"...They might be clearing their throat but I think they will have to cough up a lung to match the catalog photo..." OMG! LOL! As I said, mine are eons away from blooming yet, but I can't decide whether I dislike the photos in this thread or not. The variations are nice in a way - just the fact that there ARE variations, I mean. I imagine a small bouquet of just these, with variations amongst the blooms, would be very eye-catching. I really can't wait for mine to bloom now. If we'd only get some sun, my poor little plants might actually grow... :) Dee

Depending on where your zone 7 garden is, I would caution you about some of the mentioned ideas. Beautiful plants, but don't like my Deep South zone 7 garden at all: phlox paniculata (I have yet to grow a truly successful one), feverfew, bleeding heart, catananche, Jacob's ladder, and sedums have all been anything from disappointing to complete disasters. That's not to say there aren't plenty of winners that will grow here: Black and Blue Salvia, Salvia farinacea, Mystic spires Salvia, Salvia lyrata, Salvia chaemydroides, Geranium Rozanne (blue in spring, pink when the heat turns up, but blooms beautifully regardless), Peachy's Pick Stokesia, Crinums, Rainlilies (zephyranthes, not habranthus), phlox divaricata (my favorite spring blooming perennial), Brazos penstemon (penstemon tenuis), Verbena Snow Flurry, hellebores, daylilies, agapanthus. I would strongly encourage you to use at least a few evergreen shrubs so you'll have winter interest, early spring bulbs like daffodils, and consider mixing in some bright colors like yellows, oranges, or reds, at least in the summer. Our summer heat really washes out pastels and they just seem to disappear. Good annuals are: profusion zinnias, zinnia angustifolia, torenias, cosmos (though the foliage of the tall ones tends to be leggy), gomphrena, gloriosa daisies, and of course, pansies through fall and winter.

Blossom Queen is very striking. We didn't get thunderstorms yesterday as they warned but today, we had showers which they didn't predict. I think the meteorologists on our local station need to go back to school for a refresher course. Glad to see your getting rain. Julia

I wonder if the problem isn't that you are determined to stick to a neutral. It might be easier to find something for the space that you and DH both like if you considered colours if you have not already done so. Or wallpaper for that matter, but that might not be your style (but can think of a few that would be stunning in there). Lazygardens recently posted a link to this blog (that I've linked below) and the author (Maria Killam) has some interesting things to say about colour vs. neutrals, especially in places that don't have a lot of natural light. That may be the situation with respect to your shadowy corner. Check out the quote from her in the Style at Home magazine that is currently on her home page. I found many of her blog entries (listed down the right if you scroll down) very helpful, especially about light colours and dark rooms. Sometimes when I am driving myself crazy trying to find a path among a number of constraints, I come to realize that some of the constraints are actually self-imposed and can be overcome just by giving myself permission to think of something different. I've just spent nearly three days full time obsessing about colours in a couple of rooms (after a few weeks of stewing about it too) so believe me, I've been there! In the one case I found an answer by giving up on blue which I thought for the longest time was the only option I had in the space and looking at pinks instead. That locked-in with no way to go feeling was something I'd done to myself! KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Color me Happy blog