Polly,
Grinning, actually I set my coffee down and sip as I go around the beds.

Sheryl,
I don't take any tools. Just a pencil to make notes. Then.... I go drag out all the shovels, buckets, garden cart, etc.

Blanket flowers are one of my favorites for long blooms. If you dead head them they will go till frost. Seed heads are attractive too, and birds pick at them. They re-seed readily. Burgundy is my favorite. They are easy to start from seed too. An added bonus us they are the colors of university of Minnesota! They pair nicely with Black-eyed Susans.

Thanks for the tip Reid. They are wonderful plants and so many colors and sizes, hard not to find something to like.

I love Hesperaloe parviflora as a long blooming plant. There is a new variety called 'Breaklights' with more intense red coloring. It's also smaller. These plants have flowers that last all summer. Hummingbirds flock to them. I have the yellow variety too. I keep propagating more every year. This is a photo I liked from the database. Another good thing about these plants is the foliage doesn't die down in winter. They stay evergreen.

Here is a photo of my yellow and red mixed together...


I don't know why this plant is listed under the yellow variety. None of the photos they have here are the yellow one.

Here's a photo of a huge grouping of these. They don't grow as large here because winter is colder.

Wow, I like it!!

I only have the red blooming and love it. I must look for the yellow. Add it to the database, Clint.

Wow, that red yucca is a stunner! I recall reading about them in the past, but had it in my mind that they weren't hardy here, but the data base says hardy to zone 5- I must have this plant!

Yes, it's a wonderful plant.

They are very hardy here in Tennessee. It got down to 1˚ here, and they still look great. I have some in a whiskey barrel, and the weather didn't hurt them either. They need good drainage, but can tolerate our wet winters pretty well. If you get the variety 'Brakelights,' it needs better drainage than the others, but it's still easy to grow! I like that one a lot because it blooms more and the blooms are more red. They constantly put up offsets from the crown. You can remove them and make more by sticking them in a pot of soil for a few weeks. It's a very forgiving plant!

Clint, that is all music to my ears, LOL. I think survival in a container in your zone means I should have no problem with them planted in the ground here. Now, where is a good place to purchase this plant? I have 3 areas in mind where I'd like to try them.

High Country Gardens has all of them I think.

High Country Gardens is owned by American Meadows and they are as awful as ever and they have the same rude Company Representative. He wants to blame the customer for all the problems. They have a lot of bad reviews except for the last 5 months because no one is buying plants in the winter. LOL.


My review is in there somewhere. I was so mad.. I think I saw smoke come out my ear. :blinking:

HCG is owned by AM. (edited to take out the work 'not')

Holicow that is a really bad company when there are more negatives than positives.
Did you mean HC G was not owned by American Meadows?
That is another bad rated company
their bulbs are OK but dont order plants from them.
http://davesgarden.com/product...

HCG was not so bad but they were purchased by AM so the only part of HCG that is left is the Horticulturalist I think. Might need to google that. They do seem to be having a lot of problems right now. LOL.
I have heard people say that the bulbs are good but maybe not so much the customer service. I ordered two plants and it was not good.

I have not done business with HCG but I have ordered Dahlia collections and a few lilies from AM.
Bulbs come from big wholesalers so how much damage could they get.I ordered many plants 5 years ago,nearly everything was dead or so dried out it hardly grew so I never ordered from AM again.
There are so many reliable perennial sources out there i wont be bothered with ones that cant deliver on all levels.

You are right about that. There are too many good ones out there I will not order from them any more ever! I am very thankful for Watchdog, Dave's brainchild.

I've ordered from HCG several times and never had an issue.

I only had one small problem with HCG but they were bought out by American Meadows and they have the really bad reviews.

The thread "Mail Orders, what do you think?" in Perennials forum

I'll still give them a chance. They have some cool stuff!

They were bought out by American Meadows. They do not exhist anymore.