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This clematis is a strong grower, and will reach full size in only a couple of years. If pruned hard in very early spring, it will be covered in pink blossoms in late spring. Dead-heading after blooming may bring about a second flush of blooms in the fall.

This lily is a real eye-catcher, due to the brilliance of the white petals, with an intensely raspberry red stripe down the center. They are stunning planted en masse, and produce several blooms on each stalk. I've found them to need some staking, especially if not planted in full sun, as the stalks tend to lean and tip over when the heavy blooms open.

These are such fascinating plants, at several different stages of maturity! Though this small shrubby perennial does produce white blooms, it is the seed pods that are so fascinating. They form a bubble-like pod in the fall, which turns a brilliant orange color before fading to brown. The mature seeds can be heard rattling inside the pod when ripe.

Be careful where you plant this, as they spread by underground rhizomatous runners and can become invasive. Cut the plant back just above ground level in the fall to prevent self-seeding.

The bloom color of this hydrangea depends on the pH of the soil in which it is planted. If planted in alkaline soil, the blooms will be white with a pink stripe down the center of each petal. If the soil is acidic, the blooms will be white or pale blue, with a blue stripe down the center of each petal. You can make your soil more acidic by adding peat moss to the planting hole, mixing it half and half with the soil you removed from the hole, and adding organic materials such as coffee grounds. Acidic soil allows the hydrangea to use the aluminum in the soil, so you should also work aluminum sulfate into the soil, out to the drip line, or add aluminum sulfate to the water. Fertilizers for acid-loving plants are also good. Look for a fertilizer low in phosphorus and high in potassium, such as 25/5/30. The numbers, in order, indicate Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.

You may even (accidentally or intentionally) achieve a plant with both blue and pink blooms on it. When mine was about a year old, it bloomed pink on one side, blue on the other, with an interesting lavender shade in the center.

This is a fairly small hydrangea, reaching about 2-3 feet when mature, and it blooms on both old and new wood. I prune mine in the spring, to encourage lots of branching and blooms.

Pinky Winky is a beautiful paniculata hydrangea. It will attain 6-8 feet in height when fully mature, with strong branches. Mine needed very little pruning or shaping and attained full size in about 2 years. This is a very easy-care plant. All I do is deadhead the faded blooms, either after the first freeze, or in the spring if I leave the blooms for winter interest. The cone-shaped blooms begin to open at the lower point, where widest, a pure, bright white. As the blossoms continue to open up the length of the cone, the lower blossoms begin turning pink . Eventually, once all the blooms are open, you may have white tips, blending into pink flowers in the center, and dark rose flowers at the base of each pannicle . I get a lot of compliments and questions about this lovely hydrangea, as very few people seem to be familiar with the cone-shaped hydrangeas. I find this to be one of my easiest and most attractive hydrangeas, out of 7 or 8 varieties.

This is a smaller hydrangea, reaching about 3-4 feet tall and wide at maturity. This one benefits from some deliberate pinching back of the growth tips of each branch the first few years, as it tends to grow very leggy and flop onto the ground otherwise. Some careful shaping when immature will help develop strong "bones" to shape the plant. Mine blooms throughout the summer, aging from pale pink to a dark rose color. Mine is in nearly full shade, and is thriving.

This plant definitely needs a fair amount of shade and consistent moisture to thrive! It really lights up a shady border, with its two-toned effect of a brilliant color outside and a mottled pastel inside each bloom. Be careful with this one if you have pets or small children who nibble in your garden, as it can cause cardiac arrest.

The little pot of oregano I bought almost 20 years ago has now provided starts of oregano to many of my friends, neighbors, and family members! This is a reliable, easy-to-grow perennial. It is very drought-tolerant, thriving and growing prolifically even in hot, humid years. I actually have to be fairly aggressive myself in keeping it pruned back and thinned, or it would overtake the entire area I've set aside for herbs.

The fragrance of oregano is very pleasant, and it forms an attractive, sprawling mound covered with small purple flowers. It is a butterfly and bee magnet in my garden, and I've found that the bees are so focused and intent on diving into each bloom that they don't even notice if I am working nearby.

The flavor is fairly strong, so a little goes a long way. if your recipe calls for dried oregano, you can substitute 3 times the amount of fresh oregano (i.e., if it says one teaspoon of dried, use three teaspoons of fresh), as the dried is more concentrated.

This is one of the easier herbs to dry: Just bundle some clean, dry branches together and hang upside down in a cool, dry place. When thoroughly dried, the leaves crumble easily. Store the dried oregano in a cool, dark place.

If I had to grow only one herb each year, it would be sweet basil. I've developed a bit of an obsession for it, and I plant a couple of dozen plants each year. I plant some among my tomato plants, as I've read that they are ideal as companion planting partners. I haven't noticed whether growing basil near the tomatoes affects the number of whiteflies or hornworms. I also plant half a dozen plants just outside my kitchen door, so I can easily pinch off a bunch as I'm cooking, and I pinch them back frequently to encourage a bushy plant.

