Thanks everyone for your comments. I love taking pictures of the garden and posting them - had another 40 or so that I liked! Only a mama ....I guess we all nurture our garden creations & sometimes get carried away. Janicej11 & Linnea2, My clock vine is planted on a small tripod in a whiskey barrel several feet from the fence, along with purple petunias & Marguerite sweet potato vine. I've used this combination for several years now, alternating yellow & gold (orange) ones. There is always quite a lot of foliage & a few blooms early in the season, followed by much heavier blooming late in the season. Since I have so much going on in the area (Poppies followed by 4 other Clematis, followed by David Phlox & Helianthus, etc.), I don't mind the poor early bloom production. I buy the Clock Vine in a good-sized pot from a local nursery. I doubt I would get much bloom here at all starting it from seed. I can't tell you anything about the soil except that I always put fresh potting soil in the whiskey barrel each season (bottom is filled with packing peanuts). Physostegia 'Vivid' is a pink-purple for me. In the cold weather of fall against the red burgandy of the Itea it is every bit as vivid as the picture. Earlier the color appears much lighter than this, but it is not a tepid color. It spreads easily and a grouping can make quite an impact in the garden. Vivid is definitely not plain pink, but a medium to dark pink with a fairly heavy blue cast to it. However, it is not the purple of my Stoke's Aster or Geranium Rozanne, both of which are much more blue purple. Vivid is closer to the color of a fresh bloom of Purple coneflower which some people myself included consider pink, just don't try to match it up to the warmer pinks of an annual pink geranium or most pink daylilies - then it looks way too blue! Tjsangel, Your grasses will look wonderful in fall as they mature. I love the movement of them in the garden. Also look wonderful backlit by the sun.

Thanks Karen, Oh yes! If you go back and read the description for the first pic (Aster) you'll read my warning :O I'm so darn close to just yanking them all out for one not so invasive. It is more suited to my prairie bed and may be just where they're gonna go since they are a prairie plant; they'll get along just fine with the Rudbeckia, Ratibida, Echinacea, Mondarda, grasses, ect! I winter-sowed them and germination was 100% and out of about 50 seedlings I only planted 3 in back and 1 in one of my small front beds. I let them go to seed to harvest for trades and the following year I had Aster seedlings coming out of my ears. The fluffy seeds are carried by wind and boy did it ever blow around! Last year I cut them back before setting seed and this spring I still had a ton of seedlings cropping up....between the crevices of my rock border, in the gravel road outside of the bed and just about everywhere else:O

WOW. I can't see the first photo but this one is incredible! I like how close everything is. I space mine all out so far - I need to be more daring!

Lynne, Country/Victorian is what I call my decor too. The country part is mostly items I've kept from my more country/primitive past, and the victorian part comes from my love of all things lace,roses,ribbons,pastels,etc. All my furniture is oak which is sort of out of style now--but I still love it and no way I will be replacing a whole housefull of furniture! Magpie, I forgot to comment about you collecting cattails from the drainage ditches. I don't see them out here, but when we travel and I see them, I always want to stop and get some--but I'm afraid of two things. There might be a snake just hiding in that ditch or I might slip and fall in! LOL Lynn, I love our cardinal on the acorn. I think I will spray some clear gloss sealer on mine to make him look more ceramic. Karen, didn't you say you did that with yours? OA, that's my favorite pumpkin. The leaf has sort of a metalic looking glaze on it. Did you recognize the acorn guy in the gold cloche? He came from one of our craft shows too. Glad you "enabled" me to get the new little squirrel with the acorn candle holder even though he was that resin instead of ceramic--he's cute! Luvs