Hi Joshua. Welcom to ATP and the addiction/obsession known as gardening.
I started ~ 1976 and grows tons of stuff from seed as well - 2 years ago I started over 2,000 plants in my basement.

Kudos on the Foxglove - very lovely. They can sometimes be hit or miss - looks like yours were hit. And they also can be so whacky - annual, biennial (usually), perennial. I love them and usually try to have a "tall" garden with them, hollyhocks, canterbury bells, et cetera.

On the Dahlias - I grow ~ 10 types and like the Kelvin Floodlight a lot. In 2014 I had one that turned out HUGE. Could see it from a block away and it really shined just at sundown.

And congrats on that Hibiscus - I know what it is like to wait that long. I have some Dierama and Dietes that I grew from seed 2 years ago and must over winter indoors. Hoping they bloom this year. And some Siberian Iris now in their 4th year. Growing bulbous plants from seed sometimes seems downright silly.

glengarry23 said:English Cottage Gardens are very inspiring ,..mine is a combination of both English and Irish Cottage Gardens with a good few American plants thrown in

@glengarry23 - Hey Philip - lovely! My overall style is very much English Cottage Garden as well. Sorta happened quite by accident as I tend to buy plants and worry about where they will go later when I get home. BTW - what is that what appears to be a palm in there?

cheers

Joshua,..those Dahlia pictures are awesome big blooms with striking colors,..i bet your garden gets a lot of admirers who pass by .

DavidLMO,..i get presents of plants for doing favors for boating friends instead of offering me cash they know to give a plant but ask before purchasing,..would i like one,..oh that is a " Yucca alifolia ". Spanish Bayonet" you asked about.

Happy 2016! Thank you for the kind words. It is a boost during the winter months which can be depressing.
But this is a great time to look for new seeds and plants for this years garden. Here are some of my favorites this year.
I was really into celosias this past year and I must of bought 15 different types this one is the only one that really did the best. Cocks comb celosia that I bought at bakers creek. This one is a keeper. http://www.rareseeds.com/celos...




Marigolds stole my heart this year (a lot of plants stole my heart this year ) I always thought of them as grandma plants but they are a lot more than that. They smell great, supposedly keep pest away and they can get HUGE.
I was very shocked by this almost electric green marigold.




This is dahlia Jungle man and he demands attention. When I was holding the blooms I felt like I was holding some kind of creature.



Heres his opposite Cafe au Lait. Holding her was taking my breathe away. They are definitely yin and yangs to each other.


This year in the garden was definitely a challenge with record heat during the month of June and no rain my seedlings definitely suffered. But I learned a lot from it. On the tail end of this year I was ensnared by salvias another plant that comes in many different colors and sizes. So now I want to collect all of them. Yvvones salvia was one of those salvias that drove me wild and made search the internet for seeds for them which is actually the reason what brought me onto all things plants. If you have any salvia seeds or cuttings you would like to trade or sase I'm up for it. Im trying to build up my collection.
Thanks for reading!

Beautiful blooms and that Marigold does look electric ,..Dahlia Jungleman looks like a Sea Anemone but stunning bloom,..Cafe au Lait is very different but beautiful,..that last picture is a winner

Joshua.

Do you have Hot Lips Salvia?

I am not a real big fan of Marigold, but I do plant them around my vegetable garden. The yellow one you posted above is lovely.

Hey David,
I do not have hot lips. My collection of salvia is only to a furmans red salvia and blue victoria salvia.

So not much to report. Winter gives me time to reflect and expand beds. This requires the most labor and I can't imagining digging out grass in 90 degree weather. Borrowed a tiller from dad and went to town. That was fun. I expanded the front beds out four feet. The bed felt too crowded. The goal is to make the front garden look like a English long border.








Winter can be an exciting time. You get to to plan and trade/buy seeds.

You keep this up and the fron yard will vanish and become a flower medow,

JK...

Looking good Joshua. And yes - "fall" (or fallish Winter) much better than August to do that sort of work.

Now you get to spend the 'winter" playing in your mind and on paper how/where to plant stuff.

Got my first salvias in from Vincent gardens. Packaging was great and the plants are healthy. I ordered salvia indigo spires, salvia hildago, salvia Phyllis's fancy, salvia lutea and salvia canary sage. I got an extra salvia hildago I'm sure it was an accident. But I'm not complaining

Spring is here and my garden is looking a lot more colorful this year than last year. I will say my garden is not a spring garden. It is a summer and fall garden. Here are some pics to enjoy.











The last picture is very special to me. I was looking out my car window when I had to snap a pic. This fall I created a "river" of irises. Not all of them bloomed which is fine. I didn't expect them to after I transplanted them a couple months ago. There is a little bunny who lives in the "river" and I love wild life just not when they are eating my seedlings which are nearby. *sigh* comes with the territory

Lovely photos, Joshua. Thanks for posting them. I feel your pain on the bunny raids. I heard one scurrying about as I was working among some potted plants. I didn't realize it until too late, but last year they chomped on all the leaves up the stem of potted phlox plants in 3 gal. containers. I'd like to know how they did that. Maybe it was the Momma, she'd gotten huge by the end of Summer. Unfortunately I live in a subdivision and firearms are not allowed. I read somewhere recently that they resent the scent of salvia. I'm going to be buying some soon. I picked up a pot of Society Garlic today and bought it for my bunny friends.

Love your pix, esp the irises!!!

My voodoo Lilly just bloomed and I had to post

Hi, Joshua
I have enjoyed scanning down thru your posts/pics. I wish I had gotten into gardening earlier but having 4 children fairly close together put that off for several years. You have a lovely garden!

I have twins and my only son is the one that like my plants best. I collect mostly daylilies, iris and hosta but I have several other plants too.

Teresa in KY

Your garden is good-looking!!! Thanks for sharing information with us.

Your garden looks great Joshua. You've been well rewarded for your labors! I also like to start from seed, and root cuttings, etc.
A question, that sweet rocket (assuming that's the same as dame's rocket), did it self sow too vigorously? I see you have laid a good layer of mulch, so maybe not. I've considered growing it, but I'm concerned about it taking over the garden. Here in Idaho, whenever I see that plant, it's always in a broad swath all over the bed.

Welcome to the website Josh
Gardens are looking great.

Hey cosette. The sweet rocket does not self sow in the garden.. I've actually had a hard time saving the seed.

I love looking at other Carolina gardens. Great photos, keep up the good work