I always hesitate somewhat to recommend annuals to someone who lives so far north of me, because your climate is so different, but here is a list of some that I really like and that ought to do well for you. Ask around and research in your area before jumping in with both feet. Zinnia Profusion, Pink and white tones: These are fabulous for the front of a border. They bloom non-stop, and probably will do better for you than they do for me. Our intense sun causes the pink shades to fade. Mexican Zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia) in Crystal White is a truly outstanding plant for us. It will be at its very best in late summer when everything else is pooping out. Salvia farinacea, Victoria is my very favorite blue and it's spiky too. It's about eighteen inches high. Delphiniums or larkspur would probably do well for you, and again, they provide spiky form that is so valuable. If they bloom all summer in your mild climate, I'd definitely include them. The larkspur will reseed. They are tall, but the foliage isn't, so they don't seem so tall, if you know what I mean. Sweet Alyssum will bloom all summer (for you, not me), comes in whites, lavenders, and pinks. It's great at the front of a border and provides nice fine texture. It will also reseed if happy. helichrysum is a splendid foliage plant that would provide silvery blue color with its fuzzy leaves all summer. Lambs Ears would do the same and provide some bolder forms. You could also consider stachys grandiflora. It's blooms are rose pink. Very attractive plant and if you have good luck with lavender, you should do well with it. Alternanthera is another wonderful low growing spreader. It has purple/silver/green leaves that are metallic looking, but not garish. It weaves through other plants well. It will spread 3 feet by summer's end, so set it back in the border, to avoid having it all over your grass. I second the motion for pentas. They are splendid annuals that look great the whole season with absolutely no care. red, pink, rose, lavender, and white. I personally like the full sized ones (about 18 inches) better than the dwarfs. The blooms are in scale better with the larger plant size. The whole plant is neat and elegant. Blue Lobelia, crystal palace is a great front of the border mounder that provides fine texture and really really blue flowers. (I'm so jealous to think of all these lovely plants you can have all summer that I can only have in late fall and early spring! :) pansies! snapdragons heliotrope Vincas are hard to beat in the heat of summer. They come in a wide range of pinks, reds, whites, and even lavenders. They have beautiful dark glossy foliage, make neat mounds, and never say die till frost. They reseed. Wave petunias Some begonias and dahlias would fill the bill too. Celosia, gomphrena, Amaranthus, nicotiana and statice would all be possibilities too. Oh, and browallia (blue). As you vary the number of plants you use, also stagger them in your bed. In other words, for a drift of seven, say, plant 3 across the very front of the bed, then plant 4 more right behind them. Then begin the next drift of plants in that odd space in front, so that the flowers blend together and don't seem to be rowed up. Make some of your drifts go deeper back into the bed, and other drifts spread out wider. (I hope this makes sense! It's easy to do, hard to explain!) There are, of course, more, but these should get you started. Post a picture next year and let us see how it turns out!

SEED STARTING FOR THE HOME GARDEN I have discovered a cheap, simple method of starting flower and vegetable seeds for the home garden. It utilizes the principle of capillary action and a moist newspaper mat. To construct such a device, the following items will be required: A roller paint tray obtained from the paint department of a box store. 2. A 5-foot length of 1ü inch PVC pipe obtained from the plumbing department of the same store. This needs to be cut into 25 2-inch cylinders and then filled with a good seed starting mix. 3. A 6-inch piece of I-inch PVC pipe to be used as a plant ejector. 4. A half dozen sheets of newspaper. Lay the newspaper on the sloping part of the paint tray with several inches immersed in the paint holding well. Fill this well with water and watch as the newspaper mat slowly becomes saturated as it draws up water. Plant a few seeds in each mix-filled cylinder and tamp lightly so the bottom of the mix is in contact with the wet newspaper. It will soon start drawing up moisture via capillary action and become damp. Keep adding water to the well as needed. Using short pieces of an old venation blind and a lead pencil, identify each cylinder with name and date of planting. In a week or two, the seeds will germinate and green leaves will appear. When about 2 or 3 inches tall and ready to transplant to a larger container or the garden, use the 1â ejection tool. Place this over the green leaves of the sprouted seedling. It will telescope nicely into the 1üâ planted cylinder. Pull up on the planted cylinder and the seedling will be bottom ejected without disturbing the roots. Add fresh planting mix around the new, larger container and place in a bright-lighted window for further development.

Nicole, I'm not sure what state you're in, but you might get more help from your regional forum (i.e. "Carolina Gardening" or "Georgia Gardening"). Other gardeners in your region would probably have the best advice on what plants to use, rather than the Native forum. My "Front Garden" is in the front yard along the driveway. It has a curving shape that mirrors the driveway and front walkway, and is a mixed border of shrubs, perennials and grasses. The shrubs and grasses form kind of the "bones" of the garden and are more permanent so I put a lot of thought into their placement. The perennials and annuals fill in the remainder, and they are kind of fluid because they do die off, get divided and moved around, and I'll grow different annuals each year too.

I have clay soil, and have amended it with "Soil Mender" Products. But I think any type of organic compost will work. I don't think it is necessary to remove any soil from the bed. You want at least half native soil, clay soil has some great qualities once you get it to drain. Also, I have several raised beds for tomatoes and herbs, also regular flower beds where I grow all of the flowers you mentioned, except the cacti. I don't think you need to improve the soil 12-18", the clematis will appreciate being buried deeper than 8" though. All of my beds started like this: Dug up and removed Bermuda grass, with a garden fork, turning the soild to a dept of about 8". For each 4'x8' bed I added 2 bags of compost, 2 bags composted manure, 1 bag of Pecan mulch 5 lbs Texas green sand, 25 lbs of Quickcrete gravel, or tiny pea gravel cottonseed, bonemeal and fishmeal I also added anything I had on hand, and that same year I started making my own compost A lot of people say not to use gravel or sand, but I think the gravel really helps and long as you add lots of compost as well. Below is a link that I found while researching how to improve my clay soil. I did not follow it exactly because all of those things were not available to me. Good luck! Debra Here is a link that might be useful: Arlington Organic Garden Club