The area gets full sun, by the way.

Some of these are just starting for me but I see you are z6 and I am z5, so I think they would be farther along for you at this point.
Lilies (asiatic), Hemerocallis (stella), Valarian (red & white), Pale Pink Mallow, Lysimachia punctata, Prairie Coneflower (yellow), Perennial Foxgloves, Hosta, Campanula, Heliopsis, Salvia, Sweet peas, Penstemon, Oenothera (primrose), Coreopsis, Sidalcea, Polemonium ('Pearl Blue')...and some others I can't think of at the moment plus tons of annuals.

Gillian

I also have the lysmachia and foxgloves. I've also got a few early astilbes, ROSES!!! and my bestest perennial (although at 5+ feet it may be too tall for you) persicaria polymorpha.

Here is a link that might be useful: persicaria

My Daylilies, Coreopsis, and Heliopsis, native Salvia, marigolds, and Bachelor Buttons are blooming. So are my tropical Hibiscus, Knockout Roses and my native Honeysuckle.

my asiatics are going crazy and they just love the sun. the ones in a little bit of shade bend to get as much sun as they can.

toad lilies are starting; astilbe are really looking great. i know the hosta would be flowering, but i think it's so unattractive, that i cut the stems off and not allow the flowering (call me strange, but it's ugly to me).

i do have a small rose bush that has just come back into bloom.

about a half dozen daylily plants are beginning - there's hundreds to go though - i guess in another week or so most will be blooming.

the orientals should be opening real soon, the buds look like they are just waiting to burst.

so sad that peonies don't last long and it always seems pounding rain storms ruin them too soon.

maryanne

The Lysimachia punctata, foxgloves and Heliopsis sound good. I saw a cute variegated Heliopsis 'Loraine Sunshine' on Davesgarden.com.

The persicaria sounds fabulous, kato - but not until I have a bigger yard. I'm in a city house with a long narrow yard, and I think the "dragons" would need more room than I have at this house.

I have three roses that came with my yard, but they seem to be done blooming - I need to find someone that knows roses better to advise me on pruning and maybe extending their bloom season next year.

I cut the flowers off my hostas, too! I just like the foliage. I planted a Gaura behind my hostas this year - I really like the wispy little fronds of orchid-like pink flowers waving around over the hostas.

Sounds like more lilies might be good for me. I have two Stella's going like gangbusters further up in the yard. I was thinking the full sun of my yard would be too much for astilbes.

I just saw a yard with feverfew and yarrow growing around and between iris spears - looked great.

be careful with yarrow, i forgot to mention that one - if you are going to grow it, contain it.

i have one astilbe that gets quite a bit of full, pounding sun, and it's absolutely stunning. all the others are in shaded areas.

maryanne

I have two yarrows - Moonshine and Terra Cotta - behind my Stella-like lilies. The Terra Cotta looks really cool with the color of my apricotish lilies (I don't know the variety, but it's not yellow enough to be the "real" Stella de Oro). There is a Lamb's Ear back there, too - another potential invader.

Heck, half the stuff in my yard is considered invasive or annoying: evening primrose, english daisy, monarda, BES, violets, passionflower, larkspur, a sedum groundcover. Even the tomatoes volunteer! I just watch them and yank out the parts I don't want. In a small yard, that's manageable.

Maryanne, do you happen to know which astilbe is so sun-tolerant?

Oh wow - I just stopped at Lowe's garden center to look for bamboo stakes. They had 3 big unmarked racks of half-dead perennials in 1 gallon pots. I asked the clerk if they were discounted - and the ones marked with yellow paint were fifty cents! Two racks were not yet marked down, but I am keeping my eye on them.

I bought 4 pink Gaura, 2 yellow Coreopsis, and 2 white Veronica. All looked like they had been watered irregularly, but had new growth and buds forming. I am going to quarantine them for a little while to watch for bugs or disease, and I'll check the roots before I plant them. But it would have been $48 at retail, and I spent $4. Plant bargains make me ridiculously happy.

That should put some color in the back of my yard. But I'm still looking into today's suggestions. Thanks, everyone!

(Keep posting what's blooming - it's fun to see what everyone has going on.)

