I am trying a combination this year of: Asparagus ferns, Ligularia - with the big round leaves that are green on one side and purple on the reverse. They almost look like a lotus leaf; and, hosta "Great Expectations" So far they all look really nice together. I am just uncertain of how I want to space them. I am going for a rather Asian feel here. I will be adding a beautiful big buddha head, somewhere.

I second catmint and salvia, but with the little warning that if you have cats around, they love to roll in the catmint; they tend to like the dayllily foliage too, unfortunately. I also like daisies, and since you are in a similar zone to mine, you might like to edge with some of the wax begonias. Portulaca is another good low mounding plant, and foxgloves are good background for summer. If you haven't already, take a look at some of the archieved entries in Floota's blog and look at Julias old posts. And be sure to look at Celeste's Pictures They are beautiful, but her zone is very different, however you will still get ideas. And Cindy, who also has a blog. Her garden is a dream. You are going to have such a good time, and remember, any garden is a work in progress. kay

I planted hundreds of daffodils and minor bulbs amongst hostas in my west border. As the daffodils fade the hostas fill out and soon completely cover the messy foliage. Dicentra formosa and Sedum kamtschaticum 'Golden Carpet' with hostas under evergreens. Changable h. 'Janet,' h. 'Emerald Tiara,' and 'Golden Tiara' with pale pink 'Elfin' impatiens. Cimicifuga simplex 'Brunette'(foreground) with h. 'Gold Standard,'and in my neighbor's adjoining garden, Hemerocallis ´Stella de Oro.´ Hostas underplanted with lamium 'Silver Beacon' and 'White Nancy' and lamiastrum 'Herman's Pride,' with Aruncus dioicus at the back of the bed. More lamiastrum: Blue sage and h. 'Wide Brim.' Clockwise, Lamium, h. 'August Moon,' h. 'Wide Brim,' and (foreground) pachysandra. Cosmos patch in a hosta bed, late fall. Ferns, impatiens, sedum and hostas (Too many) Rudbeckia Deamii in the back of the west hosta border in fall.

EO, I think you'll like the Nikon a lot. One of the people I used to work with had a similar camera. I have two digital SLRs, both Canons, a D30 and a 10D. I also have a new 300mm IS lens, replacing an older one that did not have the image stabilizer. IS makes a world of difference as it makes up for a significant amount of camera shake, which you're bound to have, especially with a long lens, especially if not using a tripod. One big difference I find between photographing hostas and photographing bird... autofocus works great for hosta, not so great for birds. Most birds are too small and move too much for autofocus to work well. You tend to have trouble making it focus on such a small quick moving target and it will often go in and out of focus repeatedly. I use manual focus for the birds. Unfortunatly when using manual focus, I have to depend on my not so great eyesight so I often end up with slightly out of focus (you could kindly call it 'soft' focus) images. At any rate, the Nikon SLR should do a great job for you! And eagles are even big enough to use auto focus :-) I'll have to post an eagle pic or two in the conversations side some time! Maybe you can do the same. Janice, the trees were one of the highest items on my 'must have' list when I was house hunting. I'm not a heavy pruner. I like lots of cover for my birds. And it will be beautiful. It feels like a cabin up in the north woods of MN to me. I love that. Add some hostas, and what more could you ask for? :-)