It's all 10 to 15 years old, Janice.
I do, however, renovate chunks of it perhaps every five years.

Thanks, Susie.
I like to garden especially for colour.
On the other hand, I'd tend to put how well a plant does in a particular location ahead of any colour choice on my part.

I try to get as many plants and as great a variety of plants in the mixed perennial bed as possible.
Planting closely, policing plants individually and having enough sun help to these ends.

I tend to feel that if you get enough colour and variety in, there'll always be colour combinations to please a viewers eye.

Your garden certainly does please the viewers eye. I bet your neighbors love being next to you.

Lovely photos. We lost our balloon flower. I wonder if the dry year last summer killed it. It grew for some years.

Thanks, Lucy.
Sorry to hear you lost yours.
Interesting suggestion re that dry summer.

I particularly like the blue balloon flowers.
Think we're both partial to blue (Sharon's Blue Gardens!).

Today.

Love your color combos, Charlie! Oh, that orange Daylily with the Purple coneflower ! !

Is that Bright Eyes Phlox in the last pic?

Thanks, Janice.

Yes, 'Bright Eyes'.
Keep a record of everything I plant, though do have a few 'No Names' (the single quotation marks makes them sound a bit more (respectable?)!).

Having some trouble with purple coneflowers.
Am sure we now have coneflower rosette mite present in our garden.

I like the largely self-colour coordination of the garden phlox (red through blue, plus white). Have lots of phlox.
It has also surprised me how well orange fits in so well in a mixed perennial garden from spring to fall.

'Bright Eyes' has been a favorite Phlox of mine for many years.

Sorry to hear of the mite problem.

Your 'painting' with flowers is lovely!

Thanks, Janice, but maybe I garden and the flowers paint.
Going to be interesting how the Echinacea mite problem goes.

Some more pictures from yesterday.
Sorry for any duplications.

Very very nice!!

Do I see Phlox Nora Leigh in the third photo Charlie?

I really love that one and a few years ago went to great lengths to get it.

Yes Janice, have several 'Nora Leigh' plants.

I never used to like variegated leaves, but my friend at Merlin's Hollow (David) persuaded me how useful they are in mixed perennial beds.
Now have variegated Brunnera, Jacob's Ladder and phlox.
They really do provide a bit of variety when there's too much green.

In my experience, 'Nora Leigh' doesn't show any weakness that one might expect of a variegated plant.
On the other hand, I do like David's point that variegated plants, if they are weaker than non-variegated forms, might have the great advantage of being less invasive.

A few more: yesterday.

What a fantastic display of well grown, thriving Phlox varieites!!

Charlie, how long have they been in your garden?

There was no garden here when we came about 15 years ago, though I bought some perennials from our old property.
Think the total outline of the whole garden, back and front, is about 10 years old.

All of that has been renovated (completely dug up and replanted), in sections, since then;
new plants added continually, especially in renovated section.
Do a lot of staking, deadheading and cutting back on an ongoing basis.
Think mixed perennial gardening in a smaller space is relatively much more difficult than the same type of garden in a large area.

I try to only buy perennials in flower (see what getting).
Favourite summer perennial is certainly garden phlox (have mostly named cultivars, with a few old 'No Names').
Example: second picture above: the tall old 'No Name' phlox, at the back, is part of the plant that came from the local horticultural society spring sale about 10 years ago:
got the 'Peppermint Twist' (includes branch mutations: divided and reduced 2012) in 2007 and the 'Purple Flame' in 2011.
(just noticed: can also see 'Coral Flame' (bottom left: 2011)), a 'No Name' old white (over 10 years ago) to the left and a bit of red 'Starfire' (2013) beyond).

Not a good idea to have too much of a good thing with mixed perennial gardening.
Currently have too much 'Peppermint Twist'.

Charlie these are all lovely and no flopping...Very lush and nice.

Thanks, Veronica.

Do a fair bit of staking, but find especially the newer shorter phlox typically don't need it.
Also water as needed and keep cut things back for access to sun and air flow.

As usual your gardens look beautiful. I love the height you've added with the pink and white veronicastrum.

Can't have too much peppermint twist!

Thanks, Susie.

Am very fond of culver's root (Veronicastrum); also "a rising perennial garden"(?), viz. the garden gets steadily higher through the growing season.

Up to perhaps ten years ago, you'd see culver's root for sale here every spring, but the grower (Epic) went (largely?) out of business.
For several years, there was lots of 'Fascination' (love it) and towards the end of easy availability, 'Lavendelturm' (very pretty).
Culver's root is a big favourite of the bees.
Was told they like tall flower spikes.

Entirely agree with you Lucy, that 'Peppermint Twist' is a great cultivar.
Even like the quite frequent (at least with ours) branch mutations apparently back to parent 'Candy Floss'.
It's proving to be a very vigorous garden phlox; with our few plants, it's more vigorous than our one 'Candy Floss'.

Away nine days in B.C. for wedding.
Brought back a couple of 'Wendy House', from a West Van garden centre, in hand luggage.
They survived well - a pretty reddish purple garden phlox.

Below, yesterday, after some deadheading/trimming - most of the garden phlox are still going strong.











Last flower on the 'Cluster Muster'.