At the end of the summer, when I see that they are desperately trying to blossom and set seed, despite my efforts to pinch off the flower buds as quickly as they form, I surrender to the inevitable. I harvest about 2/3 of the plants, and chop the fresh leaves. I put them in a designated set of ice cube trays, packing as much as I can into each cell, and then cover with water or olive oil. My family knows never to make ice cubes in the blue trays, unless they want basil flavored ice! Once they are frozen, I pop them out and seal them in a ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. They are ready to drop into a pan of tomato sauce or stew, or to thaw and sprinkle over a homemade pizza.

The remaining third of the plants I allow to set seed. If I'm particularly attentive, I even remember to go collect the seed, so I can use my own seed to start next year's crop.

This pepper is not for the faint of heart! Ranking 100,000-350,000 on the Scoville Heat Scale, this pepper packs some serious heat! (For comparison, a jalapeno rates 2,500-5,000 on the Scoville Scale.) That said, it is my husband's absolute favorite hot pepper. I don't know if he likes the flavor, along with the heat, or if it is just a matter of pride to be able to brag about eating these hot little babies. Just half of one of these peppers makes a pot of chili inedible for the rest of my family.

These peppers are quite small, about the size of a half-dollar, and a brilliant orange when ripe. I recommend extreme care and a double layer of disposable gloves when handling these peppers. The juice can cause a serious burn! I find it difficult to even breathe while chopping these peppers, and I often have to leave the room and have my husband chop them. Do NOT rub your eyes, whatever you do!

Poblano peppers ALWAYS have a place in my garden! They are a milder hot pepper, scoring 1,000-2,000 on the Scoville Scale, or roughly comparable to a jalapeno. I find the flavor a little deeper and more complex than a jalapeno. This is my favorite hot pepper to grill and chop before adding to salsas. Grilling brings out an entirely different flavor in this stocky little pepper. Though it is not an extremely hot pepper, I still make a point of wearing gloves when I work with these, as the oils do cause some skin irritation, and rubbing your eyes while chopping these can be disastrous!

This is one of the milder "hot" peppers, rating 500-2500 on the Scoville Scale. (For comparison, a jalapeno rates 2,500-5,000.) I grow this for use in my fresh salsas and gazpacho, as it adds a great flavor without excessive heat. It isn't one of my most prolific peppers, but one or two plants provide all the mildly hot peppers I need.

I've grown sweet pimiento peppers twice now, and I just can't seem to find the best use for them. These are very small peppers, a bit smaller than a golf ball, with thin flesh and lots of seeds. Maybe I just haven't stumbled upon the right use for them, but they were disappointing both eaten raw (little flavor) and cooked in a recipe. I don't think I'll dedicate the garden space to growing these again.

My husband is a connoisseur of extremely hot peppers. I, however, am something of a hot pepper wimp. I like jalapenos and peppers around that range, but these peppers are milder than that. These are my favorite "hot" peppers, as they have a bite to them, but they are still mild enough to slice onto a salad or sandwich. They give you a little burn, without bringing you to tears! These are much thicker walled than many of the horn-shaped peppers, rivaling or even exceeding the thickness of a bell pepper, though they are both shorter and narrower than a bell.

My plants are generally loaded with peppers. Pick them green if you like the heat, or let them mellow to red if you prefer a milder, fruitier level of heat. Either way, these little guys are delicious!

This is a favorite sweet pepper in our garden. When allowed to mature to red, it has a complex, fruity flavor. I love adding this one to tomato sauces, as it seems to deepen and intensify the flavor. I use this pepper fresh, in recipes, grilled, roasted. . .just about any way you can imagine!

I've found this pepper to have a "sneaky" heat. On first taste, it doesn't seem that hot, but after a moment, the heat sneaks up on you, and you're in trouble! Of the hot peppers I've grown, it seems that the Serrano plants I've planted have the widest variety in how hot the peppers turn out to be. Some years they seem barely above a jalapeno in heat, while other years they are blisteringly hot. I recommend caution until you determine just how hot your particular serranos are! This pepper is a frequent ingredient in the hot pepper sauce I make for my husband. I don't find it contributes much flavor, but it sure does kick up the heat a few notches!

Good basic sweet pepper. They are much thinner-skinned than bell peppers, but work well chopped in recipes, or sliced in salads. This one makes its way into my garden every 2-3 years. Not a top favorite, but definitely one to keep in the rotation.

A long, curved, horn-shaped pepper whose name literally means "Horn of the Bull." These are mild and sweet, and are wonderful for roasting or grilling. I also like slicing the mature red fruits into rings, to add a great color and fruity flavor to salads. My kids particularly like them stuffed with cheese seasoned with buffalo wing seasoning.

I had good luck saving seed and planting in subsequent years with this pepper.

These long, horn-shaped peppers are prolific and easy to grow. Sometimes the fruits are nearly as tall as the plant itself! Great mild flavor, and they can be eaten at various stages of maturity.

These are one of my favorite sweet pepper varieties. With Gypsy, I can get a flavor and crunch similar to bell peppers, without all the trouble I have with growing bell types in my garden. These horn-shaped peppers grow vigorously and produce a steady crop of tasty peppers. They seem immune to the blight and blossom end rot that plague my bell peppers. I enjoy these both fresh and cooked, and I plant them every year.