Amsonia 'Blue Ice' is similar to A. 'Short Stack' in size, but with a longer season of bloom and less of a chlorosis problem in high pH soils. Having said that I like the habit of 'Short Stack' better. I say use a combination of Amsonia, larger Heuchera villosa hybrids (Southern Comfort, Brownies, Autumn Bride, etc) and a fine textured grass similar to Sporobolus heterolepis 'Tara'. Color and texture contrast, as well as varied bloom seasons. other plants for partial shade that would do well: Campanula 'Summertime Blues', Campanula 'Blue Waterfall', Euphorbias such as 'Ascot Rainbow', 'Blackbird', and 'First Blush', Kalimeris 'Blue Star', Tradescantia varieties such as Summer Charm, Lucky Charm, or Sweet Kate which don't go dormant as readily, Alchemilla, Allium 'Millenium' or 'Summer Beauty', Weigela 'Midnight Wine' or 'My Monet', Hydrangea macrophylla 'Pia'. I could go on, but this is getting to be a big enough list I think. And if you're close to Plant Delights, you can find so many cool plants to try out it's not funny. I'd love to visit their open house sometime. The Plant Geek www.confessionsofaplantgeek.blogspot.com

Thanks, Campanula! I've enjoyed the few photos you have posted of your new property and wouldn't mind seeing more photos of it. (hint, hint.) After gardening haphazardly for 25 or 30 years, this is the first garden I ever really planned, though only in general terms of size, growth style, and color, rather than specific plants. I then went shopping for plants that were available and affordable that fit the design, which allowed for some experiments and serendipity. Previous gardens were all experiments and serendipity with not as good results since by nature I am a plant nerd. I learned a lot from reading the landscape design forum back when it was frequented by a group of talented pros as well as perusing various books. I live in an area that usually is under snow about 4 or even 5 months each year, so having something that is large enough to emerge from the usual 2-3 meters of the white stuff makes the winter less dismal. The times of greatest color and interest in this bed are spring, fall, and early winter before the snow gets deep. I planned for quite a number of evergreens, both coniferous and broadleafed, with the perennials as the icing on the cake. I love our mixed pine and deciduous woods, and the height of this bed was designed to cut down on visibility of the solar panels, sheds, and work area behind it without blocking all sight lines, since this is the first thing one sees as the driveway emerges from the woods. The backdrop of woodlands behind it is what most of our property looks like. The photo below is what this area looked like before we had it cleared and I put in the bed, and is what much of the woods still looks like. The shed in the background is sitting in the middle of what is now the bed, just about where the Amsonia is in photo 1 and the last two photos I posted of it in winter. Here's a more recent photo from near the same spot, with the same cherry tree visible over to the left and the same drives that head off to the left and into the back of the photo into the woods in the photo above. I have another bed that has a backdrop of one type of dark evergreen with all the smaller shrubs and perennials in front of them. In winter, the perennial part is invisible under the snow, but the line of evergreens is still lovely, while in summer, the evergreens take a back seat to the flowers in front. I think all my beds have something for winter interest, either shrubs, small trees or trellises. If it is of any comfort, 150 years ago my state, New Hampshire, was 85% cleared for agriculture. It is now about 85% forested, so change is possible, though I am sure not to that degree in the UK which is more densely populated than my part of the US. One of the interesting aspects of that change is that when one walks in the woods, or flies over most parts of the state in winter, there are still visible stone walls throughout the woods that used to border farm fields. The area in the photos above was pasture because we have found barbed wire fencing in spots. (I live in one of the very few parts of NH without any rocks since we are on glacial lake sediments, so no stone walls.) The old dairy farm where I live stopped being actively farmed in the 40's or 50's, and since then woodland has largely taken over the fields with the exception of a couple of fields that were reclaimed for farming in the 70's and are still used today, though we don't do the actual farming. Probably more response than you wanted, but it's pouring rain here today, so no going outside.

Alan...this sounds fabulous!! I love the concept and all you've done with it. Can you show us pictures?? I'd love to see it. Yes, where is this park? Thanks for telling us all about it. I have wildflower asters that were given to me many years ago. They came origanally from New York. I was told they are probably New England wildflower asters. I really don't know if there's a big difference between wild "ditch" asters and New England Asters...anyway - you would be welcome to have some of mine for your garden, if you like. Just let me know. ...Beverly

The pics below are of the south-facing border along the side of the neighbor's house -- we share the yard. I had made my own little mix of low-growing self-seeding annuals that like it hot-and-dry, sprinkled them in this bed over my own seed-starting mix laid down an inch thick, and watered them twice a day. They germinated, but virtually all died. I think I started them too late in the season. HOWEVER, I also transplanted Verbena seedlings that popped up in some of my pots and barrels from last year. I thought they were offspring of the prostrate white-flowered Verbena I bought as annuals. Some were. But many others were offspring of last year's Verbena bonairensis 'Buenos Aires'. It wasn't until they started growing either up or out that I knew which were which. I'm liking the more manageable size of this year's V. bonairensis seedlings compared to the monster that last year's plant became, so I'm going to treat them as self-seeding annuals and remove this year's plants after hard frosts cut them back. Also in this border are some Chinas, 'Perle d'Or', and "Grandmother's Hat". The last two plus 'Napoleon' were planted here last year. The other Chinas are still small. The red blooms near the ground you see in the second pic belong to "Dutch Fork China'. The other reds are 'Louis Philippe' at the far end by the edge of the porch in the third pic, and 'Cramoisi Superieur' to the left of the Amsonia hubrichtii, on the other side of the gray metal basement-window-guard in the first pic. The tall China with some dark-pink flowers under the window in the second pic is 'Napoleon', and it's flanked by a white on either side -- 'Rival de Paestum' on its left, and 'Ducher' on its right. But right now, mostly all I see is a cloud of purple Verbena that popped up on their own in the back yard, and did better than all the seeds I sowed and tended here. Just an FYI -- the grass here looks terrible because this is where the people in the next house (i.e. my neighbors' neighbors) park their cars, and as such I don't bother watering there. I just mow and trim whatever grows. :-) ~Christopher