Alfalfa tea is a great fertilizer for perennials. I also bury raw kitchen scraps between my perennials. Both of those methods encourage earthworms who leave the best fertilizer there is - worm castings. Always use an organic mulch such as shredded bark which will gradually break down and improve the soil. If you have grass clippings they work really well as the worms like them. Here's a pic of my garden after 3 weeks of neglect last summer. Fortunately it rained but I hadn't done any fertilizing or any care. Just years of regular application of alfalfa tea, compost, and mulch.

Kathleen, I am surprised to hear the trailing lantana does well in deep shade. I have a lantana (not sure if it is trailing or not) -- a kind of orangy rainbow - that got full sun in summer and now deep shade...the leaves look OK but it isn't blooming much (could be the rabbits are nibbling the blooms). Eric, I found a few more shade plants recommended on the Baker Nursery website: begonia (wax leaf) which is also recommended by the UA list, cyclamen, calla lily, delphinium, fox glove, impatiens, ornamental kale, nasturtium, plectranthies, primrose, statice (sea lavendar), draceana spikes and vinca major. Does anyone grow calla lily? I saw one at Lowe's for about $25!! Are there small starter ones anywhere? I had a ton of them when I lived in SoCal...great for shade!

Hi Mazer, Thank you for saving that orchid! I will be leaving for a month long trip to Australia starting tomorrow and will return on October1, but wanted to give you a quick response. If you send a self addressed stamped envelope, I'd be glad to help keep you hillside from washing away with some California Golden Poppy seeds when I get back home. For privacy reasons, please email me for my address (click on "bigbeebee," then "send me an email.") abe

about 8-10 feet long maybe 4 -5 feet deep. I will make it into a curved edge so it would look soft. It would be set against a ugly backfence. She's been trying to hide that fence at minimal cost. that fence in my opinion needs to be replaced. Barring that all i can do is to make the fence disappear. View would be from windows in the dining room, kitchen, a glass door from the living room. I'm not so sure as to which way the yard faces, I suspect south as it's good and sunny enough - although shady in the extremities... Sunny spots being in the middle. There's a large tree near a corner area to the right. This is going to be a shady spot. I planted it hostas and lady's mantels last year. To start off, I'm thinking of foxgloves (pinks and white) and phlox (davidii).. These would be the tall filler ones. No delphiniums, roses or hollyhocks. thes would be too much trouble for them. I need to make it look closer to a classic English Garden - even French garden than to a cottage garden. The thing is what my idea of a nice looking border isn't exactly what she wants - and she can't seems to say what that is. All that I can do is present an illustration with ideas of combinations. Do you know of any website that I can use to create this picture?