Thanks for the smart points about rain, klem. And I agree -- there are just so many options, and people are so opinionated about those options, that it's hard to know what to do. My biggest concern remains the weather and how that will affect things, but I know that's a local issue. Maybe I should walk around the neighborhood and survey some people with porches about the sun and the temp, etc. Without adding any new information, my wife and I are divided on what to do -- she thinks just screening it is fine, but I think it would be really nice to have glass for the late fall / winter. If we had to decide today, I think we would either do simple / cheap modern storm windows (which could be opened to the screen on the bottom half during the summer) or do something a bit more adventurous. What I'm thinking on the adventurous front is to screen it in, but do it in a way where there's space to add the old-style wooden storm windows later -- just simple single-pane units that slide into the windo frames and attach with this: http://www.houseofantiquehardware.com/screen-hooks-storm-sash-window-hanger?sc=12&category=91 . The main thing would be attaching the screen on the inside of the frames, or at least creating an outside sill deep enough for the storm windows to nestle within it and still be flush on the outside. Then we could remove the storm windows and store them in the garage during the summer (though that wouldn't help with rainstorms you mention). Does that make any sense? If we did that, we could see how we like the screen in the spring and summer, but add the glass later in an affordable and removable fashion. I haven't seen many people try this, but I think we could build the storm frames and get the glass cut by a local shop. Basically we would recreate something like this company's product: http://chicagogreenwindows.com/storm-window-primer/

Jackie and ordphien, thanks for your posts, I have found them most interesting and informative... and I apologise if anyone thinks I'm putting them on the spot here, but Jackie, if I may take your case in point, and I think you have illustrated to me just what I'm getting at, that when you say your location in particular is a great place to grow roses, and your garden is always superbly presented, but it seems with the proviso that you have to irrigate most of the year... ...I think I read that the Sacramento Cemetery garden irrigates once a week, and maybe this is why Descanso dug out their old roses... ...so the question should be, where are the best places in the States to live to grow roses...? where you've got to irrigate or else the whole place would dry up? or areas where you don't..? I think that's an important question in this day and age..

Where will the patio be, outside the kitchen door or where the chairs currently are? I would hold off on actually planting in the area of the future patio until you have it installed. Also, since the area is damp, be very sure that the patio has a slight slope away from the house to avoid having water issues. Does boggy mean you have standing water for a while after a rain? Some general comments: 6 hours of sun is considered full sun, so you have quite a range of choice. Plan on using several of each of whatever you choose so it isn't too much of a hodgepodge. Repetition or groups will look more planned and cohesive. I really don't like having tall shrubs flanking a door since as they grow they need trimming back and the height isn't welcoming - it makes an entrance feel dark or crowded. Let there be at least 3' between the expected shrub width and the steps which you can fill in with perennials or raised large pots of annuals. I also can't imagine that you want to block the windows to the left of the back door since architecturally it would look funny along with blocking light and view; it just doesn't look like you have enough room to either side of the door to have something with height. What is to the right of the photo? Another door, to the garage or storage? Seeing the entire area will help plans, unless you just want a list of shrubs. Are you interested in mixing in perennials or trellised vines here also? Winter interest? Flowers? Do you like reddish or gold foliage? Would you consider some smaller flowering trees set a bit further from the house such as dogwood or Stewartia? What is on the wall to the left of the back door? Is it something that you will want access to such as a spigot or something that needs consideration with regard to its effects on plants such as a drier vent? Plan on leaving at a minimum a foot of unplanted space between the expected size of the plants and the house so siding can dry and you can get in to do maintenance. So with a 6' expected width plant, leave at least 4 feet between the planting hole and the house. (1/2 of 6' + 1 foot) Also, this avoids the rain shadow created by the eaves of the house. Missouri Botanical Garden is a better source of size info than the plant tags IME and the link is to their search page. This will mean that the garden will look sparse for a few years, but this can be filled in with annuals or perennials for a while. Better than having to prune hard every year or dig out plants in 5 years. I can add a link to one of my shrub borders when planted and now to see how fast things fill in if you would like. A few plants that come to mind for shady damp areas (but I will keep thinking): You might check out Daphne x transatlantic 'Summer Ice' if you like scent. It needs reasonable drainage, but planting it on a slight mound might do the trick. Delicately variegated evergreen foliage and blooms from April to hard freeze here. The flowers aren't knock-your-socks-off, but it's a lovely plant and did fine for me in mostly shade. Lindera benzoin, spicebush. Butterfly host, flowers a yellow haze in very early spring, and stunning gold fall color. It's large though, 8' tallx 6' wide for me, so might be better at a corner without windows or along the property bounds. Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia. Late spring flowers, evergreen. It would like reasonable drainage also but moist is fine, just not soggy. Bigleaf hydrangeas (H. macrophylla) and mountain hydrangeas (H. serrata). choose ones that can bloom on new wood such as Bloomstruck and Tuff Stuff. I think Claire has Blue Billow and she is on the Cape. These would appreciate afternoon shade, starting midday or thereabouts. Oak leaf hydrangea has spring flowers and fall color and large dramatic leaves. Fine in all but full shade I think. One of the smaller Clethra such as Sixteen Candles or Hummingbird for late summer bloom and gold fall color. Not really a star plant, but can add to a mixed border. Same with Itea virginica (summersweet). Late summer bloom and red fall color, but not a star. There are summer blooming deciduous rhodies and azaleas that look quite different from the typical. Lovely scent and many have good fall color. Rhododendron viscosum, swamp azalea will grow in periodic standing water, but others prefer typical moist well-drained soil. If you want winter interest, some of the smaller red-twigged dogwoods would work here and would look nice with the house color. Needs some sun, but some shade is fine. There are viburnums that will work here, with flowers, some with berries, most with nice fall color. Size varies a lot with cultivar.

