The backyard garen here is all in varying degrees of shade due to a big, old white ash, middle-aged white pines and a 25-30-year-old red oak. I expect the ash to die in the not-so-distant future from either or both Emerald Ash Borer and old age, so I've been planting smaller, mainly understory trees that can survive the shade now but would also do fine if the ash came down. - Cercis canadensis 'Albaâ - I find the usual pink of redbuds a rather harsh color but love the ethereal look of the white ones. They just seem to float over the emerging spring garden. They look fabulous with the floaty blues of 'Jack Frost' brunnera flowers under them. - Dogwoods - I only have trees, not shrubs, although I did add one shrub ('Prairie Fire') last summer to the 'golden path' area I'm making. I have both the early-flowering native Cornus florida and a later flowering Cornus kousa 'Milky Way' (which is not nearly as nice as my next-door-neighbour's 'China Girl' one!) and a beautiful young 'Wolf Eyes' variegated kousa. - Chionanthus virginicus fringetree - wonderful white flowers and beautiful butter-yellow fall color. - Japanese maples - several different named varities ('Full Moon' is my favorite) but the best one is a seedling from the neighbour's now-dead tree, plus we now have a couple of seedings from another neighbour's absolutely fabulous old tree (no idea what the name is) - I hope those tiny seedlings survive this horrible winter! - Rhodotypos scandens - this is considered invasive in parts of the US but it's not trouble here as far as I know. I'm not sure if it is a problem in the UK or not. It grows well under the pines and looks lovely in flower in spring. It suckers so should be easy to propagate. - Clethra alnifolia - not a named variety; would probably bloom better with more sun but grows under the pines (even though they are supposed to like moister soil); suckers; nice scent and nice yellow fall color. - Kolkwitzia (beautybush) - bridalwreath spirea - Hydrangeas - 'Blushing Bride', 'White Dome', a couple of oakleaf (both big and small) that do so-so here, 'Tardiva', 'Bluebird',and a couple of others that I can't think of the names at the moment....! I don't like the mophead types but like the lacecap and paniculata types. - Burning bush - can't remember which one! - Fothergilla - Aronia melanocarpa 'Autumn Magic' (barely survived several years in too much shade but I hope it'll survive after moving it into more light two years ago. - saskatoon berry - too much shade for it but it survives and flowers - hollies - Weigela florida - remarkable that it will grow and flower under the pines with just a bit of morning sun slanting under the canopy! - flowering raspberry - suckers like mad! - serviceberry I'm sure I've forgotten some things here too...

ageratum, tall Amaranthus (LLB viridis, Prince's feather, fat spike) balloon flower balsam impatiens canna (the President and noID) castor bean celosia plumosa cosmos datura (Wrightii and metel) feverfew (ready to rebloom after cutback) gaillardia (blanket flower) gloriosa daisy hollyhock, Majorette kiss me over the garden gate marigolds, especially the petites and Queen Sophia; Crackerjack looks ragged Mexican sunflower (Tithonia torch) petunias purple majesty millet Queen Anne's lace Ratibida columnaris, solid yellow salvia (coral nymph, bonfire, tall red) sedum, noID (thanks, Becky!) sunflower, Maximilian (sp?) and annual types I succession-sowed verbena-on-a-stick vinca major zinnia, various I deep watered often early in the season and applied mulch, which has helped tremendously this year. I have been back to watering for 2-3 weeks now. We had a few day's reprieve from the excessive heat and humidity, especially at night and in the mornings, but it's now back with a vengeance. I've spent my inside jail time researching heat-loving, drought-tolerant plants and hope to sow more of those next year.

In my area Nikko Blue are sold at many garden centers as huge shrubs in full bloom...never to bloom again. Well, that is an exageration, they might produce a bloom or two every 3-5 years. Unless sited really well (there is one at my work against a brick wall on an inside corner, probably making it effectively a zone 7), they are not bud hardy in zone 5 and even into the colder edges of zone 6. They also need a decent amount of sun, at least 4 hours I'd say. My mac hydrangeas get sun until about 2:00 pm. The ones that get less are more spindly and don't flower well.

We're just putting our laundry room together, after buying the cabinets a couple of years ago. It's about 70% done. We're using Ikea cabinets and had to make some modifications to their limited cabinet choice. DH is currently converting doors to 24" wide x 24" pullouts for the 2 opens spaces left of the washer, the upper cabinets need cover panels for the top, sides and bottom and we need a faucet for the sink to the right of the dryer. We will put a counter on top of the cabinet left of w&d and on top of the w&d for now. You can't really tell in the pictures but the w&d and the cabinet to the left of them are pulled out from the wall about 6" while we're still putting things together. We plan to replace the w&d in the next couple of years with models that don't shake the house as much (2nd floor laundry room in an old farmhouse.) They will either be on pedestals or on a shorter home made platform. Either way they will be taller than what we have now (and most likely won't need a counter above them.) North and South Walls: East and West walls: North wall: Center drawer has a fold-away ironing board for quick touch ups (which is about 99% of the ironing I do---and even that's not very often.) An outlet is nearby for the iron. The counter is the folding area. Cabinets underneath will hold separate laundry baskets for clean clothes. 4 baskets for family members, 1 basket for items to go downstairs (kitchen towels, etc.), 1 basket for miscellaneous. East Wall: Open white cabinet: has space for hanging and lots of open shelves that I think will be used for storing out-of-season items (hats, mittens, etc.) One long drawer will be used for wrapping paper and one smaller drawer for ribbon, etc. The north wall folding area will used for wrapping. Drying racks will be stored in front of the window/to right of north wall cabinets. Tall storage: one side will have pull outs (inner drawers)& space can be left at the bottom for a laundry hamper. The other side will house vacuum cleaner and full size ironing board. South wall: wall mounted drying rack. West Wall: cabinet for sorting dirty laundry into categories includes 2 deep drawers and 2 24"x24" pull outs (one may have 2 hanging bags from a frame and other may be left undivided space for bulky items.) Like ebear1271, I have quite a few dirty clothes catergories (lights--cold or warm, darks--cold or warm, dh has his own catergory--extra dirty, towels/sheets/washclothes--hot, socks & underwear--hot.) I can use space in a tall cabinet for another hamper and I could have a hamper on wheels in front of the east window. There is a laundry sink to the right of w&d. We plan store a steam generator in the sink cabinet for a shower we're building on the other side of the wall. We plan to store an air tub turbine in the dead corner space to the right of the sink cabinet (the north wall cabinet next to this space can be pulled out for access). I only use the dryer for towels & washclothes, sheets, socks, and underwear. All clothes and blankets get hung to dry. The space gets tight when we put up the drying racks (in winter) but I can also use the guest room that is through one of the doorways. We will scatter hooks throughout the room for hanging items to dry (I usually hang pants by a belt loop) and items can also dry on hangers. We may put hooks high on the wall at the north end of the room from which lines can be stretched when needed but this may be unnecessary. Concerns: flooding, since this is the second floor above the kitchen we recently renovated. We have the washer hooked up to a sensor that will turn off the water supply if any leaks are detected under the washer. We're thinking of putting the eventual new washer in a pan that will hopefully be deep enough to contain the water used in a fl. This is why we think we may build our own platform instead of using pedestals. Another thought is to put the washer in a shallow pan that drains into a deeper plastic box stored under the pedestal (with the leak sensor still in use for closing off the water supply.) We also plan to get as good a quality of hose as we can find. Right now I only wash when I'm home and I turn off the water supply after each load. We will mount a fire extinguisher near the entrance to the room and will put a smoke detector in the room. I plan to set up the sewing machine in the spare/guest room just through the east doorway. I hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck!