jvdubb said:I no longer have a problem with wanting to buy so much of anything. I love my gardens but I am tired of them consuming all my free time to look well kept. Don't get me wrong. I still purchase plenty of plants (and wintersow seeds). But on a much much smaller scale. I suspect every year will be less.

Many of those fancy named cultivars never lasted past a second season. And I have been culling a great deal in general. I realized I had several things that I just did not care for.

Good point. As life changes or priorities change. I have visions of what i want my yard to look like but not the energy to get it done. Finding a balance of what's right for you is the way to go. Have some tree lily bulbs from Breck's that i have to plant but need to pull lots of weeds first. Hate that job.

I could easily see myself heading it the "collection" area. Like Tiffany said, if one lantana is good why not get all the colors? But I've come to realize that having just 3 of anything is a good idea -for me. the exception to that is a personal choice of 'must have' plants. I'm open to try something new but only before I research the 'new'. and this goes without saying, that is your own personal style of gardening. my personal preference tends towards casual and naturalized beds-working in the fancier cultivars with the work horse plants like salvias and echinaceas. gardening this way leaves me room for a bit of expanding and experimenting. I've learned to control the urge to buy them all because I want variety. This year was the leap of faith for me when I ordered several Dahlias. only started planting them 3 years ago and had fairly good results. so when I began to order I was very selective and only chose those that I thought would do well and not be a hassle to up keep. it's been a good season and I learned alot. even though I've already begun to look at catalogs in the back of my mind I'm saying "less is more" I'm good with what I have.

I'm personally not prone to that stuff, I only buy what I really like - and even then they could still end up on the compost heap because my tastes have changed (like some of my Iris sibirica/germanica this year...)

I don't just look at the flowers. If they're to my taste, but the foliage is awful, I just won't like it and don't buy it. Good example is Galanthus. Many people get hooked and start spending hundreds, thousands of dollars on the newest varieties no matter what.
I don't because of the fact that I don't like grey/blue/glaucous leaves that the vast majority has. I like the shiny apple green foliage ones like G. woronowii, platyphyllus, panjutinii etc...But these are hard to come by though

purpleinopp said:Now is the time to effortlessly smother grass to have more planting area ready by/for next spring.

I don't collect cultivars, except for Begonias, Coleus and little Dracaena trees, but when I like a genus, I do tend to collect the various species.

Same.
I don't tend to collect cultivars, but usually I collect series.

One exception is sedum , sempervivum, and a few other plants.

I tend to collect species...

red bars are unique cultivars

so not wanting to add more or spend more this up coming season{2022} I, um spent an hour window shopping on-line at Longfield Gardens and...

I think the best for my garden was to decide what plants we liked (mine are gardenias, the wife loves daisies) and go from there. We do have a small selection of different hostas and lots of traditional azaleas from the previous owners. Our yard has many mature maples and pines, so full sun plants are limited to part of the front yard only. Roses, which I love, have consumed 95% of my time this year, while the gardenias and daisies are pretty much on auto-pilot. I have expanded the gardenias to include some modern cultivars so I have blooms outside the typical May/June season. If they do well, I might collect a few more.
With age, I'm noticing a slow-down in my pep, so having low maintenance plants is probably a wise choice for us.
I do think the plant series are a marketing gimmick that some new gardeners are lured into, all part of the marketing strategy.

totally get where you're going with how you garden it makes sense. use what you have and make the best out of your property without going crazy and hacking trees down to get more sun light.