most interested in your orchids. I am a perennial/orchid collector. I have a bulb you might be interested in. a drimiopsis maculata false African hosta grows from a bulb(partially exposed) has a stalk of white flowers and darker green spotted leaves. chk Plants Delight website for more info on growing can be grown as a houseplant too. looking for any color bletilla.

hey kat hosta have a cold dormancy requirement.. without said SLEEP ... they are annuals ... if you dont see any locally... then you arent going to find any hardy ... though you can dig them up each fall.. and store them in a fridge for 60 days ... ken

Well, I started out thinking 'only hosta' and how easy that would be to work out a pleasant look to my eye. As time went on, I began to realize I needed some contrasting shapes and colors to actually enhance my hosta, to 'my' eye! Sooo, I have incorporated all the usual companion plantings, heuchera, some Japanese Maples, Hakone Grass, Pulmonaria, Daylilies, lamiums, Lysimachia, ferns, espec. Ghost Ferns, Brunnera macrophylla Jack Frost, Epimediums, wild violets and splashes of impatiens scattered around in pots, etc. For me, they really do make a beautiful and peaceful woodland setting! Oh, and I also have incorporated a Black Lace Sambuca that I love with the hosta, etc.! I just took a bunch of pix late today while it was drizzling rain, and the colors were so vivid! I just wanted to stand out in the rain and take it all in for a long time--but, I didn't--giving in when it really started to pour!! Sometimes I'm such a girl!! Bottomline, it's YOUR garden--do what pleases you unless you're JUST looking to impress everyone else instead of making it your own refuge! Not me--gotta have it my way because if I'm going to do all that I have to do, to make it what it is, I'd BETTER LOVE IT, when it's all said and done!! For me, my garden is a refuge and a place I love to share with good friends, just to sit and enjoy the peace and good conversation in! janice Hey 'Mink'! I loved your pix and I'm so glad you had your pool/pond included! I still remember the article written up about your place! Thumbs up, still!! Oh, and I'd love to see more angles of the little cedar 'shed' you have. We're looking to make a similar shed for storing all my tools! Like we don't have enough storage already, but, hubby wants them out of his work areas!

Ah, ZKathy, I am so sorry for the pain caused by that storm. We lost our house (moved in 2 months before) on the river, a lot of the plants there died, did not seem to like that salt water. Our water did not stand long, just went back out, fortunately, but family members in the NOLA area suffered a long time too. Hope you enjoy gardening where you are now. Every spot seems to have its own brand of disaster waiting to happen. Familiar devils are easier to deal with, in my experience.