--Tracy

isn't it excellent for those less than a dollar perennials? in the last couple of years, i have purchased more than my fair share of plants that way and spent minimal money. it didn't bother me at all to have to wait until the following season and it also didn't bother me if one or two didn't come back.

the astilbe - hmmm, good question which one this is. i will get a picture of it and post so you can see this one - i'll post the name too. offer stands for this too. i'll be more than happy to send you a clump (or like i said in the other post - come to the plant swap caliloo is putting together and get it in person)

maryanne

T - here ya go! this is the one that is in sun.

That certainly is doing well in the sun. Let me know if you think of the name. Maybe I will find some astilbe on the Lowe's clearance rack! LOL

Is the swap planned by caliloo the one in Bucks on Jul 7? Which forum thread has the details for that? I have to be someplace that evening, but I might be able to come to something earlier in the day. I'm in Berks.

I don't think anyone mentioned Stoke's Asters.. mine have been blooming for over a week now, and will keep going for a while.

'Honeysong Purple'
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'Klaus Jelitto'
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I buy Gaura every year; it's so airy and beautiful....self-cleaning flowers and it blooms forever...what more could you ask for. It's been flowering for over a month already. I have not had any luck with it wintering over, although every plant tag I have says it's hardy to zone 6. This year I found a new cultivar 'Passionate Rainbow'. In full sun the foliage is reddish pink with just a bit of green, the stems are reddish pink and the flowers are pink- lovely! It's not flowering as much as my other gaura ('whirling butterflies' I think) but the foliage makes up for it.

My dandelions are over and the clover is in full bloom. Kidding aside, the day lilies are gorgeous. The water lilies in my pond garden are blooming beautifully as are the Canna lilies and water hyacinths. The butterfly weed, hydrangeas and lavender are gorgeous also.

I have such a teeny yard - I wish I had room for hydrangeas and a pond. Sounds great. I planted some new cannas late, so mine are not blooming yet. I can't wait to find out what they are - I got them unlabeled at a Master Gardener sale.

Aspenbooboo, how tall are Stokes asters? I am enjoying my Gaura Siskiyou Pink. I just got 4 Pink Fountain on the Lowe's clearance rack. I cut them back and watered them well in partial sun and they have recovered wonderfully. I think they are ready to be planted now. Pink Fountain is a paler pink than Siskiyou. This is my first year with Gaura - I didn't know they were hard to winter over. I will load up the mulch.

I feel your pain about having a teeny yard, mine is too :-(

The Stoke's Asters are about 1 1/2 ft tall, well that's the 'Klaus Jelitto' and this is the second year for him. I just got another one this year, not sure of the cultivar, but the flowers open white, then turn pink, and finally purple before dying ! It's so cool.

Oooh.. I'm on my way to Lowe's tomorrow to look for clearance Gaura!

My Shasta Daisies are in full bloom right now, also a very pretty Geranium 'Jolly Bee' has been blooming like crazy since the beginning of June and shows no sign of stopping. It bloomed last year right up to the end of September. Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' began blooming about the 3rd week of June. Echinacea 'Magnus' is just starting. My Stachys 'hummelo' is in full bloom, began about 2 weeks ago. I love this Stachys. It is the non fuzzy type. Very pretty bright pink flower spikes and bright green leaves that are nearly evergreen in our zone 5. Oh, the Balloon Flowers (Platycodon) are coming into bloom now too and Phlox of many varieties are just beginning.

You could throw one heck of a garden party with all that flowers at the end of June.

