I want to comment on your healthy plants, too. Generally you have not planted too close, which will save you re-planting later. The exception is the arborvitae on the left will cause trouble for the tree next to it very soon. It will grown into the tree trunk and spoil the foliage of the arborvitae, and the tree trunk will stay damp in the foliage. The root competition will be the death of both of them. Regarding aesthetics, I have one suggestion. I hope this doesn't start a big argumentative thread like it did about 2 years ago (so why am I starting it again?) Would you possibly consider using a natural, undyed mulch? Many people love the new dyed mulches, but the softer tones of natural pine bark mulch complement warm colors (like the gold and orange lilies) and cooler blues and greens as well. If you'll go that far, make sure you don't get the nuggets, just the the regular mulch. Another option is start making compost and mulch with that. That will give your plants wonderful nutrients, improve the soil and do away with the need for fertilizer. Keep up the good work! You have the beginnings of a good gardener. idabean/marie

My SdlMs all got a bad Mildew attack after the hot wind as well. Some of the roses I bought that were 3 years old and grown from "virus free" bands showed RMV on leaves that formed during that horrible heat. I felt so let down. I would have kept my old plants instead but I wanted virus free copies. I wish they would send the roses out to hot areas to check them before claiming they are RMV free. Now the new leaves and flowers are free of the mildew but the old leaves show the scars of the mildew attack they went through. I am finally getting some pretty SdlM flowers again. The DA row that got hit by the neighbors roundup spray is slowly coming back. For a time I considered removing them all, I was so discouraged. It was hard to see spring come and watch them cling to life instead of grow and bloom as they usually do. The garden has always been both a comfort and a great challenge. But when I have had hardship and sadness, I always found myself there. I'm thinking of you and sending love for your brother. I hope the changes you made in the garden will give you a beautiful late spring-early summer and beauty in the years to come.

Thanks for the info about planting the warm season grasses. As far as the half completed lasagna bed, I pulled back some today and saw Worms!! This is good. So now I feel a little better about pulling this back, amending planting holes and then puting the lasagna compost back on the ground. It should continue the positive improvements I just saw. The NC area I live in, called the RTP area, is notorious for clay soil and land that does not perk. We live in a geological formation that has soil created from weathered sandstone and shale. The big "no no" around here is adding sand. It will make concrete here. They do say you can use washed "sharp sand". I am going to amend my planting holes with a lot of organic material, dig extra wide holes and elevate the plantings. I do not think I will be able to raise the entire area. I will incorporate some of the lasagna bed compost. I am also researching gravel to add to the planting holes. I have read some about 1/4 -10 gravel. This is a mix of 1/4 inch and .196 inch washed gravel with no fines. The fines being the very small particles that help make concrete with the clay soil. Seems like this is being used a lot in the Pacific Northeast. The gravel folks around here have never heard of this but they have something very similar called 78 gravel. I read an article by "Wind Dancer Garden" where they indicated they use this in all of their gardens to help soil drainage, I read on another web site where they even use this to plant lawn grass. My main problem now is getting this clay soil dry enough to work. Got all of my grasses and I am ready to plant! One other thing, the m. Graziella and m. Silberfeder I bought from Sooner Nursey seemed to have come in good shape. Nice size plants for 1 gallon containers. I have never purchased mail order plants before. I may have got lucky in ordering early and getting leftovers from last year before they got their regular stock in for the year. These may be larger plants than their normal 1 gallon plants.

