Thanks - I'm pretty proud The beds were made from scrap boards I had at hand. Some of them are cedar, I think the others are oak and pine. The man that owned this house before me left quite a bit of nice lumber. I designed the garden based on the lumber I had. I may have to actually buy some next year when I expand. The unhealthy plants aren't in the pictures - notice the tee-pee with nothing on it? I put in sweet peas that produced 2- 3 peas each and then died. Bush beans havent done well for me either - lots of insect damage, there has been some fruit production, but the plants are about the same size as when I put them in. And yes T-Bird, Carmen Miranda was my first association so I had to include the pic.

Congratulations Pony, you are awash in blooms and colors of all types! I loved Otto's Thrill when I had it- goes well with pinking blooms of Autumn Joy Sedum, if you have that. I absolutely love that white one with the thin lavender/purple petal outline. And the coleus offset by the pink phlox (I think.) Enjoy them all!

Thanks all, the dog that did the damage isn't one of mine. It is a dog we imported from Germany for a client and we had been letting her out in the yard for a few weeks with no issues and then came the hosta LOL. I was REALLY bummed about them at first since every one of them was coming up great gangbusters. But I can replace them and it's not the end of the world. So I have learned something new today and am excited about it. I just figured out that by taking pics of my garden and posting them I see everything with a better eye so to speak. I notice things in the pictures that I don't see when I'm out there. For example, from this thread I can see that I need a few more blues and can stand to add a few more to make it feel more lush. I found in another thread that from my pics I can see better how to prune a specific bush or two and can see a bed that would look better if I made it a bit bigger. What a cool new thing for me, YAY. Annette

Milenka, Yes, I am letting the beans climb the corn. I probably should have been more diligent in training them but they are doing well. In the beginning they were doing great climbing the stalks of the corn. After a while though, they would hit a big corn leaf and begin wrapping around the leaf. I probalby should have redirected them back to the stalk. Anyway, it was an experiment that I wanted to try and it is going to work. The american indians used to do this so I thought I would give it a go. The tomatoes are spaced 1 per sqf. They are very tight but producing like crazy. I have been pinching the suckers so that they grow in a single vine. That is working great and I am getting some pretty big tomatoes this year. The trellis is made out of the 1/2" electrical conduit like discussed in the book. I have it mounted on 3' pieces of rebar that are hammered into the ground a couple of feet. It seems to be pretty sturdy. Only time will tell. Thanks for the compliments. I am fairly new to this too. Two years of being unsuccessful might be paying off. :)