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow)
Achillea "Moonshine" (Yarrow)
Adenophora bulleyana (Ladybells)
Adenophora x confusa (Ladybells)
Alcea (Hollyhocks)
Astilbe will blooms longer in part shade
Bachelor buttons (Reseed)
Callirhoe involucrata
Campanula "Kent Belle"
Campanula latiflora
Campanula poscharskyana
Chickory
Clematis
Coreopsis verticillata "Zagreb"
Coreopsis "Double Sunburst"
Coreopsis rosea (Pink Coreopsis)
Coreopsis "Sunray"
Coreopsis "Early Sunrise"
Coreopsis verticillata "Moonbeam"
Dianthus barbatus (Tall Sweet William)
Digitalis lanata
Echinacea purpurea
Echinacea tennennissis
Escholtzia (California Poppy) Reseed
Gaillardia "Goblin"
Gypsophila paniculata (Babys Breath)
Heliopsis "Summer Sun" (Perennial Sunflower)
Hemerocallis "Stella de Oro" (Daylily)
Hemerocallis "Happy Returns" (Daylily)
Hemerocallis fulva (Orange Roadside Daylily)
Heuchera (all varieties)
Hydrangea macrophylla (Mop Heads and Lace Caps)
Hydrangea arborescens "Annabelle"
extremely hardy in our zone. Will bloom on old or new wood
Hydrangea serrata "Preziosa"
extremely hardy in our zone. Will bloom on old or new wood
Lamium maculatum will continue to bloom in shade
Larkspur (Reseed)
Lathyrum latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Lavender (All Varieties)
Lillium (Oriental Lilies)
Lillium (Asiatic Lilies)
Linum perenne (Flax)
Lonicera
Lychnis coronaira "Rose Campion"
Lysimachia punctata "Alexander"
Lysimachia clethroides (Gooseneck Loosestrife)
Monarda didyma (all varieties)
Nepeta subsessilis
Nepta "Dropmore"
Nepta "Six Hills Giants"
Oenothera speciosa (Pink Evening Primrose)
Oenothera fruiticosa yyoungii "Sundrops"
Papaver atlanticum
Papaver somniferum (Poppies) reseeded
Penstemon barbatus coccineus red
Penstemon digitalis
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Phlox maculata
Potentilla fruticosa (Shrub)
Roses
Shasta Daisies
Silene mexicana (reseed)
Spirea japonica "magic carpet"
Stachys monieri
Stachys byzantina (Lambs Ears)
Symphytum grandiflorum "Hidcote Blue" (Comfrey)
Tamarix
Thyme "Peter Davis"
Thyme "Caraway"
Thyme "Magic Carpet"
Thyme "Creeping Red"
Thyme "Lime"
Thyme "Golden Lemon"
Thyme "Doone Valley"
Thyme "Silver"
Thyme "Creeping Red"
Thyme "Doone Valley"
Yucca Plant

aspenbooboo...I have whirling butterflies, sunset hyssop and lavender mixed in a bed. Both the hyssop and the gaura are hardy...BUT...the bed needs to have really good drainage. It seems that if the winter is wet and the drainage is not good they get swamped out and don't return. Mine is a raised bed so I don't have too many issues but have tried it elsewhere with no success.

Matriarchy, I have coneflowers (Kim's knee highs, plain old purple, Twilight, Mango Meadowbrite, Sunrise) all in bloom. Asclepias Tuberosa, although it's waning perhaps because it is first year after planting as seedlings. Coreopsis (Zagreb and Creme Brulee). Potentilla (Fruiticosa...Goldfinger). Liatris (Kobold). Phlox (David) Nepeta (Walkers Low) but it's in its second flush after being cut back. Penstemon Digitalis, (huskers red). Roses...several. My baptisia should be coming into bloom soon. Monarda (Petite Delight). Trumpet Vine (MMe Galen) Rudbeckia (Goldsturm) is just starting but they are VERY young plants. three inch pots this year so I suspect they'll be a bit earlier next year although they go all summer. Broad leaved mountain mint, pink turtlehead,

I also have a (very) small meadow...penstemon smalli, rudbeckia triloba, coreopsis lanceolata, more asclepias, little bluestem, aster oblongifolia (although it won't come into bloom until late summer/early fall), allium cernuum, liatris aspera (just ocming into bloom), slender mountain mint, showy goldenrod (not in bloom till fall). I guess most of this though won't work too well alone. Probably needs the meadow context to work. I guess it depends on how packed your beds are.

Robin

I think Butterflyweed is the best perennial for late june to early july. It is native, smallish (about 2.5 feet usually), doesn't spread but is very long lived, and is the most brilliant orange you can find. The slow growth is a drawback at first, but a boon in the long run. Also, butterflies love it - Asclepias tuberosa.

Ladyslppr, I just got done combing a list of natives last night on the PaDNR list, and definitely added Butterfly Weed to my wish list. I love orange. I had Mexican sunflowers last year, but they get too huge for the scale of my yard.

