This is Apricot Fizz Lantana by Proven Winners Plants. This spot across my front porch is proving very hard to landscape. It only gets full sun at 2 hours a day and then it’s filtered light. Shade plants fry and sun plants get leggy. But did you know that lantana can take part shade and full sun? It will bloom more in full sun but I think this is doing grandly.

The lime green and black Ipomoeas are from Proven Winners Illusion cultivars and will be available in 2010. They aren’t as aggressive as most sweet potato vines and they are more disease and drought tolerant. I really am pleased with them. You can see an earlier article HERE that I wrote about them. The names are ‘Emerald Lace’ and ‘Midnight Lace’.

This is what happens when you combine back breaking leaf mulch spreading, manure applied at the right time in the Autumn, and mushroom compost in the Spring. I just sat back and patted myself on the back for making Mr D do all that work He’s happy now but wasn’t too happy as the loads and loads of compost arrived last year. It’s almost time to do it all over again. Won’t he be excited?

A few Autumn Mums with a poor little sweet potato vine wilting away. I had it in a vase and forgot to water it. I do root sweet potato vines to use in my garden but not these cultivars–it’s against the law. Any patented plant you purchase can not be rooted for any reason. But if it does not come with a patent–then you can use it as you wish. I cut my vines and use them in vases just as I would cut flowers. They make the best displays as the roots grow really fast and they look cool swirling around in the bottom of the vase.

My Scaevola and Diamond Frost Euphorbia are doing well.

You can bet I’ll be growing this yellow narrow leaf zinnia again. It has bloomed like this all summer. I have an organic flower garden so this has resisted pest and disease extremely well.

My Lo and Behold Blue Chip buddleia never stops blooming. It was an evergreen last winter but I suspect if we had a hard winter, It would lose its leaves. I did not cut it back last Autumn but will this year. I think it will do better if cut back. It’s a small butterfly bush that won’t take over the garden. It blooms more if you fertilize it once a month and will bloom early too. I give my gardens a good dose of Espoma Flower Tone in the Spring and then for those heavy feeders, I use a liquid fertilizer.

Flowering vinca, Victoria Blue Salvia, and Angelonia in the middle. The big orange butterfly magnet is Mexican Sunflower.

Lots to look at while I sit in my swing! I watch the birdies at the feeder and wave at the folks who walk by.

You can click on these pictures and enlarge them. No post about my front gardens is complete without showing this Senorita Rosalita Cleome. It does not set seed. I’ve grown it every year since Proven Winners released it. All I do is fertilize it once a month with a liquid fertilizer. I rave about mushroom compost making it big too.

The sweet folks at Front Porch Ideas and More have the prettiest picture showcasing a pumpkin and mum filled front porch. Front Porch Ideas and More is the best place on the web for everything you need to know about a porch. I love to go and browse for hours.