Kristimama - I use Black Magic potting soil. It seems to be widely available, and it was highly recommended by a very knowledgeable person on this forum. It's a tad expensive, but since my roses have so much to contend with already, I felt they deserved it. I should have mentioned that I have only had roses for about 4 years, so I'm far from expert. I've learned a lot, however, due to volunteering once a week at the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden in the old city cemetery (a wonderful place to spend a few hours, working or not!). I also should have mentioned that my roses are about to face an even more challenging environment: After yellowjackets came every summer that we've been here (4 years), last summer they built a nest in the rolled-up "privacy screens" on the balcony, directly above my roses. The exterminator said that they would be bound to come back, as they find those rolled-up screens to be a perfect nesting site (it keeps them warm, etc.), and that it would be best to keep the screens rolled down. They're part of the balcony (i.e., the property of the apartment complex), so I can't get rid of them. They are down now, as I am allergic to bees and wasps. SO... the roses (and my other plants, succulents) will get even less sun than before. This coming summer is an experiment - I'm hoping that the screens being down will produce a dappled shade effect, thus shielding things from frying, while still letting in enough sunlight to keep everything more or less happy. We shall see. As Amelia Peabody would say, "Another challenge! I'm up to it!" -- at least, I hope so. Laura

>Given those conditions: are there any camellias that could stand being planted in this front yard? We have several, doing beautifully, on the shady north side, so I know the winter temperatures aren't too low; but some of them languished in the front before they were laboriously moved. Hi Steve, It's probably more a matter of drying winds than of the morning sun. Our camellias are mostly in the sun all morning, mid-day, and afternoon all day long throughout the winter (because the many deciduous trees have lost their leaves then) and they do fine. However, they tend to have more of a windbreak than most yards would have; besides having some tree trunks as partial windbreaks they're in with lots of other plants too--rhododendrons and azaleas--many of which are plenty large enough to reduce the problems from wind. And there is some wind protection from a berm too. If you go ahead with the idea on putting back camellias where you've had some not too happy camellias previously, then consider adding some ways to slow down the wind during the worst of winter's winds. And make sure that you don't forget to water during the winter. One other thing that you might try would be spraying with Wilt-Pruf in the late fall. I've never actually done that with a camellia so I don't know whether it's a good idea or not; it's just something I'd probably try if I were nervous about a plant's winter hardiness. I've seen sections of woven wooden fencing added to a yard to provide an attractive backdrop for a group planting. Something like that might help and make a nice highlighting for the camellias in your front yard too and featuring them in groups together with other evergreens would help with the wind problem too. You wouldn't have to fence the entire yard to be able to have some impact on winter's winds. The hiemalis camellia shishigashira would be one of the camellias that might do just fine in your front yard; it is reputed to do well in everything from full sun to full shade. Best of luck with whatever you end up doing. Best wishes, Mary

Hi harryshoe. I find that heuchera, heucherella and tiarella are really more of a shade tolerant plant rather than a shade loving plant. Very few plants that growers describe as shade loving can take deep, dark shade. For instance, many people will try to grow hostas (which are often described as shade loving plants) underneath their porch or on a dark forest floor only to find that the plants soon waste away to nothing. I grow all of my heuchera and relatives in at least morning sun. The lighter leaved varieties (such as the yellows and lime greens) will need full or dappled afternoon shade or their leaves will burn. The orange and red varieties can take a lot more sun and most of mine can take a full day's sun. The dark leaved ones actually need quite a bit of sun to grow well and are the most sun tolerant of the bunch. I'm I the PNW (WA state) and our weather is often dissimilar to other parts of the country. This usually means that I can grow things in more sun than other people can because it's generally wet and mild here. I'm not sure what your summers are like there in eastern PA, but I'm sure your heuchs would appreciate at least morning sun. You could try them in pots first. That way you could move them around your yard in order to find the spots where they seem happy. A word of warning, though. Heuchs get crown rot if they're too wet, so make sure your pots have great drainage and you only keep the soil damp, not soaked. I never grow my heuchs in pots here because it's too wet and they rot away to nothing in no time. Hope this has helped you. Heucheras are worth growing and are generally an easy plant once they're situated correctly.

6 hours or more is considered full sun, I've read. I imagine that 'some' full sun plants would be fine with the 2 hours of the fullest sun, though not a lot of partial shade plants could take it. I 'think partial shade means dappled shade, or shaded through the hottest parts of the day...maybe jusy getting some earlier AM sun. Did you have something in particular in mind for the areas? Most hydrangeas can take some sun...but surely not the 2 hours of the hottest, unless it was one of the few 'full sun' ones. I want to plant in an area that gets direct sun for four hours in the morning (9am-1pm) and in an adjacent area that gets direct sun for only two hours when its scorching hot (2pm-4pm). I'd think that about any full sun plants would be fine with that much sun. Sue