Robin, I envy you the meadow. I have a 10x40 city backyard at the moment. I just can't have the things that work best in a huge swath. Like that Artemisia "Sweet Annie" - I'd love to have a huge patch of it for aromatic wreaths in the fall. It's too weedy-looking and unbelievably reseedy for my current garden. I would grow a lot more things for drying if I had room. Like your goldenrod. Ooo... a whole row of those huge convoluted cockscombs. Bells of Ireland.

Herblady - that's quite a list. I do have some of those plants - just planted a lot more thyme and lavender seeds. I will check out the rest for my wish list.

It's such fun reading what everyone has. We should do this again at the end of July.

matriarchy...you'd be surprised what you can pack into a small space! My yard is pretty small. I have a 30 year old half twin on a corner lot. It's less than 1/3 acre on the deed. Realistically it MIGHT be 1/4 acre between front/side and rear. For perspective, the side yard is 24 x 36 and the front is 28x48 and is bissected by a walk to the house which is about 4.5 ft wide. My back yard is about 44' long and an irregular 48 wide. (You have to net a large shed and a driveway out of that width across most of the length so for all intents and purposes it's 28 wide. The meadow just fits into an area about 15x30 but bisected with a 3 foot path going through and around it to enjoy the insect life and the flowers as you meander through it. Not sure you can meander through such a small space...!

I had specific goals for the yard and knew it was beyond me to design it on my own. So I hired a landscape design professional with a degree in horticulture and landscape design and who specializes in native/natural landscaping. We are beyond pleased with the results!

I was intent on providing habitat and welcoming birds. I wanted to attract and sustain butterflies and hummingbirds. I like to enjoy a garden but I did not want to spend tons of time working in it. Truth be told..I spend more time working in it than I would like to but I am having a terrible perennial weed problem this summer from the early hot summer! I did not want much grass. So the front yard is primarily flower beds...a long one flanks the front of the house (there's goldenrod and aster in this one among other things) and the fence line that divides the front and side yards. There is a huge island in the center of the front yard...huge being relative to the side of the yard. There's a tree in each end....and it is jam pack full of flowering native perennials throughout. (A neighbor said I had a jungle and my little GS said yes, a jungle for insects. The birds love it!) Then, the strip between my walk and the neighbors is another perennial bed. There is a swath of grass surrounding the island...but it's only about two mower widths wide. The side yard has beds...a raised and a ground level...on all 4 sides of it (along the house and between side and back, front and side and along fence on side). There IS grass there...not a lot...but grass for the dogs to potty. The back yard is no grass. There's a row of privacy arbs/red cedars/hollies along the back....and a series of gravel paths. Flower beds under trees...a lot of trees (I created a shady microenvironment in a SW aspect in the upper part of the small back yard)...a small pond...a boulder/rock outcropping, the little (teeny!) meadow below it, ferns up under the trees. There's about 12-1500 plants + trees. About 65 varieties in all.

Anyway. The only grass in my back yard is native tall grasses...not turf grass. I wanted lots of flowers, seeds and fruits and that's what I got. Now it's quite charming and very tended...but not nearly as tame as most suburban plots. My neighbors are accustomed to very manicured things. But they all love and comment on the variety of my flowers, the birds and wildlife the garden attracts...and the impact they make in such mass. But it took a lot of work (we installed with some help) a lot of research finding the plants some of which are rather obscure and not a small amount of $$$. Just not all at once. It's always evolving. But, once you get past the keeping and tending grass idea you'd be surprised how much impact you can pack in a modest space.

I'll take some pictures when I replace my digicam. DH took mine to a fishing trip and fell in the river. This is the third camera of mine he broke so from now on he gets disposables and I will replace mine...I have my eye on the Canon s5 is.

Robin

Oh Robin, I can't wait for photos! I am very fond of the no-lawn idea. I'd love to see what professionals came up with.

In the front of my house I have only a concrete planter - about 4x6 which is mostly sedums and a too-big monarda right now.

In the back, the whole yard is 10x40 (not including a small concrete covered patio). A sidewalk runs the length of one side, and a planting bed runs down the other side. I have one 5x5 square of turf grass that I call my "mulch farm." I cut the grass with a grass shears, dry it on the sidewalk, and use it for mulch.

I just dug out another 5x5 square to expand the vegetable patch. Some of the rest would be considered "grass" by some, but it's mostly violets and clover that I leave in to attract bees to pollinate my stuff (and because clover fixes nitrogen). I don't need a lawn mover.

