Ya know, evergreens in a pot to be planted would make a nice gift. Any pine, spruce, fir would make a nice presentation at Christmas. I know I am probably in another zone from your post, but "wish list" encouraged me to press on. Hank

First off, I am happy someone even responded---this forum has not been very active.

Secondly, I am dreaming of more plants....Solidago 'Little Lemon' It is sooo cute! I heard though it is prone to rust so before I invest...how does one prevent it?

There is also a black-eyed susan out there now that has a much longer blooming season than other cultivars ( I am always a fan First of natives) THis one is called Early Bird Gold. Anyone have experience with this one?

This time of year I always wish I had more evergreens. The garden looks too sparse. A couple more dwarf false cypress would be nice. Once spring comes and the peonies put on their show, I will forget all about evergreens though.

I don't have gay paree or athena (herbaceous peonies) and I want them. But something else will have to go to make room and I have trouble deciding what I no long love enough....

Moving for more land is out of the question. I can't leave my enormous dogwood and the 25 year old fig trees.

I hesitate to admit this because rose growing friends have hooted and made fun of me but I am so charmed by the knock-out rose (the original one radrazz) growing in the park that I want one of those too.

I'm looking to add some new sedums this year. They do so well in our hot and dry summers without supplemental watering and that's always a plus. There is such variety to choose from that I haven't made up my mind which ones I'll get. It will depend in part on what's available locally.

Oh have I got a nice one for you (or two) at our nursery,we got some newer cultivars in I really liked from Sunny Border and Riverbend Nurseries

Sedum rupestre 'Blue Spruce'--really looks like spruce and so far, evergreen in my region:)

Sedum cauticola ÂLidakenseÂ--so pretty in my containers!

Sedum variegatum--spread fast interesting variegation. There are also some that are very tiny like Nevii

On another note---I have always despised artemesia (wormwood) but we had one in a container that really did well and did not split in the middle or get that ratty look to it like most do...it is called Silver Brocade..I highly recommend it.

Decogrl, what's your nursery? Zone 6b must be in the mountains or Nova.

Blue Spruce looks interesting! The tall flowers are in such contrast to the low growing foliage that it makes for a very different look.

I've seen several called variegatum. Which one do you have and is it evergreen there?

Thanks for the tips. I'll be on the lookout for them here in spring.

Sandy

More broad-leafed evergreens! We currently have 13 varieties of holly. I still want to add Ilex 'Venus' to the backyard. This is a hybrid of Ilex latifolia and Nellie Stevens, I believe.

More of everything! I want to add more palms & hellebores. One of the sedums that did well for me last year was 'Angelina' w/ chartreuse foliage & my first rudbeckia addition was 'Henry Eilers'. Even though we've had a few rough days, I hope most of my plants pull through, I have lots of small Japanese maple cultivars in pots & about 4 small cryptomeria that I hope make it through the winter.

That's good to know about sedums. I just planted my first one last spring. Autumn fire or something like that. Kinda like a miniature "Joy" It hasn't grown much but it's only supposed to get about 3 feet tall so we will see.

update on the sedum. Mealybugs found it and ate it to death.
It made me so mad. I had never seen a mealybug on anything before til then.

So, for 2009 another Autumn Fire Sedum.

Here for the first time in years... I am redoing my whole yard with natives. I always liked natives and we had major construction under the house where there were 3 springs undermining the foundation. So I have basically a blank slate. So my list includes:
1. Plants for a rain garden
2. Meadow plants for the front yard
3. Understory trees for the backyard slope
Nell