Just a side note and I in no way mean to contradict the stress that ya'll put on "more" light. I agree that most need more light, and I push mine as well. But a good friend of mine here in Boulder puts all of his phals in a north window and they are constantly in bloom. I even gave him, years ago, a dendrobium that i was killing and it too constantly blooms in a north facing window. It has been awhile since I lived back east, and I do remember that the sun is less intense there. So maybe it is because our sun is so fierce. I think I am about 6,000 ft. above sea level. I have one phal in a north window now as my own experiment. At first I had a boston fern in that spot and it was too much light for him. I would say listen to Jane as she is also in NY. Good luck and enjoy, kudos on getting your wife an orchid. You are a good man.

Gladys - I think that you might be on the disappointed side if you are going for a full bloom garden on your first year with just perennials. Do a bunch of annuals this year to keep yourself in color while you are waiting for your perennials to grow up. I even find myself impatiently waiting for the annuals in the early spring and I have an abundance of established perennials. The annuals won't be big and blooming like the ones you can get early on in the nurseries but they do catch up. I always buy a couple of flats to tide me over and for my flower pots. I still sow them like crazy even though they are a little slower because my gardens are too big to buy annuals for each year. Perennials have their own scheduled time for blooming. If you look up what you are growing you can find the information (spring, summer, fall etc.) of when they normally bloom to narrow it down. I just play around with things once they are planted to figure out a more exact time, what things look good together that bloom the same time, how I can arrange things for consecutive blooms throughout the summer... It can be hard with perennials because you can have 'down' time when nothing in one particular area is blooming. Annuals are great fill-ins so you don't run into that problem. Also, long blooming perennials (like coreopsis!) will keep you in color. Gaillardia is another great bloomer but I don't see it in early spring. For early spring, in our area, I have choosen forget-me-nots as my main flower. They are wonderful, easy to sow, and reseed themselves. They are dainty and don't get in the way of anything in my beds. Very common but I don't think I'll ever be without them.

Before you let Scotts come. True gardenrs feed the soil, not the plants. I pass on the chemicals. I use liquid fish emulshion..nothing else. After you expand your flower bed (skin and remove the "sod"), rake your lawn hard, plant some seed, rake it in, water every day.....you'll do better than Scotts....their chemicals will kill your garden....for fertilizer, buy one of those miracle grow sprinklers, toss out their powder, and fill with about 2 inches of the fish emulsion, and then spray on lawn and garden once a week, and watch those plants grow like crazy! RAke and shred your old mulch. Bring in some good rich organic soil. Now's the best time to change the shape...check out a few books (I peruse them at Lowe's all the time) and take a chalk spray out and apray a shape you like....run it along the driveway up to your walkway....nice curved shape....more bed=less lawn=more nature and beauty to your yard. Raise the bed, 6-12 inches, and till the first layer-some good black cow for Lowe's may help) before you build it up....Then, get new edging. Look at your site, sun-shade....morning-evening....abd try to select a mix of flowers and a couple of host plants/shrubs if you can....really brings the butterflies.....look back at those books and the garden center, pick some flowers you really like, draw a list and see if they like your area (sun-shade, water etc.) and then remember you have 3 blooming seasons...spring, summer, fall. Try for plants that hit all 3, a couple clusters of bulbs/iris rhyzomes for spring, coneflower/redebeckias for summer, sages for summer and fall. Perhaps a new mailbox, with a wooden post, and a nice climber can co up (Clematis), honeysucke, or better if you want the prettiest butterflies, try a Dutchman's pipevine there as you have some shade) and you'll get some nice pipevine swallowtail butterflies to lay their eggs on it (don't remove the caterpillars when they eat the leaves, those are your butterflies!) If it's really shady there, your tall plants could be foxgloves, which will reseed every year.....perhaps some hostas, or calla lillies...plant them in nice clusters so they're a real showstopper....Get some butterfly weed (Asclepias currasavica) or another kind, and you'll have visiting monarchs and some caterpillars you can watch as well. Sneak a small cluster of parsley plants under your tree, or against the house, and remember not to pick the green striped caterpillars that suddenly appear (you can use fennel or dill as well) and soon you'll be the envy of the block with dozens of black swallowtails around your yard... Use the color wheel....shades of the same color go well, as do opposites. Yellow and purple are stunning together, pink and purple go well together, yellow and pink do not. Tall in the middle, shore on the borders, where your bed comes up your driveway to yourr walk, maybe you loop it out to be able to fit a real showstopper, like Mexican bush sage for the fall etc..... When you build your beds up, 12-18" is best, with nice soft mixed soil, then get some old newspapers, remove the glossies, and spread on top of the whole thing, in layers 5-6 sheets think, water with a hose sprayer as you go, and they will stick.....HAve mulch handy, as soon as you've covered up your nice soft beds with newspapers (your neighbors will think you're crazy) cover with about 3" of mulch.....water the mulch again, and let the whole thing rest for about 3-5 days (this will be hard....but it's a good time to be picking plants and setting them out on the bed to get an idea what it will look like) your bed needs to settle during this period..now why the newspapers? It's called the lasagna method, and it's guaranteed to cut your weedpulling time by 99%, and it enriches your soul by attracting earthworms...you'll re-do every yr or every other yr....then from the ceter, dig your holes, plant, and watch your miracle grow! You'll be the envy of the neighborhood...

After a long day of work, it was so nice to come home to a BIG box full of goodies. After a solid week of rainy days, this box certainly brought some sunshine into my home! After opening up to see what Diane sent me, my first thoughts were, "Do we know each other?". Checking her return address again, I know I have never had the pleasure of meeting anyone from Alabama. So, as I took each item out of the box, I began wondering how she could have selected such nice items just for me! In this fat box were the following items which she creatively tied our swap theme into: *A baggie full of green candy (yum) and green berry rush Hawaiian punch, and green Mojito Crystal Light (Diane, I immediately unwrapped the caramel apple lollipop!) : ) *A bag of Million Dollar Buttermint Creams. It held 20 pieces when I got it, but I think it's half full now! Can you tell I like candy? : ) *A bag of 40 flavors gourmet jelly beans - love these! *A pack of Strawberry Fields Tic Tacs. *A deck of cards with a beautiful floral design. *A large bag of Wint O Green LifeSavers. *A green expandable vase - perfect for my desk at work! *Village Naturals Therapy Mineral Bath Soak for Aches & Pains Relief with a Delicate Bath Pouf... such a nice thought! *Mandarin Orange Spice Herbal Tea - (I drink tea everyday!) *A darling 2013 Monthly planner with a floral design. *A Home Finance Bill Organizer. The cover and every page sports beautiful photographs of flowers and nature. *The Haul Helper. My husband tried to confiscate this one, but I told him hands off! I relented then when I saw his face of disappointment and said he could borrow it - once in awhile. *"Lift Your Spirits" wall calendar, which includes a small monthly planner. So colorful with lots of words of inspiration. *A little yellow canary that I think may be either a wall vase for rooting a plant or a decorative item to put in a planter to keep it moist. Diane, can you let me know? *A pack of "Dutchman Pipe Vine" seeds! I always wanted to grow these and Diane says I can grow them inside the house and outside, so I am looking forward to starting them. Thanks a million Diane for your creativity, thoughtfulness and generosity!