Cath, Magnolia grandiflora is one of the more tolerant magnolias, and is certainly a magnificent tree, but I'm not interested in it. I long for the deciduous, mostly Asian magnolias: M. stellata, M. denudata, the Soulangeanas, the x loubneri group, the yellow-flowered hybrids of M. acuminata. Actually, I plan on getting a Loebneri magnolia: I think I actually have a place, one spot in our thirty-three acres, where it will grow. Magnolias are fairly common ornamental trees down in the Po Plain below our hills, and in our local town, which is located in a valley and has good alluvial soils. It's five miles away and about 225 meters lower than we are, and they can grow plants that we can't. Conditions vary. It's not that I haven't tried magnolias, but much of the soil in the big garden bears a close resemblance to adobe brick when it's dry, and they just can't handle it. The shade garden either has dry unfriendly soil, or it floods, and I don't think magnolias like to be flooded either (roses on the other hand can handle tremendous amounts of winter water). Also much of the shade garden is shady, of course. But I do have one spot I think will work, and I'm looking forward to getting the right magnolia, and then seeing it in splendor in a few years. They are magnificent, glorious trees. Otherwise I may get a pear for one spot where I want a flowering tree. That may not sound obvious, but pears have a heavy noble structure and a massive whiteness to their bloom that makes them, in my eyes, the hill country aesthetic equivalent of flowering magnolias. harmonyp (Beth?) I think you're right about dahlias. I got rid of my numerous family of them a few years ago after a very long drought because I didn't want to water them; and I got tired of lifting the tubers and keeping them in my mud room through the winter, then replanting them, and staking them. Right now the garden has just three or four survivors that have made it through two unusually cold and wet winters without rotting. I have a handsome pink one growing in the cottage bed next to the house where it flourishes in clay and with little supplementary water. Dahlias come in a great variety of forms and colors, many of them very beautiful: rich burgundies, violets, soft oranges, waterlily pinks. They're undemanding about water and soil. They don't get any pests or diseases to speak of. They make excellent cut flowers. One of the things I liked about dahlias when I was growing them in quantity is how they're movable foliage, excellent for filling in gaps when the shrubs are young; and they have big, bold, flourishing dark leaves with never a trace of mildew. They bloom when much of the garden is quiescent too. Now I'm wondering why on earth I don't have more dahlias. I don't quite trust them to be tough enough to thrive out in the big garden, where life is a battle: they're more suitable to the vegetable patch, and I have very little of that kind of space. Perhaps one year I'll be able to conjure up some room for dahlias. They are wonderful flowers. Melissa

oh, Marianne, please try nicotiana suaveolens - this was new to me after pilfering seeds from our botanical gardens last year. Unlike other Nicotianas, it has single elegant tubular flowers (although several grow along each thin and wiry stem) which easily grow 1m high and has a powerful scent for such dainty blooms - can send you some seeds if you like as I will certainly be saving more and growing them again. Not even sure whether it is annual or perennial (annual, I would guess, certainly flowers first year from a March sowing and is still flowering now) but, with tall pennisetum, this has been a revelation for me this year. Do let me know and I will send you my e.mail address- i think we could get away with a few little seeds, don't you? I can't seem to change my details on 'my page' which has not been updated since 2003. I believe the N.suaveolens would look lovely with the calamagrostis and. although the seed is tiny, it is easy like all nicotianas. There is also a small limnanthes (poached egg plant) which comes in just white (meringue, i think it is called from Thompson and Morgan or Chilterns seeds)which made a delightful edging and a change from the ubiquitous alyssum. There is also a much smaller foxglove (instead of D.purpurea alba) called snow thimbles (Nicky's seeds) which is perennial for me and only grows to 90cm. Oh, also another annual, omphalodes linifolia, almost cloudy grey with glaucous leaves, will seed around too. What a lovely project, will look forward to hearing about your successful and glowing scene. Ooops, fogetting the wonderful campanula persicifolia - brilliant plant with lovely evergreen rosettes - although I am sure you probably have these.

These will be going in today, and barring the "call of the seed rack", should be the last for me. Allium Christophii Allium Heavenly Blue Amaranthus aurora Yellow Fountain Amaranthus gangeticus Elephanthead Calendula Calendula - Radio Candytuft Cathedral Bells Cup&Saucer Foxglove - South African Hyacinth Bean Marigold - Colossus Marigold - Mr. Majestic Marigold - Patula Marigold - Solon Marigold Scarlet Starlet Nasturtium - Strawberries and cream Nasturtium Empress of India Nasturtium Peach Melba Nasturtium Strawberry Ice Salvia - Lady in Red Ageratum - Leilani Blue Aster - astoria mix Aster - Crego mix Balsam Impatiens Balsam Impatiens Double Celosia - Maroon Cleome - pink Cleome - serrulata Cleome - Spinosa Cleome Rose Queen Cosmidium Phillipine Cosmos - orange Dahlia - Bishop's Children Dahlia - Delight mix Datura - Double black Datura - Double yellow Datura - white Ipomopsis Hummingbird Mix Lobelia Crystal Palace Melampodium Nicotiana Nicotiana - purple Snapdragon - Labelle mix Snapdragon - tall deluxe Verbena Amarilla Bidens Vinca - Stardust orchid Vinca - Stardust rose Vinca - Tropicana Bright Eye Vinca Rosea Zinnia - California Giant Zinnia - Cherry profusion Zinnia - mixed English Daisy Red Pomponette Kniphofia uvaria Torch Lily Maiden Pinks Brilliancy Perennial mix Polemonium (Jacob's Ladder) blue Bottlebrush bush - red Rose of Sharon

