I can't believe all of the responses, thank you so much! I'm saving all of them and am going to go through the suggested plants to choose some for the space. The area in question is rather dry, although this spring/summer has been on the dry side so far, so many of our garden beds are dryer than usual. I think this spot tends to get less watering from us because the one spigot in the front of our house hasn't worked since we moved here and it's a pain to drag the backyard hose all the way around to the front. DH has promised to get down in the crawl space and fix the darned thing before next spring, so hopefully with a well-placed soaker hose under a layer of mulch it will be more moist next year. In the event that the area does remain rather dry, are there any shade-loving perennials that will flourish in dry shade? The idea of having a tree there is intriguing, but I do think that the area is a bit small---one of my husband's pet peeves is trees that are planted too close to houses. The window there is pretty much our one and only 'view' from anywhere inside the house, so we'd like to keep it unobstructed. We also have so many trees in our yard (especially in that half of the yard), I think the idea of adding more makes us start to panic a little ; ) This is a horrid photo (I think it's from the realtor) but you can see the three huge trees on the right (one is a double-trunk); there is also an enormous maple directly behind the garage. http://pattycakedesigns.com/house6.jpg I'm not positive, but I don't think that the garden stays warm in the winter. We planted three hydrangea there last fall, and none of them made it through the winter. Maybe the freezing wind blowing in from the west hits full-on whatever's planted there? We live a block from the shore of Lake Erie, so it does tend to get pretty cold/windy here in the winter. I do like the idea of a birdbath or some other small structure there (I think our four cats would enjoy drooling from the windowsill), and I think we have one in the shed that we aren't using now. I saw one the other day that had been planted with annuals that were positively dripping over the edges of the bowl; I seem to remember DH moaning about having to scrub out the birdbath more than he liked, maybe if we don't use it for a birdbath per se we can use it as a focal point for some fancy annuals? Other than impatiens, what annuals grow well in the shade? Begonias? I've been trying to come up with some more ideas for plants that might look interesting through the winter (since it's winter here for about six months, or at least seems that way, especially when it snows in April). Any thoughts for anything other than holly? We're not big evergreen/dwarf conifer fans. We love climbing hydrangea (left one behind at the old house, I still mourn losing it); if I wanted to start one up the siding there to the left, what would be the best way to support it? I'm guessing the siding is too slick for it to hold itself up. A trellis? If so, how do you attach a trellis to the siding, or would you just anchor the bottom in the ground? My goal now is to try and get the unwanted flowers moved to the backyard somewhere so that I can hopefully plant some shade perennials here in the fall. I moved the Clara Curtis this morning (from the way it spread in just one year, I have a feeling it's going to take over whereever I put it) and am going to move those sickly-looking geraniums when we hack them back in a few days. I need to get that poor hydrangea out of the corner; would it be better to wait until fall to move it, or could I do it now? Thanks again for everyone's responses, this is all fascinating and so helpful! Amy Here is a link that might be useful:

Karen, I have been wondering about your health these days. I don't like hearing that you are so uncomfortable. What do the doctors say? I'd don't seem to have a direct line to God, but you're in my prayers. If He's tuned in most nights, he hears my list and you're on it. Do keep us informed. You and I are on the same page when it comes to pink. The china (KPM "Normandie") that I used on the May Table was inherited from my mother. She had what she called a dessert set (square plates, larger than salad plates but smaller than dinner plates) and a large square bowl in the pattern for years. She LOVED them. Then, one day when she was in her mid sixties, she walked into a consignment shop and there was the whole set, place settings for 12 and a number of serving pieces. She thought she'd died and gone to heaven. For some reason, the store hadn't had any nibbles on the dishes and when she asked them to call the owner to see if she'd come down in price, she got them for a song. I use them from time-to-time now and think of her delight when she called to tell me about finding them. I think I have a little granddaughter that is going to be a "pink person" even when she's grown, so they will be appreciated again some day, in the same way my mama did. I think I've seen some of your horse collection. It's super. And aren't you the one with that wonderful merry-go-round horsie??? You could do a great Derby table without half trying. When you start to feel better, I'm going to start bugging you. Just start by slappin' down the dishes and settin' a few hoses on the table. Add a few roses (Run for the Roses?) and you're done! OA

Ran to the store last night to buy more stuff for the blue bag our postman left. I put it out last night so I wouldn't forget, loading it right from the trunk of my car. No need to bring the stuff in the house and then back out again. I try to buy mostly protein and veggies. Hope they like my picks. A customer at the store left 3 baked beans coupons on the shelf where the beans are, so I just used them and bought 3 large cans for the sack. That was nice too.

Amazing what someone can do with food. Thanks Marie