I am fairly happy with my plans for the veg and for the perennial border in the planting strip. I like a "kitchen garden" of flowers, herbs and vegetables.

It's the rear third of the yard that I am working on now - the part where I want to diversify the plantings to get more color as various perennials bloom and stop.

In the spring it has violets and some bulbs (adding more bulbs). Then the iris, peonies, clematis, and a yellow rose bloom - looks good. Then it starts to lose color, with just some reseeding larkspur. I usually plug in some annuals around the iris and peony foliage - zinnias and melampodium this year. There is a blanket flower. Right now, there is mostly green, while the tall Sweet Black-eyed Susans get larger and the larkspur fades. I have passionflower vines coming up the back fence, cannas coming up, and I planted some coreposis and veronica toward the front of the bed. It should be dramatic in about a month - but nothing is really blooming until then. I want to get started on some plantings that will produce color at this time next year.

So far, I am thinking of replacing the rose in the back. It came with the yard. Produces one round of average yellow roses and very limited rebloom. Wasn't pruned and is a lopsided 10' feet high on one side. I am thinking of replacing or supplementing it with a trellis climber that will bloom all summer.

I am moving the monarda from the front planter to the back this fall, planting a lily, some butterfly weed and a coneflower. Hope to add a bunch of lavender. Maybe some of those Stokes asters. I like the brighter summer colors - purple, red, orange, yellow, white. I thought I might fill in holes with coleus.

I will try to get some photos up, too.

Shoot. I just noticed your profile and that you are acrounging bricks for a path! I tore one out and just threw away a heap of bricks!!! SIGH!!! Berks...you must be in Reading to be urban. I am just outside Allentown...

Robin

Yep - I'm in a Reading rowhouse. There is a fascinating ecology of rowhouse backyards that is not visible from the front. The trees and plants in the whole block come together in the backyards. I trade peppers and cilantro with neighbors. I watch bats that nest in the very tall Norway spruces across the block - the birds flock to the mulberry three doors down - there is a trained homing pigeon flock, a colony of feral cats, squirrels that use the cable lines to avoid the cats. We have been watching mud dauber wasps and paper wasps. There is a lot going on in an urban space, even if you only control a 10' strip of it. LOL

Don't stress about the bricks. I only need a few more. I asked at a demolition site with thousands of nice rustic 100-yr-old house bricks only a few feet away - and they said their insurance won't permit them to give me a few. They all get used for clean fill somewhere. Ugh - what a waste. But I keep my eye out and I find them all over - like in parking lots.

We were in Easton last week. I took my daughter to the Craolya Factory. I am coming back up 222 one day soon, to visit the Rodale Farm with my kids. You know, that might be a fun field trip for people in this area. I wonder if we could arrange a meet-up.

Robin- I would really love to see pictures of your gardens as well. How coincidental, I just got two Agastache x Rupestris this year which I was worried about wintering over. I think I will create a temporary raised bed in the fall and use that to winter over the Agastache & Gaura. Oh- and I'm from just outside Allentown too :-)

I'm in a twin home also, 2nd summer here, and slowly but surely replacing the grass in the front yard with plants. It's about 250 sq. ft. total I guess. I'd say I have a little less than half of it covered. Then I have the area next to the sidewalk which leads to the backyard, which is about 20'x2', to do. The backyard has two beds right now, each about 15'x2'. I am adding stuff and moving stuff around all the time, but really do need to do a winter project of coming up with a design for all my areas. I would love to replace most of my backyard with plants too, but I have a chocolate lab who would miss her play area too much.

Matriarchy, would love to see your pics too!

Well HEY NEIGHBORS! I'd love to meet up at Rodale (and what a good excuse to stop in at Foliage Farm to see what's on sale....)

My grandparents used to live in a little rowhouse on Chew Street in Allentown (at 10th) when it was a lovely in-town neighborhood. They were great gardeners...and it is where I learned to love gardens. Theirs was long and narrow...and although most everybody in the block fenced theirs in, the fences stopped short of the back alley and there was that community thing going on. It was the COOLEST place to play!