Thanks guys. The Wall Background Not quite sure where I got the idea of the wall. It sort of popped into my head as a way to breakdown the scale of the front yard. I've always liked landscapes that offered bit of mystery to them. Things that were concealed and hinted at that would pique my curiosity. This is more common in the city where people have garden screens or trellises set back from the front edge of the yard. There's some landscaping on display for the public but the front of the house is somewhat concealed from direct view and/or there's a front court / patio area that's somewhat hidden. Perhaps not as friendly or neighborly but interesting. The general concept for the front yard was to have this public / semi-private progression up to the front door of our house. The wall seemed like a good way to go. It'd have a mass and presence and delineate a clear boundary between the public area of the front yard and the more semi-public/private area near the front door. But it wouldn't completely block the views and close off the front yard. The public area of the yard (outside the wall) would have low-growing vinca (so I wouldn't have to mow that area) and have a more spartan, zen-like quality. The wall was purposely placed so that it broke on either side of the path and the path then went through an opening in the wall. This creates a threshold to mark progression into the semi-private precinct of the inner garden. Inside the wall I wanted an overgrowth of plants and an explosion of color. A visual treat for anyone walking through the wall toward the front door. I also liked the idea of having some over head cover and trees to provide a sense of being in the woods. It's not quite there yet but to this end I transplanted a number of vine maples from my aunt's woods. They are planted along the wall and give some verticle height tot he front yard. There are also about 10-12 rhododenderons (of various projected sizes and heights) planted throughout the yard with most within the wall. I also used some sword ferns as green in-fill plants. My aunt has thousands of them in the 11 acres of forest hill side she has. So those were free filler plants. As for the material cost, the wall was almost free: it's built of broken concrete that I found around the area. Most of the time stacked concrete rubble is used in retaining walls. But I wanted to have this wall free standing since the yard was flat. The construction is based on millennia-old rubble wall construction techniques dating back to Roman times and beyond. The outer courses are of course the big chunks of concrete. But the interior core (space between the outer pieces) is packed tight with smaller chunks of concrete and 5/8"- crushed rock. The angular facets of the crushed rock lock in and compact in a very stable manner. As you can see, the top of each course is pretty smooth and flat and ready for the next layer. When I finished, the wall was strong enough that I can run and jump on the top. I can pound and stomp my feet and jump up and down as much as I want but it's doesn't move. Eco-Lawn As for the "eco-lawn". Growing up as a young boy it was my task to mow our lawns at home. I got paid for it but it was still a chore. As I got older I still had to mow our lawns but then I started doing the grounds upkeep at my dad's warehouse which also included mowing. Suffice to say, I got pretty tired of mowing. Its mind numbing. I'm much more interested in lushly planted gardens and such. Not to mention the water resources that lawns drinkup. Wow. Oh, and around the Seattle area they do brown out a lot in the summer if not watered. When I stumbled across the idea of an eco-lawn it caught my eye (I think a news paper article). The idea is this: An eco-lawn is a mix of slow growing grasses and broadleaf plants like clover, yarrow, english daisies and some other stuff. There are a number of environmental benefits such as 1/3 to 1/4 the watering requirements. And with the clover which produces nitrogen the "lawn" is self-fertilizing. But the BIG winner for me was the 1/3 to 1/4 mowing requirements. Since the eco-lawn grows so slowly you don't need to mow as much. And in spring time all those other plants produce flowers so the lawn looks like a big meadow. Very pretty. But it's a lot of effort to install one. You need to first kill your existing lawn. Then roto-till it up, rake up and remove the sod clumps, then you can spread the eco-lawn seed mix. Then make sure it stays moist until established. The seed is a bit pricey at about $30 / 1000 sf of lawn. Then there is the rototiller rental and old sod disposal fees. I bit off a bit more than I was expecting. I though I'd be able to just till the old sod into the ground. Nope, too lumpy. With the ideal sowing time fast approaching I ended up just piling up the sod in my driveway for later disposal. In the end that 7000 sf of lawn area yielded about 20 cubic yards of piled up sod (about two dump trucks worth). It took me a few months and about 15+ trips with my little utility trailer to drop it off in my aunt's pastures. It cut the disposal costs to just gas money instead of dump or landfill/recycling fees, or about 1/3 the cost of normal disposal. Sorry to high-jack this thread but here are some photos of the ecolawn. The flowers have stopped coming up the end of summer but the lawn has filled out more. I expect this spring will be amazing. For what it's worth, I haven't mowed my yard since October as the eco-lawn has gone a bit dormant. I'd do it again but would be more prepared for a lot of effort. Click the link below for more eco-lawn photos as it progressed over the last year+. This is in April of '08. The lawn was planted in mid-to-late September of '07. So this is about 7 months after planting. The lawn is still somewhat sparse but all the ground is mostly covered and the flowers are coming up. . . . . . Same time of year, April '08. Zoe is playing with her toy in the eco-lawn. . . . . . . This is almost exactly a year after planting, October '08. This photo shows a more mature eco-lawn with a mowed area and an un-mowed area. The un-mowed area represents about 4 weeks without mowing. Note the lush green and chartruse colors. I like the mottled look. Surprisingly, this lawn hasn't been watered since August at the height of summer. . . . . . Front yard with some eco-lawn. About 4 weeks since last mowing. . . . . . . . And some of the work it took to get the new eco-lawn in. This yard project really kicked my behind. And it all started with wrestling with a 9hp rototiller, then the raking (seen above), then the stock piling to the driveway, then hand loading / unloading 20 cy of sod to my aunts house. . . . . . . For what it's worth I went with the Fleur-de-lawn seed mix. It was designed for the NW. One of the guys who came up with this concept was a research professor at the Oregon State University I believe. There's also some info on the Washington State University website. WSU Eco-lawn info Here is a link that might be useful: My Eco-lawn page showing a DIY progress shots