Pacific Northwest Gardening: Apropos of Nothing v.17, 1 by

wrote:
Most people get overwhelmed by the gardens at my place, even other gardeners sometimes (mostly because they know how much work the gardens are). The comment I almost always get from people is 'how do you take care of all of this?'. It's a telling comment because it's really a full time job the way I have it set up.. Much of that is because I've never met a plant I don't like and I like to grow them all. If I would allow the most successful plants to simply grow over the others and the beds to balance out naturally, it would be much less work. There are a couple of beds where I've done that, like the hydrangea border in the back, and I rarely have to do anything to those. I deadhead the hydrangeas in early spring, mulch, water, and that's about it. Weed control is another issue altogether. I have a large place in terms of being in the city, 3/4 acre, and all but a small piece is landscaped with flowering shrubs and perennials.

Here's a photo of my front border this year. It's finally coming together, LOL! Can anyone identify that purple flower in the front? It's a great color but it's taking over the world. I'll post a closer photo.