A few comments. First, if you have really deep shade you won't get many flowers regardless of color. So plan(t) accordingly. Second, I would suggest using pine bark fines (AKA 'soil conditioner') instead of peat moss, which has a tendency to either repel or hold water (I've seen it blamed for both) in ways that are bad for azaleas. Peat moss is OK for potting mixes but not as the primary component of azalea beds. Try adding compost too. Remember to plant'em high. Now about your original question ;^>... I agree that white or mostly white flowers and foliage can brighten up a dark corner. A good small white-flowered cv is 'Hardy Gardenia', which stays compact with great foliage throughout the year. Flowers just starting for me in MD. There's a Kurume I just saw called 'Mizo No Yamabuki' that has starry yellowish flowers that would complement your color scheme (don't know how big it gets). Check into Rhododendron keiskei (sp?) selections and cvs; the species has nice small yellow flowers, but probably earlier than 'My Mary'. Could also add some of the variegated-flower types that are white with stripes, flecks, etc. of purple or red (I think pink and yellow together are obnoxious but that's just my opinion; if you like that combo there are many more variegated azalea cvs to chose from). If you want nice low growers that can function as ground covers try the North Tisbury hybrids -- some have light enough flowers to work in your conditions. There are some nice picture galleries on the Internet that might help you find cvs that you like, including at the ASA website (link below). Hope this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Azalea Society of America website

Bekados I bought some ginger to use in cooking late this past spring. I used some and left a half-palm sized piece out on a raised kitchen counter. After a month or so, I noticed a small sprout, like a potato eye just forming. After a week or two longer I could tell it was green, and after another week or two it grew to about a half inch high. I watched it get to about an inch. By that time, my wife was curious, and I suggested to her that she might get more ginger if she planted it. She found a six-inch pot and put some really awful potting soil in it. Terrible stuff. Mostly sand and charcoal, I have no idea where she got that junk. Anyway, she planted the ginger just under the soil surface, and put the pot in bright shade near the kitchen door where we could watch it. It took off. Sometimes we could tell a difference overnight (!!) It is now almost three feet tall and starting to send up a second shoot. I guess it's time to put it in the ground. But since I still don't know whether it prefers sun or shade, I think we'll have to move it around a little to find out.

Pindos are notoriously finicky in cool wet winter climates. Everything I read about them says they are at least an 8a palm. Other sites rate them as 8b, which explains why Gary (Gary's Nursery in NC) has had problems with pindos even in his solid 8a climate. Friends in VB who have pindos say they had wrapped them for quite a few winters before they were big enough/established enough to go unprotected in winter. I've seen some impressively large pindos down in Bethany Beach, Delaware, but they are winter wrapped every year, and we have a good half zone on NYC. I wrapped my first-year blue pot pindo with a combination of techniques based on input here and a local palm gardener: burlap wrap, tyvek home wrap for breathable waterproofing and then a leaf cage around its base. I thought it came through its first winter here unscathed, but as it began to grow, the emerging frond showed a lot of damage, so much that it needed to be cut off. Then two of the most recent fronds also dropped from winter damage to their stems which weakened them. They looked otherwise healthy, but the just flopped to the ground as they grew and pushed up out of the center they damaged stems could support the weight and they flopped outward. It looked sad last month having lost half of its height and 1/3 of its fronds. Now, the palm is recovering quickly with two solid looking spears emerging and opening. This is a blue pot pindo in its first complete year, so they are subject to cold damage, even in a mild winter. I'm resigned to the fact that I will have to winter protect this palm forever, which is a bit of a put off. I know it will gain winter hardiness in time, but don't think it will ever be a long term survivor in our borderline zone.

Any chance you can solarize without causing too much trouble? 3" of compost would probably be enough to get started, especially if you can solarize first, and then till in the compost. Top that with 2" of hardwood mulch, and you're golden. Also, start going to Starbucks and ask them to collect the used grounds for you. They'll give it to you free. Sometimes I'm able to get about 40 lbs from a single trip to the store up the street. If there is a composting facility near you, you might be able to get free compost or free mulch. The city of Allen has a free compost program. The only problem is that you might end up with undesirable results. My front yard in those pics is nothing more than Texas clay with 2" of compost and coffee grounds on top, with 1.5" of mulch on top of that. Also be careful along your foundation. Typically you want to maintain the mulch line at or below 3" from the top of the foundation to prevent termites. I tend to go a little higher - 1.5-2" from the top of the foundation, but our entire property has a 10 year termite warranty. Here is a link that might be useful: Solarize your grass