Hi, I have about 200' of parking strips which I have put all into flowers. The parking strips are so visible that you should try for year round interest. I have something blooming in mine from December until frost. I use a large selection of spring bulbs that bloom from Dec-May. I have perennial flowers blooming from May until frost. I use a combination of evergreen and deciduous perennials. I plant the early spring bulbs around all the deciduous perennials so they bloom and grow while the perennial is dormant. Some of the bulbs I grow are cyclamen hederifolium, cyclamen coum, winter aconite, snowdrops, iris reticulata, crocus, scillia, glory of the snow, hyacinth, muscari, anemones, species tulips, appledorn tulips, bluebells, and allium moly. This is the order that they bloom for me also. The spring bulbs are easy care and drought tolerant, as they go dormant soon after they bloom. They multiply quickly and really are beautiful. I pick easy care drought tolerant perennials that bloom at different times. I use some evergreens and some deciduous. Some of the evergreen perennials that I use are Pacific coast iris, bergenia, creeping phlox, candytuft, euphorbias, hellebores, lamb's ears, New Zealand flax, dianthus, campanula, sedums and sempirvions. Some of the deciduous perennials that have done well for me are daylilys, lady's mantle, coreopsis, rudbeckia, asters, salvia, golden margarite, red plantain, ornamental grasses and hardy annuals like hens and chicks. I do have 7 plum trees planted in the strip as well. I do have clematis vines growing up each one and they have done very well also. I use different varieties with different bloom times so I have clematis blooming from April until frost. Your trees are very small still, so you should wait a few years before planting a clematis vine on them. Make sure you plant one that won't overwhelm your tree. It is true what gardengal said about the negative aspects of growing flowers in a parking strip. I wouldn't let it discourage you though. I have had so many people tell me how much they enjoy the flowers over the years. Neighbors plan their daily walks along my sidewalk, cars have stopped in the middle of the street to tell me how much they love the flowers, people are always asking me what this and that is. You'll get much more postive feedback than negative. Good luck with your garden. Karen

Well, I don't have much info to offer so far, but within a few years I should have lots of data. Background: I live in Vancouver, WA, have south facing yard and a whole bunch of pavement around which I can plant things that will get pretty hot. Results so far: Purple Magics I got at Al's Garden Center last year have flower buds developing. I started to see the first ones probably around late July. I thought wow I will get flowers soon but it appears they take a long time to develop. It is mid August now. I feel optimistic that at least some of these will bloom before the cold season sets in. These were so cheap I scattered 9 of them throughout the yard and I figure that the ones that developed flower buds sooner are probably the better locations. (I am convinced HOT is the key. However, you do have to be careful with the leaves of ones you planted this season wilting, even if you water them well. My Cherry Dazzle appears to not be blooming, even though it is in the hottest spot in my yard. However, it lost most of its leaves last summer so it may be concentrating on building up its strength this summer rather than flowering. My Catawbas and Tuscaroras are not showing a lot of leaf growth and no flower buds. But I think they may be just strengthening themselves and may do much better next season. I bought a TON of dwarf CMs from Evergreenplantnursery. They are only about $6-12 each , although a few dollars more when you factor shipping in. I got about 5 each of Midnight Magic, Moonlight Magic, Purple Magic, and Cherry Dazzle. Also got a couple Tontos (one from Evergreen, one from Al's, and a couple of Pink Velours at Al's.) These are shorter varieties and I live in a place where the people above me have nice views so it is uncool to plant tall trees. My strategy on these is: I planted these in large containers. I will put them in the garage in the dormant season where hopefully they won't see temperatures below 25F or so. Then I will take them outside during the growing season. After about 3 years hopefully they will have trunks and branches that are big enough to withstand the winter cold waves (down to around 10F in this area) without too much dieback. The Midnight Magics from Soonerplantfarm I planted died all the way to the ground, but they have generated lots of growth this summer. My dilemma now is whether to transplant them into pots to put in the garage in the winter, or see how they do if I keep them outside. They might just die back every winter and regrow each summer, which would make them perennials. But they have only grown leaves, not flower buds, so if I want them to flower I may need to grow them inside for a few winters to get them bigger before planting them outside for good. Not much data yet but I have about 25 crape myrtles in pots and about 20 in the yard so I should get a lot of data within 2-3 years, which I will report. The good thing is even if they dont' flower much, they still have the attractive trunks and fall foliage.

Flyleft, that was one day, etched into my memory because my pt Dr Ben Vidgoff died that day and my husband and I got really bad pneumonia and almost died too. There was a lot of ice and snow and ferocious winds. Hasn't been like that since but have had 3 weeks of 11 degrees so we do have hard freezes. I've gotten my Eucalypti from Frank the Eucalyptus Man who lives in McMinneville but is back in Cincinnati for an extended stay helping his mom. Frank supplied Eucs to Pistils and Cistus Nurseries and who knows how many others. You could call Pistils and Cistus and see if they still have Eucs. We were super lucky to meet Frank at Cistus and he very kindly came and saw our crazy yard and has been carefully selecting Eucs from his hardy collection that he thinks will survive our conditions. Lynn wants another Camphora ... Frank come home! We have no inches left to plant anything else. Even the creeklets are stuffed with swamp trees. I wish more and more ppl planted Eucs here that could survive the heat of summer and freezes of winter -- have always loved Eucs, need more broadleaved evergreens around here. A lot of the native plants are starting to die because we no longer get enough rain and the summers are too dry and hot. Plus the developers are willy nilly cutting down anything left standing.

They suffer from being traditional. And slow-growing. Faster, less refined hedge plants are more attractive to current tastes. Here English holly has the considerable drawbacks of reseeding abundantly, infesting undeveloped land and of being prone to leaf miners and a leaf spot that causes the lower part to go bald in late fall - just as it should be coming into its prime for the holiday season. And prickly forms produce prickly prunings. Highclere hollies don't seem to present these pest and disease problems much, but are not as varied (no dwarf or small-leaved forms) nor as hardy. Okay when near enough to salt water, but might be damaged farther out. 'Golden King' Highclere holly is one of the most ornamental of all. The Seattle arboretum had a great display of Highclere hollies for a long time, but this got broken up and replaced by a new exhibit a few years ago. The more dramatic holly specimens that were saved and replanted elsewhere have been malingering since, look very poor. I think I have seen honey fungus (Armillaria) mushrooms coming up among them.