Thanks, Terri. Over the years, I too have planted many different columbines, in my case, almost all from various cultivar series. Love the fact that, one way or the other, we always have columbines. I do tend to like neat/tidy perennial beds. Obligingly, individual Columbine plants seem to be neat/tidy plants in themselves. And, unlike many of our perennials, they don't seem to require much effort, on my part, to show at their best.

Charlie I agree on the Columbine. I have a couple that are growing in rocks. The older one has been there for at least seven years.

Charlie - tell us again when you get knee replacement? It's this month, right?

Thanks, Mike; always interested to hear how things work out in friend's gardens.

Vic, I finally chose August 31; thinking of after the peak of tall phlox blooming. The post-op logistics are going to be interesting. Am currently gardening with a cane (both knees problems). As you know, flower beds can be treacherous places. Have stop doing any sort of grass cutting myself. Found walking backwards into edging the real challenge there. Needless to say, I'm very cautious around stakes! Did the peonies a couple of weeks ago. Especially, don't really like working in and around the combination of stakes (pointed) and fall monkshood (poisonous).

Thanks for the heads up Charlie. Please be so careful. You're only getting one knee done at a time, right?

Thanks, Vic; just the one, though that's not really been my choice. At least that knee is the one with the greater loss of articular cartilage. As you know, I've spent some time in Osteology (in Anthropology). It's an interesting experience moving from observing osteoarthritic changes in many human skeletons (wear and tear, aging) and in animal skeletons (traumatic arthritis) to experiencing such changes myself.

We are wishing you the BEST and I hope you're able to stay in touch with us and let us know how you're doing.

When I was in PA, daughter and I took a horse and buggy ride. The driver, who is Amish, had both knees replaced within 4 days of each other in Mexico no less. He said the Amish are now going to Mexico and also Germany for surgeries now as it takes forever to get into a surgeon in this country. I don't think they would allow knee replacement that close in this country. I can tell you he walks about 8 miles a day and walks perfectly. He said he was 71 years old.

THANKS, VIC!
Will.

Charlie - please let us know you and your family are safe from the wildfires 🙏

Fine, thanks Vic.

We are staying indoors as much as possible (no gardening for me): air quality's the problem here too.
This year, there's already been hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada. A major reason has been the very dry late spring.

Re the actual fires affecting the U.S. North East: they're burning hundreds of miles north of here. We're part of the 90% of the Canadian population which lives within 100 miles of the U.S. border. It's very unfortunate that the weather patterns carry the unhealthy air into the U.S. North East.

I'm so thankful you're safe Charlie. Thank you so much for letting us know. Stay inside and wear a mask if you have to go out

Thanks, Vic.
Good advice to any of us exposed to the smoke.

Been quite dry over the last few days and been watering.
Flowering: have gone through dwarf and intermediate irises and now have tall ones. Also have peonies and salvia in flower. The veronica are still just in bud. None of the various daylilies are blooming yet, except for one single plant, one of the Rainbow Rhythm series 'Storm Shelter'.

Beautiful blooms

Thanks, Vic.

Reduced and removed some of the peonies from our small back garden last year. Can really identify with David's orientation to single peonies. For me, it's the challenge of successfully staking the heavy-headed doubles. Don't really like the look of peony hoops introduced, before flowering, into a mixed perennial bed. And then there's the rain and wind which push the double flowers over.
Today:
'Dancing Butterfies'

'Dublin'

'Flame'

Penstemon hirsutus 'Pygmaeus'. Besides some Penstemon digitalis cultivars, the only other really longterm (10+ years) penstemon survivor in our garden.

Beautiful blooms

Charlie, I love the single peony blooms and it is a bonus not having to stake them. I have always been so partial to the big doubles and have tried multiple methods of keeping them upright with varying levels of success. The woman who owns Peony's Envy uses twine crisscrossed throughout rows of plants with very decorative support stakes at either end of the row. I don't have full rows like that, but another friend does something similar with individual plants. I tried that method and so far haven't got the knack to do it properly. Don't like peony hoops either - always too short for mine anyway.

The most success I have is with single loop stakes that I use for each bloom. It takes a lot of stakes but they are fast and easy to do. The one problem I'm having now is I have some bloom stalks that are about a foot or more higher than my stakes and if the loop isn't right up under the bud, they flop over as if they weren't staked at all. At some point this winter, I'll be googling to see if I can find extra tall single loop stakes for those.

Thanks, Vic, Terri.

Terri, very interested to read of your experiences with staking peonies. My own past experience, like yours, has included trying multiple approaches with varying levels of success. I will certainly look for single loop stakes.

Another thing about the number of peonies we have, and our garden, is that the former take up a lot of space and with the latter, the space is limited. Likely we have too many peonies! Still they provide so much dependable colour for earlier June. Once they've bloomed however, the issue is that they shade out other perennials. It would be convenient if you could just cut them back after flowering, but you can't. My compromise has been to gradually thin the foliage of individual peonies out, with the belief that at least more sunlight is getting to those leaves that remain on individual plants. Seems to have worked so far.

This is a photo of my 'Vivid Rose' peonies in bloom. If you look closely, you can see the individual single loop stakes supporting each bloom. They are green so blend in nicely. Some you can't even see because the bloom itself hides the loop. Very unobtrusive in my opinion. I push them in the ground just barely enough to hold - don't want to damage the extensive peony root tubers. However, I've been staking this particular group of peonies this way for many years and have never had an issue with the roots getting damaged, at least none that I can tell.

Great job Terri. Here is another method that I saw awhile ago. https://youtu.be/aZLwICr57e4

As Mike says, Terri.
Makes a lovely picture.

Thanks, Mike.
Very interesting.
"Hildene Star" method: new on me.