Hello again all, yes thanks pm2 - I guess it is time for an update! After a late spring with much rain and cold in March, we are starting to dry out and get some sun and warmth. The daffodils are right on schedule, with the dogwoods maybe just a few days behind normal. The blooms are still a bit greenish but in a few days the hillsides will be glorious with white. The redbuds have been out for a week or so now, I just planted one in the front yard, even though we are surrounded by them in the woods, I just love them. There are bluebird eggs in the box on the top of the hill and today is in the 70s so all is right with the world! Because we've had such a long cold wet spring it's been hard to get into the gardens, especially with our clay. I dug out cannas I wanted to divide yesterday and they came up with clods of wet clay attached. Still a bit early to do serious digging. The front shade bed however was easier to dig because of all the compost I added last year so I did add some early color that it really needed. 'Chattahoochee' phlox and 'Woodside Gold' columbine went in to replace the anemones I lost last year to insects. The combination of tiny light pink flowers of pulmonaria, the baby blue of the brunnera, blue with a purple eye on the phlox, and pink and purple columbine make a lovely spring show. I had to watch where I dug however because some of the hostas are so slow to emerge and I risk digging into them. I have to remember to plant some bulbs around them so I don't forget where they are. As to the shrub changes, I moved the Itea to the woods garden after I realized it would take over and sucker in this small garden space. I replaced it with a Chamaecyparis Gold Mop which grows very slowly and will provide that gold foliage I'm looking for. The Sarcococca is kind of sitting there, it looks like it got a bit of tip burn, this area gets winter sun so it may not be happy with that. I never did get the flowers in January, unless I missed them. The Calycanthus is forming flower buds, I can't wait to see, and especially smell them. The clethra is still thinking about leafing out, it is alway late to do so. The spirea and the cornus are leafed out and came through fine, the loropetalum suffered some leaf dieback, but I just picked off the brown leaves and it is now leafing out to the tips. I may have lost the flowerbuds but I don't know yet, this is a new plant for me so it might just surprise me yet. I may have to move it if it gets too big which I'm finding out may be the case. I had to remove the large Foster's holly at the corner of the house as it was too close to the foundation and was beginning to heave and crack the brick so I lost some midday shade. I may move the loropetalum there and replace it with a shrub cutleaf japanese maple or maybe just some perennials. The Old Gold juniper is close by and will probably need the room eventually. I didn't know what to expect with the loropetalum as far as hardiness or size so I just plopped it in and am waiting to see. It's a great plant, the leaf color is terrific and if it blooms I'll get a great mass of bright pink. On the other side I had success with a large Kalmia Olympic Fire but a smaller one I planted next to it is not looking great. The Rainbow leucothoe is suffering as well, I did know they are fussy as to conditions so it may get the heave-ho. The pieris are doing fine as are the acuba. I lost all my azaleas to the Easter freeze last year, I had hoped they would bounce back but I'm going to have to dig them out and replace them. I did get rid of a large yew and replaced it with a Viburnum 'Conoy' which made it through the winter in fine shape and is forming flower buds now. It kept about half its foliage over the winter. It should eventually take the place of the yew and the strugging kalmia. I may add another one instead of replacing the three Glacier azaleas I lost and just replacing the Renee Michelle azaleas in front of it. By far my greatest joy has been the hellebores I added around the two Japanese maples. They have doubled in size and have been blooming since February. Last year they kept blooming into the summer and the foliage is evergreen. I can't say enough good things about them. As for the ferns, the lady ferns are up and the male ferns are thinking about it. I'll probably move the lady ferns to the woods garden, they are just so fragile and in late summer get a bit tattered, so not the best choice for a front garden. The male ferns were sturdy and held up well last year, but are a bit uninteresting. I'll probably replace them with Japanese painted ferns this year. I have quite a few in my back garden and they have done very well and provide that purple color I love. They are a bit more spready though where I could use some more height. I snapped a few photos yesterday of my fav plant combos in the shade bed. The dogwood is the crowning glory! Heuchera 'Amethyst Mist' and lysymachia Pulmonaria 'Mrs Moon' and 'Silver Indiana' heuchera Heuchera 'Frosted Violet' and Hellebore 'Royal Heritage' Heucherella 'Stoplight' and Asian ginger Pulmonaria 'Mrs Moon' and lysymachia Unfurling leaves of 'Minuteman' hosta Columbines Edging tapestry Phlox 'Chattahoochie' and Pulmonaria