As I exclusively buy bare roots, my buying season is fall to early spring and I did most of my buying last fall. However I have a few roses I ordered in 2014 and arriving any day now, which should be the last for the season: Cornelia, Mrs. Herbert Stevens, Mme Jules Gravereaux, Evelyn, Macmillan Nurse, Alchymist and Aloha Still not sure where to place most of them and I also have a backlog of another 30 or so roses living in pots pending placement also... However the roses I bought last fall make a much longer list... Fortune's Double Yellow Duchesse de Brabant Gloire de Dijon Pink Grootendorst (for a pot) Lady Hillingdon Climber Crépuscule Sombreuil (not the tea) Cécile Brünner Climber Félicité Perpétue Queen of Sweden R. rubiginosa Magnifica Teasing Georgia Abraham Darby Jude the Obscure Sharifa Asma Lady Emma Hamilton Buff Beauty Munstead Wood Boscobel Darcey Bussell The Lark Ascending Perle d'Or Paul's Himalayan Musk Lady of Shalott New Dawn Mme Grégoire Staechelin Paul Noël and Ispahan some of the above in multiples.... I think I need to pay a visit to rosaholics anonymous. Nik

What a lovely thread this is! Thanks to all who have posted. I will second Peren.all's suggestion of Actea/Cimicifuga, particularly the dark-leafed types such as Brunette, Hillside Black Beauty, etc. I have many of the others mentioned here such as Hydrangea macrophylla varieties in the half shade spots, a few types of Solomon's seal/Polygonatum, Dicentra eximia/ fern-leaf bleeding heart, Astilbe, European ginger, columbine, and primroses. There are a few plants that I have with hosta that I didn't see in others' posts (though I may have missed since this is a long post). Veronica 'Georgia Blue' grows for me in both sun and mostly shade. In sun it has a tighter growth habit and darker leaves, while in shade it spreads among other plants in a friendly and nonaggressive manner so that it just winds arounds other plants filling in bare spots. It blooms well in both sun and shade in late spring. Iris cristata (crested iris) is a slowly spreading spring bloomer that is fine in full bright shade. Depending on the selection, it blooms can be from white to medium blue. It is mostly done blooming by the time the hostas are fully leafed out but the foliage is a nice contrast to the hosta foliage for the rest of the season. This photo has a couple of foamflowers/Tiarella as well in the upper right corner and center bottom. Some have fancier foliage than these two, and there are also Heucherellas which are Heuchera-Tiarella crosses. 'All Gold 'Japanese forest grass/Hakone grass/Hakonechloa macra is one of my favorite gold plants, and I often have it with hosta. It expands very slowly; I think I've only divided mine once in 15 years and is happiest with a lot of shade. This one is being crowded by a self-seeded Hosta. Leucosceptrum japonica 'Golden Angel' has the unfortunate common name of Japanese shrub mint, but it isn't a shrub, just a medium perennial, and though it is in the mint family, it doesn't spread like mint. It does expand slowly, but is easily controlled; I haven't had to do anything to mine in 5 years or so. Gold Angel is just to the left of center in the photo below, farther back in the bed. Hakone grass is on the right. Between it and gold hosta are a biennial foxglove which blooms pink and is trying to out-compete a Japanese painted fern, which looks a lot nicer in better circumstances. The Sputnik-like seed heads are from a white allium which is happy in a bit less than half day sun. An evergreen shrub to go with Hostas (if you have acid soil) has a few branches over on the left, Leucathoe. Partridgeberry/Mitchella repens is native groundcover that likes shade. Another native is False Solomon's seal/Maianthemum racemosum, which has red berries later in the season. There are a couple of groundcover shade-loving geraniums - Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' and Geranium macrorrhizum - that might be too aggressive for Hosta - I am just trying the combination in the last couple of years.

Sean, what a gorgeous rose you have grown! What an inspiration. I didn’t realize she could be so nicely controlled. Thank you all, again for your sweet words concerning my garden! I almost hesitate to post pictures where “the experts” can see. There are so many amazing gardeners on here, and I look up to you all so much. It means a lot to have your praise and comments.

I'm just tickled that a hummingbird actually visited your Weigela, Dee, because I really wanted to add one to my plans for a Hedgerow and I do like every plant to earn it's keep on my small property. Pretty spring flowers, polinators, easy care AND hummingbird attractor. That is going on my list for sure. I do love that 'Beverly Sills' Iris and I could actually be a big Iris fan except for the amount of work they require because they have to be divided so frequently. Or should be I've thought. The Iris I have now, was a NOID and it has turned into a great plant. It hasn't been divided and instead has spread out and increased. And I've not seen rust on it at all, which is the second reason I cooled off on the idea of a lot of Iris. It would be nice to pick up another Beverly Sills at least. I am happy to grow a few and see how they do, as long as I don't have to be too invested, in case they become too much trouble. They're also out of bloom so much of the year, I forgot that. I do have a variegated one that at least makes up for that too. I'm working on a new plan to add those to a corner of my front bed where I am taking out a grass that became way too aggressive of a reseeder. I'm reluctant to add another grass now. I already have a Nepeta right there, so the Iris would go with it and I can move the poppy in that corner too. A little late to do anything about it now, but maybe in the fall. Deanna, I just took a walk around the garden this morning and I'm so excited because the roses are full of big fat buds and starting to open. June 1st is the date I expect them and they are right on time. Penelope a small flowered one time bloomer is the first bloom open. But the rest are right behind that. Last season we had so much consistent rain that the garden seems to be better than usual this spring, especially the roses. So, I feel the same way, some of my plants are getting ready to all bloom at once. The end of May beginning of June is a busy season for my garden. I'm going to try to clean up the front bed this morning and put down new mulch to make sure nothing detracts from the display. I made a spreadsheet once called Six on Six. I used it to develop a gardening plan that chose 6 main plants for 6 months of the growing season. I lost track of that and didn't finish it but I'm reminded of it and want to pick it back up again. I felt it helped me to spread the bloom season out over a longer period of time. Deanna, I came across a bulb blooming in my vegetable bed and don't know what it is yet either. I'm going to have to take a photo and figure out what it is. Your Star of Bethlehem is very pretty and a very pretty name too! For me Nepeta usually grows pretty quickly into a larger size. Don't you just love the buds on the Oriental Poppies?! As for being dry - this season has not been enough rain yet at all. I've been watering some. I do have my rain barrels up and thankfully we finally got enough to fill them this weekend. I had one filled early and used that all up. I cut my water bill in half last year, but I think it was mainly because we had so much rain. But the rainbarrels are really making a difference for me. I'm planning to add more.