Honey, the real BEFORE was only viewable with a machete in hand. hehehehehe.....but this is what it looks like with all but the azalea stumps up and the passion vine seedlings beginning to crawl up the wire pot arbor. I have to remind myself that it was just last spring we began to do things with the back forty. Pretty raw, huh. And hmmm, let me find the Fried Bananas--I'm most impressed with how it grew while I was busy potting up the new guys. This next picture shows the "allee" or walkway between the high privacy fence and the south end of the Teahouse. It is the place I've moved the smaller hosta, intend to put a shelf up on the fence for eye level viewing and gardening chores to be easier. This view shows where the only three grounded hosta are located, the QUARANTINED TRIO. Wouldn't you know they look perfect this year? I'm hoping they do NOT have HVX, but what are the odds the first two I bought from Lowes are clean? Like IGNORANCE IS BLISS, maybe the angels knew I was totally ignorant when I did it and it saved me--but give me a couple of quarantine years to find out. The area for the shade cloth is 25 feet wide from fence to fence--our "back forty" was a strip of land we bought from our neighbor, 25 feet deep and 100 feet wide, and this south end of it is between two fairly large pecan trees, and shade is rather sporadic and intense as the growing season progresses. Meanwhile I have a dump truck load of half bark half soil in my driveway which I'm waiting to move once the PVC posts are dug in. No sweat, right? hmmm, well, three holes with more roots than you can imagine. If we do it in one day, it will be a miracle. I'm really thinking we should call the fence company to bring that big auger and at least do the holes. I'm too old for this....and so is DH. He's got to last a long time, you know. Oh, a pirogue is sure nuff a flat bottomed boat. Double ended. NOT an indian-style canoe. This one happens to be out of fiberglass so it will last forever. My bro, who is in Louisiana, gave it to me after it drifted up to his house in a hurricane. I worked down in Louisiana as a boat captain for 20 years, I forgot folks in other parts did not know a word so common to me. So JonnyB, you thought I was filling up a nice pierogi.....how nice!!!!Ohhhh. As they say on the bayou, Ah'd lak sum a dat, me!! Here it is, at the north end of the back forty, between rows of blueberries.

Hi Wendy, Glad to hear such a great report. We were just making a list of summer activities with my son and Parker's Maple Barn is on the list. Of course I had to add Mason Hollow as part of that little roadtrip! I haven't been there for many years so I'm glad to hear it is still a great place to visit. I'm going to try to squeeze in Perennials by Susan in Amherst on the same day. Somehow it was easy for me to turn a trip to a the Maple Barn into a plant shopping day!! LOL!

Thanks for the recommendations, folks! It gives me something to float by the parental units and keep an eye out for. Gesila, my folks are in TC. I suspect the nursery you're thinking of is in Interlochen. (I can't remember the name either.) It is AWESOME! But as I live down by Detroit, I rarely get there. The bed in Q is approx. 30ft x 2ft. There are plants (glads, astilbe, mums, etc) along the back of the bed & a trellis at one end which is why I'm looking at plants that are taller than mini's but top out at about 12inches. I would be planning on leaving some smallish spaces here and there along the front of the bed for colorful annuals such as wax begonias (which REALLY seem to like the raised bed). My preferance would be to not go the mail order route. I'm an apt dweller in the Detroit area so I don't get to my folks' place that often. I wouldn't want plants to arrive at my place and be growing them indoors for who knows how long, nor want them to be sitting in pots in TC for however long. Actually do have a couple Rainforest Sunrises planted up there. (One of my favorites truth be told.) I do think I prefer its appearance when grown with a bit of shade. The one that gets quite a bit more sun is a little too washed out I think. Hmm, I should probably ask my sis how tall and wide "Fire and Ice" and "Whirlwind" have gotten at her place -- though she lives in Adrian which is even further south than me so her conditions would be different. Her beds also get more shade as I recall........

You know, if I could get the pictures from Mr. Goodwin of his British container garden with the pots stored along the fence, I might be quite happy with following his setup. I say the south fence, because the sun is very low during the winter months, and that fence of wood 7 foot tall stays shaded. Prevailing winds which can drive the rain, will also be blowing mostly from the south east. I have to use the changing shade patterns in moving hosta around the garden, it is amazing how much it can change in a short period of time. Look where the sun is rising now, and it is a little bit more south of east at sunrise every day. And more south of west at sunset. Yes, Pieterje, rain is a boogerbear here as well. Two years ago we had a real winter spell, and it was below freezing for two whole weeks. Unheard of, never before! Then, last year it was back to normal, with temps dipping down to 28 overnight a couple of times, but not continuous. I need not have moved my tropical beauties into my Teahouse--where I had to water them, instead of letting nature do the work. I am now wondering what kind of season we'll have this year, and might need to consult the ole Farmer's Almanac. I have a thought in mind, which will utilize the "metaposts" which you drive in the ground, and then can insert 4x4s to which shelfs might be attached. WIRE shelves, which let the pots drain with no lifters or feet beneath, no wood to rot. I already have a good bit of wire shelving wasting away. Maybe with the extra 4x4 supporting front of the shelving, the fence itself won't be strained. What I like about those Metaposts (Aubuchon sold them online, then I found some at Home Depot) is you can remove the 4x4 and just leave the metal part in the ground, if you don't want that "look" along your fence. But my area in question is at the very back and far end of the garden. I also want to avoid infestation of the pots by fire ants, who like nice dry places on the ground. Lifting them up is a good way to avoid those terrible ants. BKay, with my pot count as high as it is, no way can I keep them on our 10 x 12 deck, and besides, we will be remodeling this winter. That means I cannot put anything in the Teahouse either, because I'm keeping it temp controlled since construction material is filling it up already. Right now, I'll be happy when the squirrels quit bombing me with the Mississippi Giant pecans and also tearing up hosta leaves. Ken, you are such a charmer, 30 minutes below 40....guffaw guffaw guffaw.....I'll tell DH what you said, he will probably borrow that for his own tales of southern winters. Yes indeed, cold soggy media and rot, go together. Last winter I had only a few hosta to deal with, and all went dormant up in Massachusetts before moving south. Where, as you said, Ken, they woke up pipping in late February and early March. Without checking, I think the Satisfaction NOID was blooming as early as mid March?