I looked up Canna ( I am new to gardening) and they are very pretty, I think I will have to get some! I looking for more tropical plants to fill in the are that already have the Bird of Paradise and I think the Canna would be a good fit.

Milehighgirl, thanks for the links. I should have said, but ee planted a small orchard thi spring. We did so will all of our trees purchased from stark bros. nursery. We planted: Apples: stark golden delicious, stark grand gala, red Fuji, goldfish, enterprise, empire, and candycrisp. Cherries: northstar and stark surecrop Peach: intrepid and reliance Plum: bubblegum and starking delicious plum Pear: orient, moonglow, and starking delicious pear I hope we chose ok! Were certainly novices and my father in law has had good luck with his trees purchased from Stark. I'll be asking for pruning help this spring for sure!

Welcome to the area! I would check and see when the next Master Gardeners class in Greenville County is offered - it may not be offered again until fall. Whenever it is, take it - you will learn a LOT about gardening in general (no matter how much you already know) and about gardening in your area in particular. Plus, you meet fellow gardeners! I second the recommendations to wait for a year to do any major changes, see what you already have (any early bulbs will have grown out and gone dormant by now, for example), and improve the soil as much as possible. Of course, if you REALLY can't stand a certain plant, then take it out, by all means! It is your garden, after all. Even if the previous owner obviously treasured it, you don't have to! I would visit as many nurseries and public gardens as you can, see what grows here, what you like and what you don't, and generally get familiar with conditions that you have, and the conditions that plants require to do well in the area. I don't know where you moved from, but some plants that grew well for you won't do at all, some will need afternoon shade, and some will be annuals instead of perennials, and vice versa. Another good book, while covering a wide area, is the Southern Living Garden Book - it lists plants and cultivars that do well across the south, as well as giving general garden advice. Any of the books by Toby Bost are good, as are books by Alan Armitage, Felder Rushing, etc.. Even though dated, there is a new edition/collection of Elizabeth Lawrence's articles out - although she gardened in Charlotte in the 50's on, many things will carry over. This is getting into the time of year when people stop planting things anyway - it's too hot, both to be working hard out in the sun, and too stressful for trying to get plants established. If there are water restrictions again this summer, you do not want to watch your new purchase wither up and die from lack of water! You may lose a few plants in the existing garden anyway - keep an eye out for signs of stress. Saving the water as you wait for the hot water to get to a given sink may be necessary.

Not to be a total curmudgeon, BUT... 1) It's not your fence. It belongs to your neighbor 100% because he paid for it. That means you can't paint it, grow anything on it, or attach anything to it. 2) You don't have 6 more inches. That belongs to him, too! It's where the posts for his fence are. The fence is built entirely on his property! This isn't like buying a new house and the fence is on the property line: he paid for it and put it on HIS property. The property line appears to be where the wall is. The property line didn't move! (And no, he didn't "abandon" the 6" on her side, he's using it for the fence foundation.)