Grandma's garden was a bit like a "secret garden" although not as secluded or full. It pretty much went around the perimeter of the yard...but in one corner grandpa sunk their old clawfoot tub (they had fallen from favor during that time) and painted the inside with pool paint, filled it with water, hooked up a pump and filter and threw in a waterlily and goldfish. I learned to love ponds then. In another corner was an arbor. It didn't GO anywhere...it was purely for effect. Growing over it were dark, sweet, purple grapes. And there was a bench under it. It was cattycornered in the back corner of the yard...so it seemed very private. I used to love to sit in there and read. Then there were the roses and lilies and the dahlias...and oh! The FLAGS!!!(iris)....and the old fashioned white cast iron filigree benches, the old (OLD!) green wicker porch rockers. SIGH. What a GREAT garden!! It was probably the size of your backyard...although when you came out of the house there was like a two level "patio"(stoops the width of the yard would be more accurate)...upper level was shaded and you sat there with lemonade (in the colored aluminum tumblers that felt cool when you put them to your lips already!). Lower level was sunny and had a looooong table there...and you and all your aunts, uncles and cousins came there and had picnics (especially when G/G came back from Ocean City with clams and oysters and there was a clambake. The kids got spaghetti... thank goodness.)

Well. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I must go dig out the old phots now. I envy you your garden matriarchy!!!!

aspenbooboo...it takes time and patience...the garden will evolve a lot!...and about the time you think you have one area right, it is time to divide and begin to work again! LOL...but what a wonderful hobby that brings such enjoyment and beauty this gardening thing!! When you think you've got it all done you'll be bored and decide to redesign and start the cycle over again. LOL
Robin

Here's a link to the natural landscape design guy I used. He has some neat info on his site.

Agastache! Those are COOL! I never looked at those before. That goes on my list.

Does anyone know if my baptisia will bloom the first year? Foliage looks nice, but I don't see any flower buds forming yet.

I would love to meet at the Rodale Farm, if anyone else wants to. I am pretty flexible - I think they are only open during the day for tours, but I can check.

I will work on getting my photos up on Photobucket.

--Tracy

matriarchy....I planted Baptisia last year. It is still not in bloom this year. I also don't see buds. I keep saying my baptisia should be blooming soon. But all it is at this time is foliage. All I can tell you with certainty is that "it can take a long time to get established" and "it often doesn't bloom until it is established". I have read that the establishment period could be up to three years. SIGH.

Robin

re: Agastache...I found this blurb and am (shamefully) pasting it here with credit to the website it's on following:

"It is true that this isn't the hardiest plant; Zone 5b is pushing it. But if you garden farther south, especially in anarid regions such as southern California or the Rockies, you have no excuse for not having plenty of sunset hyssop in yourgarden. Plenty of hot sun, and lean, ultra well-drained to bordering on arid soil is what it takes to make this plant thrive.

Its downfall in northerly zones is more the winter wetness than humidity. If you are a northern gardener, work plenty of gravel and sand into the soil for your sunset hyssop. And whatever you do, don't surround it with shredded hardwood or bark mulch. Doing so is a sure way to kill it over the winter, as this type of mulch keeps the soil beneath extra waterlogged--anethema for sunset hyssop. Instead, mulch the plant with a generous collar of pea gravel, which will allow winter rains to drain away from it's rot-sensitive crown. Farther north than Zone 5b, enjoy this wonderful, all-season bloomer in a large container, where it will draw hummingbirds to your patio."
http://www.frenchgardening.com/inprofile.html?pid=3119250139101190

Now in fact, my raised bed is fronted by the retaining wall around my driveway and (a) I did not amend the soil so it is definitely "sharp" loam and (b) we DID mulch that area with the same gravel as in the pathways. DUH. I just followed the directions when I did it thinking it was for continuity. Now I know why! The Guara is temperamentally pretty much like the agastache in its dislike of wet feet.

Robin

PS...I would add that it self seeds......

"The Fairy" rose was beautiful a couple weeks ago, my hubby even commented on how nice it looked. Light pink flowers that bloom on and on and on. Blanket flower has been a good one also even though it can be invasive and the new plants that crop up are just as nice as the original contrary to what I've read in my plant books. Daylilies have been kicking for a couple of weeks, foxglove, pincusion flower, coreopsis, rose campion...
Hope you find something. I'm with you on the Lowe's thing, was there 2 days ago and got some clearance plants to add to my never ending collection.