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This is a very hardy peony that grows very well in Zone 5b. It spreads fairly rapidly, and has sturdy stems. Large blooms have thin "spidery" central petals; it is a beautiful vibrant color in the garden.

This is an amazing red color, and the blooms are on very sturdy stalks. A lovely addition to the garden.

Salad burnet is both beautifully ornamental and flavored. The leaves grow in stems in a tidy pattern, and the leaves have a mild cucumber flavor that can be used in salads or drinks. Plants do like to try to seed at the end of the season, but very easy to keep trimmed.

Florida Petite is a micro dwarf tomato that does very well in smaller containers (gallon size will work). Ours produced an amazingly large number of fairly large, red, cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were juicy with good taste; continued to produce fruit longer than expected on such a small plant.

The micro dwarf tomatoes are amazing in how many tomatoes are produced on such a small plant. The Aztek variety produces yellow, juicy tomatoes that are about the size of a quarter. They have a good tomato flavor, and ours continued to produce well for a longer-than expected period of time. A great plant that is suitable for a small container.

This plant has a nice clean, but not overwhelming lemon flavor. The leaves seem to be not as coarse as many of the lemon-thymes, so can easily be chopped or used whole in cooking. It is a little slow to get started from seed, but the plants did very well throughout our growing season once established.

This tomato plant continued to crank out tons of small (dime-sized) fruits all season, even after the plant started to decline. It was hard to keep up with using all that we were harvesting. We did find that the tomatoes needed to be really ripe in order to have the proper amount of sweetness. Also loved that it didn't get as tall many other cherry-type tomatoes get. Ours topped out at about 5 - 5.5 feet. Definitely will grow this one again.

I think this is the most fragrant of the "lemon scented" plants. This year, with a cool/rainy summer in partial shade, my lemon verbena grew into a shrub-sized plant. I highly recommend using this plant in cooking: It makes a wonderful jelly, simple syrup, Ice cream, and flavored sugar. Dry the leaves for a wonderful addition to your potpourri. Definitely worth growing for its wonderful aroma.

I've found this a very difficult plant to overwinter. It does not like to be moved or uprooted, and will lose most/all of its leaves.

I grew this tomato for the 2nd time in a cool, rainy summer. It was quite productive and had a great flavor. No problems with diseases. This was one of my later-producing tomatoes, but it continued to product fruit steadily throughout the season. I really enjoyed the flavor of this tomato and I will definitely grow it again.

I've grown this during 2 very different growing seasons. It seems to prefer warmer, drier growing conditions. This year's cool/rainy conditions were not as productive. For a yellow tomato, the acid level is mild, but the taste is quite good. It is also a fairly meaty tomato. Not overly productive, but a nice steady supply of 4-6 ounce fruits.

I've grown this tomato twice--love the rich, smoky flavor. It is not the most productive plant in my garden, but seemed to do better in a cooler/rainier summer than a hot/dry summer. The plant was strong and was one of my earliest producers. Fruit was a good size, and very meaty. This rates high among my choices for black tomatoes.

I don't grow many hybrids, but this one really intrigued me. I was not disappointed--this plant was hardy and productive. The fruits were huge--most weighed 12-16oz, even in a year that we had a cool, wet summer. The tomatoes were so meaty--very hard to find any seeds or gel. The taste was great--I expected they might be a mealy texture but they were not. They made an amazing sauce, and they even were fine to use fresh (were great on pizza!). I will definitely grow this one again.

This is my 2nd year for growing this tomato. It is a super star in my garden. Last year, we had a horrible drought; this year, we had a very cool/rainy summer for much of the growing season. This tomato has outperformed most of the others in my garden both years. The fruits are large, meaty and have a great flavor. Have had no issues with diseases. Plants have been among my most productive. This will be a repeat in my garden!

I have had this plant in my garden for 6-7 years. It has been the hardiest of my hybrid echinaceas and has an amazingly long bloom time. Also does very well as a cut flower: Holds up well in a vase. Plants bloom from mid-summer till frost in my garden without any special care. It also seems more resistant to rabbits than some of my other echinaceas. Truly one of my favorite plants for its color, bloom time, and hardiness.

This plant gets a lot of benign neglect in my garden, yet it blooms beautifully every year. It has survived harsh winters, dry summers, and everything in between. I love the color, and it is a hardy bloomer (although the bloom season is rather short for me).

This is the second year for this plant in my garden. I have it in full sun, but this year our summer was very cool/rainy until recently. The foliage did not do well under these conditions--a lot of brown/mottled spots on the leaves. The bloom was OK, but the color was not as vibrant as I expected.

Will want to wait another year to see how it does under different growing conditions.

I plant this every year because it is a hummingbird magnet. They prefer it over the nectar in the feeder. It's such a gorgeous plant. In our zone it does slightly better in a little light shade: The plants seem to grow larger and flower more heavily. It keeps producing flowers until frost, which is a great advantage in the late season garden.

This echinicea has performed reliably in my zone 5 garden for several years. It's shorter than many of the other echinaceas, so can easily be used toward the front of a border. If kept deadheaded, it blooms for a good portion of our summer. Mine has been a fairly slow grower--doesn't take over the garden too quickly.

This has been a strong performer in my zone 5 garden. It blooms non-stop through the summer up until frost. Plants are well-branched and have made it reliably through several of our harsh winters. Flowers make great cut flowers; the color is really striking in arrangements.

This petunia is very easy to start from seed. I've had mine blooming before I even got them transferred out of cell packs. The flower is a very pale yellow, but it works well in many combinations. It's a strong bloomer, but it occasionally got a little leggy.