Does Sweet Heidy produce seeds? I have spot that really could use a few geraniums like this, especially with its part-shade tolerance.

{{gwi:269652}}I also have a nice new Hibiscus. This one is a Hibiscus moscheutos variety. I got it from a seed trade off the GW perennials forum, and he thought it would be 'Blue River II' but that variety doesn't have a red eye -- it's supposed to be pure white. But it does have the petal form of Blue River II. It's some new hybrid that formed from Blue River II and something else.

{{gwi:269653}}I also got seeds for these Dianthus deltioides 'Brilliancy' from that same trade. I've been very happy with these babies. They flowered in early June and have kept it up most of the summer. Not that many perennials seem to flower the first year from seed.

I just posted this in another thread, but this has been another great find from that seed trade. It's Delosperma cooperi -- hardy iceplant. I've noticed from a neighbor's garden that her yellow ones don't flower very long at all, but these purples ones are top performers, flowering all summer and still now into the fall. They also flowered first year from seed, which was a nice treat.

I think Sweet Heidy doesn't produce seeds - I just looked and the seed capsules all are empty. Being sterile could be why it keeps blooming. I read that that's why Tiny Monster keeps blooming so the same reason could apply for Sweet Heidy.

Since Sweet Heidy is a hybrid, I doubt the offspring would bloom true anyway.

Here's another first for me this year that I plan on repeating next year. Japanese Morning Glories:

Asian melon "Golden Sweet". Totally different taste than any melon I've had before. Baseball sized fruit that are ripe when they turn yellow. Big trick here is wash off and eat the skin. I just finished eating one, and found another half dozen out in the garden, now exposed after the frost frizzled up the leaves.

And I've mentioned it before, but this year #3 I'm getting decent, well established stands of Salvia Grandiflora; its flowering now 4 weeks and going strong. It needs support unless its in full sun. Deep intense blue, 3 - 4' high, and it looks pretty cool with Russian Sage.

I'm only familiar with a light lavender Salvia grandiflora:

And mine never reblooms in the fall.

Deep intense blue sounds gorgeous - much prettier than mine.

cnetter, I got the original one from high country gardens, and it's now 5 or 6 years old. If you get one, they are fairly easy to propagate, and thats what I've been doing after I found out how beautiful it is. I keep one in a pot inside the greenhouse all winter, and got very good cutting from that. The other way is to take cuttings from an outside plant early in June, and root those.

Its just hard to describe the blue, their pic doesn't do it, and the photos I take don't seem to go from stunning beauty onto the internet very well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Salvia grandiflora

Oh! Salvia pitcheri variety 'Grandiflora' is something very different from mine.
If High Country has it, there's a good chance Timberline has it, and they're local. I'll check.

I really like that colour.

I'm such an idiot sometimes - I have Penstemon grandiflora, not Salvia grandiflora. No wonder they are so different.

Well my success was not a new plant but a new method of making up for lost time. It was 4th of July weekend before I could find time to shop for annuals this year. Instead of buying the typical six-packs that were all dried up and rootbound by then, I bought several $10 pre-potted hanging baskets. Then I split them up and repotted into my own planters.

The plants were healthier. My planters filled in quickly. I had a great blooming right up to today.

Here is a link that might be useful: 2007 planters

Great idea Berrytea4me! I did something similar... watched the sales at the grocery store and picked mixed pots up on the cheap and they separated them out. In one pot there was an Osteopernum and 2 little copper colored Heurcheras! At least, that's what they looked like. I transplanted into the ground. We'll see how they do next year.

I just got back in from the veggie garden and found a bunch of beans:

These were planted very late. I planted them where I had my peas, after the peas were done for the year, just to give that garden row something to do. They were the only bush type bean seed left at the garden center at that point, so I tried them.

I didn't think they had bloomed well, so didn't bother looking for beans until today, when I was poking around the garden looking for gourds. These bean plants hide their beans well.

That said, the beans are quite mild and tender. We'll eat them raw tonight and cook the rest later. They are Romas - an Italian flat bean.

I tried a new corn this year that is a keeper for me. It's Burpee's Ruby Queen.
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This corn stays sweet on the stalk for weeks - longer than any other I've grown. And produces almost two ears per stalk. I don't think any of it was eaten cooked, and some was very deep red by the time it was picked.