I'm sorry, I'm just all about gardening right now. More specifically I'm all about roses, and even more specifically, I'm all about old garden roses. I used to hate roses, but now they've bumped lilies right out of the favorite flower position.

I still love lilies, though, plus lots of other old fashioned cottage garden flowers, like canterbury bells, columbines, forget me nots, foxglove, and bleeding heart.

What about you? Got a favorite flower? Are the flowers you like to grow different from the ones you like to see in other people's yards? (That would be me and foxglove. It's very poisonous and it doesn't like my yard, anyway.)

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

Answers

I, too, love old roses and am currently experimenting with them. I love verbena because it does so well where I planted it -- a somewhat rocky, sloping area facing west. I also love vinca -- the only annual I plant in the spring. I much prefer perennials in my garden but I love vinca so it's my one concession.

I love to see a mass of riotous color in other people's gardens -- I adore crowded, jumbled cottage gardens. However, my own garden is more subdued and simple. Partly the time factor, and partly my gardening ignorance. I'm slowly learning as I go.

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

The ones you listed, plus: Dutch Iris, tulips, johnny-jump-ups, lilacs, lilies of the valley and peonies. I love a lot of the more exotic things I see in California, but my ur-garden is my mom's.

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

I love tuberroses, which aren't really roses at all, but smell like heaven. And lilac, fresh cut, or wafting in a bedroom window from a tree in the backyard is pretty great.

On the MarthaStewart Living Mag. reply cards, there is a sort-of daisy pictured that I love, LOVE - it looks like a white daisy, with a slight blue tinge to the petals, and the centre part is deep blue, instead of the yellow of regular daisies...is that a real flower, or a photoshopped flower? Because if it is real, I want a yardful. Um, and a yard, to plant them in!

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

I love dahlias and daylilies, but I've never tried growing either of them. I mostly grow things I'm sure won't die on me too early in the summer, like morning glories and geranimums.

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

Sterling Roses. Christian Slater sealed the deal for me in the movie -- I love sterling roses. The smell, the color, the texture of the petals just drive me wild. I wish my husband would get the hint. Send me sterlings, I'd a give you *anything* he wanted.

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2001

Daisies. I love them. They look like they are smiling at you. I have blue daisies with purple centers planted in my yard this year. I also love Brazilian impatients, especially the melon colored flowers. And I'm very excited about my miniature yellow snapdragons that I just planted. Beth, how do I get my lab to stop pulling them out of the pots ?

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

Beat him.

Oh, you have qualms about animal abuse? Yeah. That's my main gardening problem, too. If I could just bring myself to beat 'em ...

Seriously, this is a little gross but it works -- put a small amount of fresh dog poop into the pot. Bury it a couple of inches in so you won't smell it, and then wet the pot really well. That'll will keep him from digging.

If he's actually pulling them out with his teeth, the poop trick might not work. You might be able to make a hot pepper tea (steep some hot red peppers in boiling water) and spray that on them to make them taste bad, but some people might put that into the "animal abuse" category. Not me, but some people are nicer than I am.

What are your blue daisies called? I looked all over for some daisies with dark blue centers for Kristin, because her Photoshopped daisies could be a real thing, but everything I found had yellow centers.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

My favorite flowers are daisies and sunflowers. I bought a sunflower two years ago to put on my balcony. I was so excited you would think i had bought a new car. Sadly, there was limited sun on that side of the building and it died 3 days later. I was traumatized. My current balcony is very sun-filled so i may try again this year though i foresee tears if i lose another one.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

He's a plucker not a digger but I'm going to think about dog poop every time I water them this summer so thanks for the laugh. I don't remember off the top of my head what they are called but if I can find the little plastic tags that came with them I will let you know. I bought them at The Home Depot last year also so if you have HD's on the west coast you may still be able to get some.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

Cosmos. I love those things. They aren't particularly showy nor special, but they warm the cockles of my heart. In Montreal, the city planted them *everywhere*, and I would frequently pick one and then stick it behind my ear for a few hours. Pretty pretty flowers. Delicate yet strong stems and leaves. It's kind of odd that I like them so much, really, as I generally am not very fond of pink.

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2001

Impatiens. (Any color but salmon pink.) And panseys.

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2001

Or pansies. Duh. (I'm working on a Saturday and am obviously confused.)

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2001

Some of my favorite flowers are Gerbera Daisies. Kristin that might be the flower on Martha's reply card. After four years of moving some Primrose around my yard, I think I've finally found a spot they like! I got pink and yellow flowers this year that were beautiful.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Sorry, I don't like roses very much. The only ones I like are the tiny climbing ones.

My favorite flowers are ranunculus. I also love bougainvillias.

I also like jumbled cottage gardens but don't have that kind of garden myself because I'm too lazy. I can't be bothered with annuals.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2001

Because it is all about me...

I found the daisies today that I mentioned above - white petals, deep navy blue centers - while wandering through a nursery. Osteospermum Whites. - they are so beautiful.

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2001