That's a beautiful bush, Lilo. If it's never trimmed, does it just keep spreading and getting taller? In my area of WV, 'Redbud' trees/bushes grow along the side of the interstate; at least that's where I see them. They just finished blooming, last week. The flowers last for about two weeks and they're a lovely sight. The funny thing--to me, anyway--is that they're called 'Redbuds', but the flowers are a deep fuschia!, just like the little 'purple finches' have deep red breasts.

indigo (indigofera), passiflora incarnata, echinacea, great blue lobelia, hydrangea 'Limelight', Japanese anemone 'Windflower', nepeta, calamenthe, scarlet runner beans, aster 'Ghengis Khan' (this false aster blooms non-stop from early summer until frost as long as I keep shearing spent blooms), roses: 'Pilgrim', 'Tradescant', 'Peggy Martin', glossy abelia (hummingbird & butterfly magnet). Monarda is starting its second flush. Garden phlox 'David' and 'Franz Schubert' are looking awfully tired after all the heat, but still a little bloom coming. Salvias should be on second flush, but I cut them back late. Hosta 'Guacamole' should be blooming now, but is a bit too shaded this year as the magnolia has grown ... time to move it. Chelone 'Hot Lips' and sedum 'Autumn Joy' will soon be in bloom. In dappled shade, fern-leaf bleeding heart (dicentra eximia) is putting out new leaves and will soon have its second flush of bloom. All of the above are pink, lavender to blue, or white, with the exception of roses 'Pilgrim' (pale yellow) and 'Tradescant' (deep red), monarda (red), and the scarlet runner beans which are, of course, scarlet. I don't have one, but I see that the crape myrtles around here are all still blooming vigorously.

My Spireas are just beginning to bloom. Just one or two flowers on each bush, but they are covered in bloom buds that are showing the white, so soon they will all pop overnight. The Pink-flowering Almond bushes are loaded with little pink buds. Yesterday I saw three clumps of Hosta had emerged in the bed under the Weeping Willow.. Yeah! They survived the transplant in this drought! The new orchard I planted last spring is doing well. The Apricot tree is covered in beautiful pale pink blossoms and the peaches are forming bloom buds. The wise apple trees are not being fooled by this warm pre-spring weather. If we get any of our typical spring freezes or frosts, there will be no fruit on the apricots or peaches...again. The older fruit trees are fine. The big pear tree is about to bloom, but it can handle those late-spring cold snaps and still bear fruit in the fall. My weeping Willow has tiny new yellow-green leaves. So pretty swaying in the breeze. I ADORE your Pepper Tree I miss those. My favourite tree in childhood years for climbing. I always had to laugh when watching the TV series back in the 70s of "The Walton's". It was supposed to take place in the mountains of WV, and yet there was that gigantic Pepper tree in their yard. (lol) Your garden is divine - just picture perfect. Everything is so beautiful. You could submit those images to a gardening magazine for publication. Seriously! Hey, thanks for the heads-up about Lamb's Ears being susceptible to root knot Nematode. I love them too. We do have a problem with Nematodes. Not as bad now as it was in the past, but there are still some areas where it is still a major problem. I was wondering what killed out some of my Lamb's Ear clumps. ~Annie

Not sure what you're referring to as "plant events" but there's the Cincinnati Civic Garden Center Spring sale in late April or early May, The Cincinnati Flower show in late April at Coney Island, Boone County Arboretum has a Spring Sale in May(you should find info on all these using Google)And the Cincinnati Home and Garden show at the convention center downtown in early March. Kousa dogwood do well in your area and I would recommend a site that provides afternoon shade and routinely moist soil. They will tolerate some drought conditions, but they don't like that situation. Here's some nurseries and garden centers in the Cincinnati area I have been to and recommend Natorps is good and the KY facility will have about everything the Ohio one has. Lakeview GC & Nursery on Rt 127 north of I-275. White Oak GC at 3579 Blue Rock Road. Delhi GC on Northwood near Tri-County Mall. Sharon Nursery out by Kings Island and along I-71. There's a couple greenhouses on Gray St along the northeast side of Spring Grove Cemetery. Rahn's is one of them. And be sure to drive through the cemetery while you're there. Go in the spring(mid-May) when the pink dogwoods are blooming. More Specialty Plants on Mckeever Rd. Take Rt 32 east form the east side of Cincinnati out past Williamsburg, go across a river and McKeever is the next right. They have a lot of unusual plants. There used to be a Franks Store on Rt 18 across from the Florence Mall that always had decent plants, but they may not be in business anymore