One good tip I learned (from trial & error, then much research) is to plant and harvest things at the proper time for your growing zone- even in places like california where people might tell you "oh you can grow anything there all year round"... not true! some plants are warm season, some are cool season, some like to overwinter, some are annual, some are perennial, some are biennial, etc. Research each plant, and also don't assume plants that seem similar will have the same needs, for example peas and beans both come in bush and vining varieties and grow in pods, but peas like cool weather while beans like it hot- except for a few certain beans that actually do prefer it cool... Also, potatoes can tolerate cool weather while sweet potatoes don't. Kale & lettuces grow best in cool weather while chard seems to do fine in hot or cool. You get the idea. If you plant things at the wrong time you'll be wasting your time and the seeds- I tried lettuce when it was too late to be planting it and in the heat of summer it went straight to bolt. I've planted zucchini and tomatoes when it was too cold for them and they grew poorly and didn't produce fruit. Harvest times are just as important as planting times- I planted radishes once and they didn't seem to get big enough by harvesting time so I thought I could just let them keep growing for a while longer- but found out that if you leave them in the ground too long they get tough and too spicy and shrivel up instead of getting bigger! Also it may be tempting to let a zucchini get huge, thinking it will just provide more food when you let a fruit get 2 feet long... No! Harvest them young & tender and about the size they sell them in the grocery store (or smaller), any larger and you get a hard shell, lots of seeds, and very little (and quite tasteless) flesh. Moral of these stories is to research each fruit or veggie you want to grow & follow the "directions", it will mean the difference between success & failure! Also- healthy soil is #1 important thing for plants - no chemical fertilizer! Compost is your best friend. Mulch is your other best friend- use what is available & free- leaves & pine needles are what I use. Good luck!!!

idie2live, Sorry so long in answering you. The ground cover is called pachysandra (Japanese Spurge). I really love it, it keeps its color thru winter (even the unusually cold and snowy winter we had this year. It does perfect under my maple tree. it does take a bit to start, there is the old saying of "sleep, creep, and leap" " Year 1 is sleep, year 2 is creep and on the 3rd year it leaps-fast growing") Here are some photos of my front yard..as you can see by the photo, I have recently gotten rid of a grass "pathway" (upper right side where you see the black pot with a bush I plan on planting there), soon the pachysandra will cover that area too. Then I planted bushes along the front of the property for winter color and not having to mow there either, plus I will grow them up a bit for privacy, I just need to add some mulch (right now) to that area, but, eventually the bushes get so wide that it will prevent weeds from sprouting and I won't need to mulch. Results are now I have only to move that slightly roundish area in my front yard. You will notice to the front-right under my pine tree is Ivy. That area is sunnier, so I used Ivy there, pachysandra does best in shady to partically shady. The only problem with Ivy is that it is very invasive, you have to stay on your toes to care for it, it will strangle out small plants and bushes, so I can't plant anything there with the ivy (unless you place a pot within the ivy with flowers as you see as I have done. The good thing about Ivy is that it covers quickly.

oh my, that is crazy different Poor FW Just wondering if you hosta pros will advise-is it worth it for stirfryi to dig them up and pot them, move them to a shady spot and baby them until fall? Wouldn't that at least be better than the stress they are having where they currently are sited? If that would help, then I would soak the ground several times around them until it is softer to dig up and move them. Of course, if stirfryi would rather start over with more sun tolerant hostas, that seems like a good idea too. Just a shame that a landscaper did that and I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Any guarantee from the landscaper??? Maybe they will remedy the situation???

Mx3, You have a lot of great plants in your garden. A lot of them are plants I haven’t grown. I’ve considered Chelone, but, I always thought that was a pretty sturdy upright plant, so I’m happy to hear that is not the case before I bought it. I had Annabelle Hydrangea and found the blooms heavy enough to flop and look pretty miserable so after two seasons, I let that go. I’m much happier now with the Hydrangea paniculatas. I’m not 100% thrilled with ‘Little Lime’ because it grows with a layered affect that I don’t enjoy, with branches shooting up in the middle a lot taller than the rest of the bush. I keep hearing that the older it gets the more that evens out, so I am waiting and watching. I’ve never grown Betony ‘White Zin’. I just looked it up, it’s very pretty! But - based on your experience that is one that would not last for me. I don’t mind a certain amount of deadheading, but if it’s not going to look good after deadheading, probably not for me. But then again, I’m always looking for pollinator plants. [g] Maybe one try would be worth it. I haven’t grown Brunnera either. I have a Salvia similar to ‘May Night’ but I think I’m going to have to get that particular variety. It’s nice and dark which I like. I have Rose Queen and Blue Queen and Rose Queen, even in full sun, was on the ground and never became upright. Blue queen has just been so-so for me. Not as vigorous. And I agree after I deadhead, the foliage is a mess. I believe that is in part due to earwigs that chew up the leaves at night. I have made nightly trips out to the garden with a cup of soapy water to get control of that situation in the past, but not this year. I have Nepeta and I really enjoy it. It looks great next to my grasses. It blooms a long time and I feel maintenance is minor. I just looked up ‘Stoke’s Aster’ - another perennial I haven’t tried. I really like the looks of it. I have a fall blooming Aster that I thought was very sturdy and upright and branches of that came down to the ground and one snapped off in the last windy storm. It was about a 4ft tall plant which surprised me. I thought it was Alma Potcschke, but mine is purple not pink and taller. I just used stakes and string to get that one back together. I probably will stake it early next season. I have not had a Bergenia that didn’t look a mess half the time, so I will have to check out ‘Sunfur’. I do see your point, that more smaller plants mean more cutting back and I had not thought of how being low to the ground adds to the difficulty but you are right. I do wonder how you use so many taller plants and how you can do without a lot of edging plants and sizes that gradually become lower. I would love to see photos of your bed. :-).