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It's mid June 2018 and I've seen Monarchs arriving almost overnight to my plants that are in bloom here in zone 9 south Louisiana. I allow this colorful plant to grow randomly across my back yard just to attract these precious beauties every year.

I got cuttings from Nancy here in Kentwood Louisiana in Feb. 2018. It's June and 3 of them rooted and are healthy 7" plants. I hoped to find a picture here, but there's none. I will post one when these hopefully 'Red' double beauties bloom. They are part of my double syriacus collection that's reached 8 varieties plus 2 unusual single varieties.

A generous gardener sent me about 5 cuttings last year to try to root. Three did and are now healthy, growing 7-inch plants. They are part of the double syriacus collection I started 3 years ago. I hope to see the beautiful double pink flower this summer on at least one of them.

I got seeds and cuttings of 'Diana' from Samantha last fall. They rooted and the seeds were sown Feb.2018 and are now 6" plants. I hope to see a flower by this fall at least from the cuttings I rooted. I heard the seeds aren't viable, but Sam said she often finds volunteers under her large mature tree. Well, her seeds obviously have syriacus leaves, so we will see.

I must acknowledge keithp2012 for sending me a plant of this beautiful double syriacus. I'd been hunting for it a couple of years to add to my collection of doubles. He rooted it last year (2017) for me and then sent a picture of its 1st flower to show it was healthy and well rooted before mailing to me. It has gone through a full deciduous cycle, grown a couple of inches, put on all new leaves and is developing a bud at this time, June 2018. I can hardly wait to see that multi-colored flower in person.

Back in Feb. 2018 another Louisiana gardener sent me cuttings of this double purple beauty to root. I'm happy to say 3 of 4 rooted and are getting nice new growth now in mid June. They will slowly be moved into more sun, as they acclimate, from a filtered morning sun area, where they rooted on my porch. I'm thrilled to add them to my collection of double syriacus Roses of Sharon.

A neighbor gave me a small plant a few weeks ago. I admired her dense 24 inch x 24 inch plant that was in full bloom out in full sun in a flower bed. She said it survived the 21* coldest temps we had this past winter in south Louisiana, maybe because it's on the south side of her brick home near some evergreen plants for insulation. Well, I'm excited to have a plant of my own thanks to a sharing gardener.

I got a 6" plant in a trade in Feb. 2018. It's mid June and it's now 12" tall and has its 1st yellow flower. It grows in a pot on my patio in filtered sun. The only problem I'm trying to solve is: Which bug is chewing at the leaves. It's not snail damage, but maybe a grass hopper, as it eats half a leaf some days. I have sprayed it with liquid Sevin with no results, so I'm going to use some Bayer Rose & Flower 3 in 1 granules as a systemic approach.

It's mid June and my mature 5 year old plant is starting to produce small pale-blue flowers. It's about 12 inches tall and wide in the top of a 15-inch tall clay strawberry pot. I planted it there 4 years ago and it lives in a part-sun location. I water it with collected rain water every other day particularly for the other herbs in the pockets. All grow well, so drainage must be right. I use a lot of rosemary, so the branches get tipped regularly. About once a month I water the pot with Miracle-Gro added to the water.

I'm in zone 9, and so far in 2018 my potted plant has grown from 12 inches to 4 feet and is flowering. I cut it back to 12" in Dec. so it's easy to bring in my garage during winter freezes. I also put the cuttings in water to start a few new plants just in case I lose my plant. Last year the plant got 6 feet tall by fall. It would have gotten taller, but I trimmed it every couple of months, so it got bushier. It's a such an eye-catching color.

My all time favorite! Love that yellow and mixing it with my reds and oranges. Makes a nice bouquet since all my crocosmias are starting to bloom now that it's mid-June. These are a little shorter than some others I have, so I grow them in a large pot out on my full sun patio to attract butterflies and hummingbirds close to where we sit outside.

It's mid-June and mine are full of bud spires that will open soon. They will bloom about a month before finishing. They are hummingbird magnets. They also make a nice cut flower that lasts a couple of days indoors.

It's mid-June and my 'Emberglow' crocosmias are starting to flower. They are a favorite because they have variations of orange to red on each flower. They also get red as the flower matures, adding to that textural element. They make a good cut flower that lasts a couple of days indoors.

I started these from seeds I got in a seed swap here in November 2017. They have grown well but I was disappointed that they are almost solid white with a little reddish pink on some flowers. Where's the Lipstick & Silver as named? Oh, well, I learned something and maybe someone else will benefit, too.

I have 'Meiwa' round fruited. It's June and it's full of fragrant flowers at this time. I have a small yard, so when I bought the 3' plant, I put it in a 32 gal. Rubbermaid trash can with holes in the bottom. It's 3 years later now and it's 5' tall x 3' across. It grows and produces well in 5 hours of morning/mid-day sun then bright light the rest of the day. I add fruit tree fertilizer twice a year. I collect about 2 gallons of fruit in Dec., which I make into canned marmalade.

I got 3 small cuttings in a trade 2 years ago. They rooted in water in about 2 months, then went in soil. They have grown in 1 pot as one plant successfully on an east window sill in my bathroom, getting filtered morning sun about 4 hours through mini blinds and then bright light the rest of the day. It's not a philodendron, so it doesn't need constantly moist soil. I allow the soil to dry out a little before watering once a week. I do spritz it twice a week to add to the humidity indoors in air conditioning. Otherwise, the leaf tips get brown.

My 6' tall potted plant is in bloom now, June 2018. It bloomed for a month in April, then took a break to grow taller, and will do this several times through the year. I have it in a pot so I can bring it closer to my patio back door to enjoy the fragrance I find intoxicating at night. No diseases or bugs seem to bother it except an occasional snail after a rain that makes it up the pot to the leaves until I destroy it.

My pretty rosy-pink volunteer plants that came up in April 2018 are 18 inches tall and in full bloom. They have spread through the flower bed all along a 6 foot wood fence that encloses my back yard. They are under tall ginger, the tall red and the white Star of Texas hibiscuses, climbing rose bushes, and even my cucumber vines I've trained up the fence. I love the accent they bring mixed in under tall plants.

This little perennial is known by several names. I started with 'Lil Mischief' that is red. I also grow the yellow and pink varieties, 'Mellow Yellow' and 'Pacific Pink'. They only grow about 24" tall and wide with cute 3" to 4" flowers. They are very hardy here in zone 9, blooming almost year round. They drop seeds that produce volunteers as well as returning from roots in early spring. In 15 years mine have never been bothered by any disease or bugs. They bloom best in full sun with consistent watering, but can take dryer conditions when established.

I got seeds from Alana in Jan. 2017. They grew beautifully all summer into fall. I let them reseed naturally and they returned this spring and started blooming on June 1st. They grow at the base of a birdbath, mixed with the 'Summer Jewel' Red, White, and Pink I got as a seed mix in a seed swap here last November.