Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! Carolyn, that is beautiful! Lynne, I'm drooling over your shade garden, too. :) I'm pretty close in proximity to you, Carolyn. These are the plants that have done super for me in shade: autumn fern japanese painted fern foam flower coralbells columbine hosta (love the BIG ones--sum & substance, potomac pride) lacecap hydrangeas mophead hydrangeas oakleaf hydrangeas southern indica azaleas strawberry begonia (as a groundcover) varigated vinca vine (as a groundcover) calla lilies lenten rose asiatic lilies astilbe pieris japonica winter daphne tea olive Then I have a lot of big shrubs that will eventually take up lots of room--like bottlebrush buckeye, red buckeye, anise, banana shrub, snowball viburnum. My jacob's ladder didn't come back this year. :( And I love, love, love lamium. BUT lamium doesn't love me. :( Every one I've ever planted died on me. :(

Steve, I've been looking at and trying to find locally, a sport of bloodgood, "Shaina" for my garden. It stays relatively small -- 5' x 5' and is mounding. I'm looking at it for color and think it might work for you, too, and it would be a great addition to what you've done already. I'm also thinking a Kousa Dogwood, such as "Wolf Eyes" would be an great understory tree. What I've done in my garden is include "Asian" elements and plants: Siberian Iris, Tree Peonies, Azaleas, Rhodos, etc. What I'm finding that pleases my eye and continues a calm ambiance, is groupings of the same plant. My garden is 85' x 30'. I'm fairly new at this and am poking along trying different things, adding and subtracting as I go along. It's all an experiment and I'm having fun. Good luck to you on discovering what you like and what pleases you! I usually hang out over in Perinneals and I'm no expert anywhere. If you're looking to strictly follow Japanese style gardening que's, these folks are great. If you're interested, below is a link to my garden pix. Honey Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Inspired Garden

Don't think I will be following the recommendations of a California retired corrections officer, that got her business degree on line and now professes to have all this various, so called scientific knowledge. Sequoia54, like you, I have a serious problem with anyone that says "say no to vaccines" and that alone leaves the rest of the info posted to be extremely suspect. nhbabs, I like to see scientific documentation and testing as well and not just so called claims to various things with no links to verify the info other the the original person making the claims. I need documentation, scientific testing and proof first. "considering what the world is facing with the Japan disaster". If you are referring to the risks of nuclear power, then you are talking about reality. If you are talking about serious problems in obtaining various products that are manufactured in Japan, then you are talking about reality. If you are talking about radiation from the Japanese nuclear power plants traveling around the world and creating havoc around the world, well, Then you are talking absurdity that is more than just ridiculous. It's outright outlandish and not true. As has been already stated "caveat lector." otherwise known as "reader beware. Fran

I missed the fact that it was my turn, possibly because I've been working on my glögg recipe for several days, trying to duplicate the one I remember from my Swedish grandmother's house at Christmas. There are so many completely different recipes that it's taking quite a toll on us to try them all. Burgundy or sherry? Port or brandy? Whiskey or vodka? I'd like to have it right by Christmas, but that means starting the testing earlier and earlier each day. What space do we have left? I'm wondering if we can try hardy kiwi in this locale; although they are hardy to -25, the buds can be blasted by late cold snaps. They might succeed with some shade to the east, which would potentially delay the formation of buds. They could be grown along the fence, with the grapes, but I'll defer to northern gardeners who know if this is unrealistic. Alternatively, if our virtual homeowners are really into fruit, they should probably have some "real" strawberries. They could be grown in a long narrow bed inside the fence (we still have a fence, even though George has banished the deer, don't we? Or, maybe we have enough fruit for this garden. Do we also need to talk about the materials we're going to use, like paving and mulch, and about how this area will relate to the rest of the yard? Is it going to evoke an old New England farm yard and orchard, or be a more formal space? Will we include flowers and grasses, or will it be strictly devoted to fruit? Can we have a table and some chairs out here, where we (um, I mean they) can sit and enjoy this garden?