed in orange but not enough for me to tell if they were the plain variety. They only bloomed maybe 2 inches across. Im hoping they will do better next year.

Is this normal?...they have all turned yellow than brown at this point....Are they just going dormant for the winter?

I will give them a chance, and see how they do. However, if they fail to thrive I will not try these plants again.

Danielle

Karen

Flower addict and pit, I'll be honest about the Milkweeds - they do have some issues. They emerge late, and die back relatively early. They frequently get aphids, although they don't cause any serious harm to the plants, they can be unsightly. Most of mine were plagued with some sort of wilt this year, and the bloom tips were killed off. The slugs had a field day on my small plant this year. Perhaps they shouldn't be in a prominent spot in the garden? But you'd be doing the Monarchs a favor to grow it.

I really enjoy raising Monarch butterflies, and that is the main reason why I grow so many. The link below is to my album on Raising Monarchs.

Female Monarch on 'Gay Butterflies' -

I love seeing all the butterflies too. The Monarchs still come around to all my other flowers, and a large bright yellow butterfly. I do like butterfly weed, and maybe it will be better next year. I like to plant flowers that the hummingbirds and butterflies love. My toddler LOVES butterflies. A week ago one of the large yellow butterflies was going around to all the bright things in the yard hoping it was a flower. My daughter was wearing a bright pink shirt, and the butterfly landed right on her stomach. She about died, and was talking about it all day.

Danielle

I planted several varieties of milkweed, so hopefully will have pink, purple, orange, orange/red and maybe a white if I'm lucky.

Mary

I LOVE the colour of your Rasp. Bee Balm!!! I'll have to see if I can get seeds of this one. Is it mildew resistant? Gorgeous!

Mary, Let us know how they do this coming year.