Kim, Sophie has my sympathy. Our dogs hate it too when the neighbors are shooting. I usually let them stay in, but sometimes they just have to go out at least for a couple of minutes, and then they are at the back door barking and carrying on and wanting back in within 60 seconds. I'm glad Sophie did so well getting her pins out. Nice score on all the seeds! You CAN teach a class. Just pretend you are talking to Ryder or to any of us instead of a larger crowd. You can do this! Sorry about the wind. I wish it would blow hard here---it would help dry up some of this excess moisture, but I know you don't need it there. March is coming and you live in a very windy part of Texas, so I'm guessing the wind is going to be an issue for quite a while yet. Is there any sort of windbreak anywhere near your new garden plot? Nancy, That sounds like a wedding miracle to me! Of course you cried---seeing one of your kids so happy on their special day is going to lead to tears, and rightfully so. Kim, Most of the seeds you got should do just fine with direct sowing. I am a little worried about the wind, but we have wind here too (usually not quite on the scale you have it there) and it doesn't seem to blow away my seeds. Everything you listed except ice plant and delphinium should be fine from seed sown directly in the ground. Ice plant---it might do okay. Do you have clay there? It needs well-drained sand or sandy loam and it does not tolerate staying overly wet for long periods of time. Delphinium is very iffy. They are beautiful flowers but they like prolonged, cool weather so your luck with them in any given year will depend more on the weather than anything else. Think of them as something that would like the weather in the cool, wet parts of the Pacific Northwest more than the west Texas plains, and don't get your hopes up too high. I simply grow the closely-related larkspur instead, and even the larkspur sometimes rots off at the ground when we are too wet for too long, but it tolerates the heat a lot better than delphiniums do. I have had the best luck with delphiniums when sowing them in the fall. They will germinate and remain as small plants down close to the ground all winter, but then when it warms up they'll grow pretty quickly. Sometimes I have managed to get blooms before the heat kills them, and sometimes not. Our Spring weather is so variable that the results were all over the place when I tried to grow them here. Whenever I see them in bloom in gallon pots in the stores in the Spring, I want to buy them and bring them home and plant them....but I don't.....because they'd basically be expensive annuals here in our hot climate. Jennifer, Three sounds like a nice number. Another 100 might be a bit much, you know, and that's doubly true of the straight runs, which tend to lean very heavily towards being roosters and not pullets. It sounds like yesterday was fun, and I hope you're outdoors enjoying your free afternoon now. Nancy, Well, 10 minutes of plant shopping squeezed in at the end of a day with the girls was enough to hold me another week. We saw ladybugs all over the garden center flying around, and then saw some outside Wal-mart so they certainly are swarming and enjoying this lovely day too. Rudbeckia is a large family with many members and some do great here for me, and others do not. I think some are more finicky about drainage (and powdery mildew) than others, but they're not the hardest things to grow if you choose the right ones. In my garden, most rudbeckias are happier with morning sun/afternoon shade than with full sun all day long. Kim, That's crazy about your friend's Dodge pickup. Try explaining that one to your insurance agent! We do try to be careful which way we park on really windy days, but it is more to keep the wind from slamming the car or truck door shut on someone who's attempting to get in or out in strong wind. I never once thought about the wind being able to break a door off a vehicle. It still is sunny and warm outside, so Tim's got ribeye steaks (our standard Sunday dinner) cooking on the grill and I have everything else cooking indoors. I suspect he'd have been out there grilling even if rain was pouring down, but I'm grateful he didn't have to do that. It only took one week of nonstop rain and cloudy skies to make us tired of the rain. I'm not wishing for another month or two with no rain, but I'm hoping whatever rain we get over the next couple of weeks at least will come in smaller, more manageable amounts. Dawn